This post is all about packaging and what packaging is. We will be looking through critical features of packaging and different processes to make attractive packaging, a couple of words and descriptions of terms, along with packaging features a couple of packaging designs paired with an explanation of why I like them.
Terms used in product design.
innovative.
Now, let's first talk about what innovative even means. I wanna talk about this because then it'll be easier to understand the other points I'm going to be talking about. Innovative means a product, idea, or other mediums, that introduce new methods which could be complex or simple that are interesting.
piggyback.
To continue this trend of talking about words that are used in packaging, one big one that you may see in stores, like Aldi, is a term called piggybacking. What this means is when a company uses an already established brand's overall look for their products, and simply using it, sometimes altering such so you don't get sued, to usually sell a product.
USP.
Now, there's another word I feel like I should explain, and that word, or more accurately acrynum, is USP. To simply put it, USP means Uniqe Selling Point. Now, this is usually associated with a product itself, but this also applies to the packaging of said product. This could be many things about said packaging, inwhich we will get into shortly.
Subcontracting.
Subcontracting is quite prominent in graphics an making products as a whole, especially packaging. This is because you may not have the right equipment to create something a client Is asking for, and so subcontracting comes into place. Subcontracting is the act of hiring somebody else to help you finish a project.
Bespoke.
This is the last word I would like to touch upon for this. I feel like this is relevant because its a thing you got be doing a lot of you're going to be going into freelance graphic design. Bespoke means that a product is made to order, one of one.
So, to analyse packaging, we must talk about the main features of overall good packaging. and so we shall. Well I'm actually just going to show them in a list with only a short amount of annotation, because I currently don't have time, but I like to think they are quite self explanatory in of themselves.
Quality, Construction and Texture - This is how a product overall feels.
Range - This is the versatility of product that could be used for other products, a good place to see this is the bottles for home brand cleaning products.
Logos - This is a picture of some sorts that links a brand to a product.
Practicality - This is how useful said packaging could be in day to day life.
Colours - This seems quite self explanatory, the colours that are seen on packaging can be intreeging enough for us to buy it, which makes it good.
Multifunctional - This is if the packaging could be used for more then one single purpose.
Design - This is the otherall shape of said packaging.
Appeals to Target Audiance - This is very self explanatory, need I say more?
Innovative - This is something we have already touched on, but it means packaging that brings complex or simple methods to execute an idea for packaging.
Now that we know the min attributes of good packaging, this now leads to another question. What can we do to achieve in making innovative packaging? Well, there are a multitude of different processes we can do to customise packaging and make it more visually, and texture appealing
Open/Display - This is the process of designing packaging with some sort of clear window to have a look at the product inside.
Printmaking - This is the process of putting a pattern on packaging to make it more visually interesting.
Embossing -This is the process of using a strong material, like metal, on a softer material lets say paper for this example, and using mass amounts of pressure to push the harder material onto the softer one until it pushed into the paper, giving it an embossed look.
Laser cutting -This is the process of using a laser to cut packaging. A common use of lasercutting I to make those pinstripe holes to make it easier to rip apart packaging.
Vinyl Cutting -This is the process of printing on a vinyl sheet, to the transfer the design onto your packaging. This process is mainly used for things like signs and stickers.
Embroidery -This is the process of using embroidery, usually embroidery machines, to use on packaging. You usually find this used on packaging like shoe bags, amongst others.
Now that we have all of that delbt with, lets finally get into the part that you've been here for, th analysis off packaging. Please note that I don't exactly remember any of the creators of these products, so I can only apologise, and once I do know who made them, I'll update this as soon as possible.
Now, why do I like this package design? The reason why I like it so much is because of the blend of product to packaging. As we can see, Socks Raw sells quite colourful socks as we can see, and iv tied to do some research on the brand but sadly I cannot find anything about them, except of the and a few other pictures of their design, but we could assume that the brand has a background for artistry or paints, which is reflected well in this product, hypothetically. I also like the recognisable design the product has, since it helps it stand from the crown, along with the use of the socks being the main hit of colour on the packaging.
What processes have been used for this packaging? We can definelty tell they have used the display method, which shows the product inside of its packaging, but they have taken this to a much more open ended level, by having the caging only cover a small part of the product. We can also see that they have used some sort of screen printing to make the cardboard look like wood. which amplifies the idea of the packaging and the product looking like a painter's brush.
If I could, how would I improve on this package design? I honestly don't think I would do too much, the only thing I can really thing of is making the print on the cardboard, rather then a simple wood flooring pattern, a different graphic that resembles a paint brush more, to make this more accurate and recognisable, whilst still keeping the light colour so the sock can stand out. I would also change the logo to be more centralised, since its a little hard to read when its off to the right, along with the S clipping into the side of he cardboard.
Why do I like this package design? the main reason why I like this product design is practicality. Since this butter packet comes with a lid that can be used as a butter knife, you can conveniently carry a single piece, rather then having to bring both a pot of butter and a separate knife. I also really like the soft curves of the packaging, it really brings an almost childish feel to the product, and I can see this product being tailored to children who was to butter their bread when they get to school for lunch. The colours are also quite simplistic, just while and yellow, and I really like yellow as a colour. One more thing I like about this design is the the textured look of the lid, where it looks like its made out of wood, and from these pictures the wood looks quite nice to the touch.
What processes do I think have bene used to create this product? I think the text ha been applied to the wood using some sort of heat transfer device, whilst the yellow I think could be some sort of stain, or maybe its non toxic paint, or a sticker, I'm honestly not too sure. The only good guess I could find from minor research is using polycrylic, but that's not very viable for production so I'm not too sure.
If I could, would I change this? and if so, what? This is quite hard, because I don't think Id change anything about the packaging, Its quite minimalist which I really like, although I do regret saying that this could be for children and instead it could be for hotels or even elderly homes with the safe curves at the end of the utensil, along with the recognisability of the packaging., but I would not change this, I think it is great.
What do I like about this packaging? One thing I really like about this is the USP of the casing around the cup. As we can see, it can be swapped around to make various different facial expressions, which although useless when it comes to its practicality, the simple fact that its there is simply a fun concept. another thing I like about this is that you can use it again and again with many different cups, since it simply slide onto the bottom, even if it doesn't have the eye and most drawings on, so it is slightly practical, so I can only apologise.
What processes ave been used to make this? We can defnetly see that open display as a main one, since you can see the holes in the side, so you can see the cup. We can also e that they have probably ink printed on the shell itself, due to the clean lines, the fact that it isn't on there on the other side, along with such method being cheap to manufacture.
If I could, how would I change this? Multiple ways. First of all, there doesn't seem to be any sort of logo or any sort of branding to show where this is from. This is a problem because then it is harder for people to try and find your product to possibly buy more. Another thing I would change is the colours. At least for me, the colours used here aren't very interesting, and could be more poppy to reflect the cartoonish kind of look. One more thing is that I cannot really tell if this is for children or not, but if it isn't then it should be, since novelty items are usually more popular with younger children, especially with a simple light hearted concept like this.
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