Creative packaging design – how to stand out from the crowd.

Packaging is the first line of contact with the product, it is supposed to attract our attention, promise quality or uniqueness. Over the years, the packaging of products has evolved from the necessity to protect the goods against external factors to a part of culture and art. Popular culture has become an inspiration for creators as much as nature used to. At the MoMA in New York we can see Andy Warhol’s “portraits” of Campbell’s soup cans, as well as Coca-Cola bottles.

Get to know the recipient!

Packaging can influence the choice of consumers – if a product stands out on a shelf, it is likely to arouse interest of the recipients. If it moves them in some way, brings emotions referring to something that is important to them, they will probably choose such a product. Therefore, the packaging is created for the recipient, it is supposed to evoke associations in a specific field. When we design a product for an elegant barber shop, it should refer to tradition and an image of the “golden age of gentlemen” to evoke the right associations. This style was adopted by the Captain Fawcett brand, addressed mainly to men who like elegance straight from the early twentieth century. However, this style is not universal, it may not reach the recipient looking for the same products at an ordinary hairdressing salon, he will probably search for safe minimalism.

source: https://www.captainfawcett.com/

It is similar with the packaging of watches. These are targeted at extreme sports or survival lovers, usually they will highlight the reliability and durability of a product, as in the case of the popular G-shock brand, which places its products in metal cans. The experience of unpackaging Omega watches, which are more like luxurious jewelery, looks a bit different – here the packaging is the beginning of an elegant and dignified experience.

Our adventure begins here! Unboxing with maximum consistency.

We no longer only buy products, we buy experiences. In every industry we have to take care of the user’s feelings, it is just as important for food products as for premium cars. Therefore, when designing a product, we design the entire experience, we care about its consistency from the moment of unpackaging, because this stage begins to tell a story of the product and the user.

Apple products are a great example of this. Their use has to be intuitive and pleasant – this is an element of the brand’s philosophy, the user receives a complete, thoughtful, reliable product that works. How to communicate this through packaging? By designing the unpackaging process, simple, smooth, and satisfying – from opening the simple, clean box, through the perfect fit of the set elements, to unpacking from the protective foil. Smoothness, intuitiveness, elegant minimalism – simplicity and pleasure, the process of unpacking the product says a lot about what kind of experience we should expect from the product itself.

Similar, but in a slightly different way, the product is reflected in the special design of Tocantins chocolates from the Spanish ZOO studio. This is a limited, exclusive series that has reached the top 50 restaurants in the world. Made from cocoa beans grown on small, ecological plantations in the Amazon rainforest, in accordance with the traditional recipe of a brand that has been operating for almost 180 years – such a product requires an appropriate packaging. It tells a story about ecology, tradition and care, giving a sense of contact with a unique, multi-layered product. The outer part of the papier mâché package, tied with a string with a wax seal and decorated with a specially prepared stamp – is an association with tradition and simplicity that requires careful preparation. It is crowned with a label with an embossed golden pattern of the Tocantins River, after which the manufacturer took its name. Inside, there is a one-kilo block of chocolate, wrapped in elegant paper – no machine closing, no welding, only manual work, which emphasizes that we are dealing with a manufactory product. The whole packaging gives the impression of elegant simplicity, attention to detail and meticulous work with reference to tradition and nature.

Packaging – Swiss Army Knife

Maximum usability – that’s how you can describe packaging the design of which makes it useful not only until opened, but also when using the content. Usually, ideas of this type are found in food products, such as the legendary PEZ candies, the packaging of which is a toy dispenser. You can also find dozens of functional packaging that unfolds into a snack tray, like in McDonald’s or Saikai’s design – cookies in a foldable hexagonal box. A design that combines consumer habits with functionality in an interesting way is the Pizza-Hut box, which by adding a lens can be changed from a projector to a smartphone.

source: https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/saikai

GO green, or let’s be eco

An ecologically responsible approach to packaging is now a strong trend – a positive phenomenon that we strongly support. Projects of this type usually focus on ecological materials such as paper and glass, efficiency in transport and ease of recycling. Cardboard packaging, such as tubes, that can be easily recycled or reused, often appears in this category. You can also find bolder designs, such as egg wrappers made of hay.

source: https://www.packagingoftheworld.com/2019/10/stone-grove.html

You can also find such bold designs as egg wrappers made of hay:

source: http://www.czytajniepytaj.pl/design/happy-eggs-od-kur-szczesliwych-maja-szczypek-1860.html

A well-designed package can give you a taste of what a product has to offer and become part of your experience. It should be consistent with the nature of the content, attract the client and suggest appropriate associations. By creating the right packaging design, we start talking to the consumer more clearly and in a voice that he should understand and relate to – that’s when it all starts to make sense.