INTRODUCTION TO PACKAGING DESIGN

The term brand originates from the days when farmers used to brand their cattle to register ownership of their herd. Before long the brand began to represent not just the owner but their values and quality of their product; it became a mark of security and trust. Packaging has always had a fundamental role to play in the way brands communicate these values. From these relatively humble beginnings packaging design in the modern age has become one of the most sophisticated, holistic and powerful examples of the designers craft. The full life cycle of packaging now touches on all of the key issues facing business today and it is important to understand its impact from cradle to grave. From where the original product is sourced and the cost of materials used, to the transportation costs to store and the legacy issues surrounding its reuse or disposal designers today must consider the full impact of a packs design.

WHAT IS PACKAGING DESIGN?

Packaging design can be viewed in four different ways: a means of protecting the contents of a package a contributor to the cost of the end product a sales canvas on which to promote the products attributes and benefits a part of the product experience itself

THE ROLE OF PACKAGING

Packaging plays many functional roles from protecting contents to helping the user employ the product but perhaps its main job is still seen as one to help sell the product at the point of purchase. Most products are meaningless (or at least undifferentiated) without their packaging just take a look at any shampoo fixture and think about how youd chose one from another. So, once functional considerations are completed the most important design consideration is how best to create and tell a story that stands out from the crowd.

FROM AESTHETICS
In the 80s and 90s it could be argued that packaging designers concerned themselves mostly with how their craft could help add value in terms of improving aesthetic appeal, to then improve sales. The use of foil bags, embossed and etched bottles, textured papers and wax seals, latest print techniques and new materials were options endlessly considered as designers tried to enhance product perception and standout.

TO ETHICS
More recently there has been a marked shift in focus towards environmental issues and the role of packaging. Design pundits often quote the egg carton as being a design classic. It is somewhat ironic therefore that this simple ecofriendly, yet beautifully functional design is perhaps also a contemporary benchmark for environmentally sustainable packaging. While the repackaging of

many grocery items in foil wrap may still be wholly appropriate in many instances to improve shelf life and product perception, the rise of the savvy shopper in the last few years has forced packaging professionals to look at alternatives. The growth of retailer basics brands and a growing awareness of the impact on the environment of excessive packaging have driven a desire for packs to be wholly recyclable.

THE RISE OF GREEN PACKAGING

But green packaging isnt just about recycling. We now also live in the world of food miles where we measure the distance a product has to travel from source to point of purchase. Therefore truly green packaging needs to consider more issues than recyclability. We need to consider palette maximization too. In other words how can we design our packs to minimize the amount of air that is shipped during transportation. Companies like Tesco, Wal-Mart and IKEA can make savings of millions of pounds on fast moving consumer goods by maximizing the number of products they can ship per pallet and thus saving greenhouse emissions too. So, in the modern day we need packaging to drive top line sales and drive down waste and bottom line cost. A well designed pack must also address the needs of its life cycle. This life cycle runs from the moment it is used to wrap its product (whether this is by hand or in a factory), to the point of sale, to the point of use, and finally with current tough environmental laws to its after-use.

STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD

With around 40,000 different packs to choose from in the average supermarket, across food and non-food items, the challenge is to stand out from the crowd. Over 70% of purchase decisions are made at point of purchase. There are thousands of products competing for shoppers attention in store and, according to various research findings, a pack on a supermarket shelf has less than three seconds to grab that attention. This doesnt mean that packaging necessarily needs to be loud or simple but it must be clear to the audience for which it is intended

NEED OF THE STUDY INTRODUCTION

Packaging ensures that people can buy and use products when they want them, in good condition and with little wastage. However, many people think there is too much of it. Everybody has a view on whats excessive, but for an informed judgment people need to understand the decisions that packaging designers and packaging buyers have to make. The least possible packaging does not necessarily mean the least possible environmental impact. Below we give some examples of grocery products where packaging extends shelf-life and reduces wastage. But if you still think that a product seems to be excessively packaged, contact the retailer or manufacturer to complain, or call 08454 04 05 06 or go on-line to Consumer Direct

at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk so that trading standards officials can investigate. Overpackaging is against the law. See the section on Legislation - Packaging and Environment

THE FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING

Packaging has to fulfill a number of functions. First and foremost, it must ensure that the contents are delivered to the consumer or business end-user in good condition, whatever stresses and strains it undergoes during transportation. The packaging must protect the contents from hazards such as vibration, moisture, heat, odours, light penetration, micro-organisms or pest infestation, and if the product is a liquid, the packaging must not leak. Packaging for household items must be easy to open (but difficult to open accidentally) and may have to be resealable. Tamper-evidence or child-resistance may also be a requirement. Ovenable trays will often be needed for ready-meals. Liquids must be easy to pour without spillage. Packaging must be as easy as possible to carry. Packaging needs to carry information about the product, the company taking responsibility for it, and maybe instructions for handling or use. Some labeling such as the name of the food manufacturer is required by law. If the packaging does not have sufficient surface area for all the necessary information to be displayed, there may have to be an outer box so that a leaflet can be inserted. Packaging for consumer goods must be attractive enough to encourage people to buy it. There is nothing more wasteful than a product which is never sold or used. Packaging designers have to balance all these functional demands, whilst also ensuring that costs and environmental impacts are kept to a minimum.

WHY ADD TO NATURES OWN PACKAGING?

Cucumbers have their own protective skins, so why are they sometimes sold wrapped in plastic? The reason is that unwrapped cucumbers lose so much moisture that they become unsaleable after three days; just 1.5 grammes of plastic keeps them fresh for 14 days and untouched by dirty hands. Shoppers can buy some items without any packaging, such as loose fruit and vegetables from market stalls. Supermarkets also offer customers the option of buying loose fruit and vegetables, which gives people the opportunity to buy the exact amount that they want. But produce is less likely to be spoiled and wasted if it has been prepacked, not only because the packaging protects it from handling damage, but also because the information printed on the pack helps stock rotation in the store and at home.

And goods sold loose still need packaging to get them from the grower to the shop or market stall, and have to be bagged up again for the checkout. People buying from a market stall would be unwise to put soft fruit into their shopping bag without wrapping it first.

WHY ARE THERE SOMETIMES SEVERAL LAYERS OF PACKAGING?

Multi-layer packaging, in chocolate boxes for instance, is sometimes the right choice because the total packaging needed is minimised when each layer can do what it does best. Using different packaging materials in combination makes the best use of their specific properties cardboard provides rigidity, aluminium foil protects against moisture and light, plastics are resistant to tearing, and so on. Multipacks an outer layer of cardboard or plastic holding several packs of beer, yoghurt or paper tissues together combine the benefits of bulk packaging and small containers. They reduce handling time and therefore labour costs; they reduce queueing time at the checkout and they give consumers the convenience of smaller sizes, which is important where the contents have to be used up quickly once the pack has been opened. But multipacks do use more resources, and it is up to individual consumers to decide whether this trade-off is acceptable or whether they would prefer to buy single items.

WHY ARE DISHWASHER TABLETS INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED?

Dishwasher tablets were introduced because consumers tended to put a little bit too much detergent into their machines, which wasted detergent and added unnecessarily to water pollution. Tablets deliver a measured dose, but as they absorb water, they have to be individually wrapped to prevent them turning into a soggy mush at the bottom of the box if stored in a damp cupboard under the sink.

WHY IS THERE SOMETIMES A LOT OF EMPTY SPACE IN THE PACK?

Meat, fish, fruit and vegetables may seem to be in oversized packs if the MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging) process is used. MAP keeps the right gases in and the wrong ones out, so that products stay fresh for up to ten days rather than two or three. Without MAP, many products would need energy-intensive freezing or the addition of preservatives. Powders and small items like sweets and breakfast cereals settle after filling. The packaging may look over-sized, and may even seem to be a deliberate attempt to deceive, but a smaller pack might result in product overflow and wastage, or in the case of sealed bags, product jamming the seal and causing the production line to stop. Slowing the line may be an answer, but that would add to production costs and to energy consumption. Stocking can be an issue where the manufacturers range consists of a number of products of slightly different sizes pills, for instance. It may not be practicable to keep a wide range of boxes or jars of slightly different dimensions, especially if the filling machines have to be adjusted every time a production run involves containers of a different height.

Stocking is also an issue for mail-order and home delivery companies. If consignments of an unforeseeable number of items of different shapes and sizes have to be grouped together, the supplier cannot possibly be expected to ensure a snug fit every time. He/she is under a legal obligation to try, though. Several mail order companies have fallen foul of the law when they have flagrantly over-packaged some orders.

DO WE NEED GIFT PACKAGING?

Luxury products like chocolates and perfume are often attacked for being over-packaging because the packaging is more elaborate than is strictly necessary in order to protect the contents. However, if gifts arent supplied already specially wrapped, the customer would giftwrap them themselves, almost certainly adding more material than the manufacturer does. Much the same applies to Easter Eggs, where the packaging is an integral part of the product if you just want chocolate, you can buy a chocolate bar. Luxury and gift products tend to be bought infrequently, and account for only a small proportion of packaged goods purchases. Nevertheless, the manufacturers of these products still have to comply with the legal requirement to ensure that the weight and volume of the packaging are the minimum necessary for safety, hygiene and consumer acceptability, and packaging designers are using all their ingenuity to find ways of saving material without reducing the packagings attractiveness.

DO WE NEED THIS PACKAGED PRODUCT AT ALL?

Snacks intended to be eaten on the move are an example of products where the consumer could easily assemble the components him/herself without the need for packaging. This is a question of consumer convenience and lifestyle choice. Indeed, many packaging innovations are a direct response to social changes and consequent consumer demand:

the growth in single-person households has meant increasing demand for smaller, more convenient portions; as more women now work outside the home than twenty or thirty years ago, there has been an increasing demand for food that is easier and quicker to prepare and cook.

INNOVATION
The packaged goods industry is highly competitive, and packaging manufacturers, packaged goods producers and retailers are all under pressure to come up with new and better packaging solutions. No business wants to spend more on packaging than it has to and the fewer resources the packaging needs, the lower its cost. Thats why a one-litre washing-up liquid bottle uses 64% less material than in the 1970s, a 275g glass beer bottle 61% less, a 165g yoghurt pot 43% less, a two-litre plastic fizzy drink bottle 31%

less and a 400g soup can 29% less. And last year, Easter Egg manufacturers reported that they had reduced the weight of their packaging by around 30% from the previous years.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Packaging of objects insures that they are protected against vibration, temperature, shock, compression, etc., among other things.

BARRIER PROTECTION
Keeping the objects in the packages fresh, clean and safe for shelf life is the primary function of packaging. Packaged objects need protection from water vapour, oxygen, dust, etc. Permeability is an important factor in practice designing. Many packages contain oxygen absorbers to increase the shelf life. Sometimes, controlled atmosphere is also maintained in food packaging.

MARKETING
Packaging plays an important role in marketing. Good packaging and attractive labeling is used by sellers to promote potential buyers. In Package designing graphic design are used on the surface of the package to make it attractive.

CONTAINMENT
Small articles are generally grouped together in packages for the purpose of efficiency. For example, a single box of thousand pens needs less space than thousand single pens. Liquid items and flowing items need containment.

SECURITY
Packaging plays a significant function in cutting down the security risks during shipping & transportation. Improved packaging techniques are used to discourage tampering. It helps reduce the risks of pilferage. Modern packaging techniques include anti-theft devices such as RFID tags, dye-packs, and also electronic article surveillance tags that can be detected by gadgets.

IMPART OF INFORMATION
Packaging and labeling also tells use, transportation instructions, recycling, or disposing of the package. In some specialized fields such as medical, pharmaceutical, and chemical products, some special type of information is required by law.

CONVENIENCE
Packaging also adds to the convenience in handling, display, opening, distribution, sale, use and reuse.

COST
While packaging can do a lot to get customer attention, and may even add value to a product, it also adds to the cost of production and the eventual retail price. According to Know This, packaging can represent as much as 40 percent of the selling price of products in industries such as the cosmetic industry. New packaging can be expensive to develop, adding to the cost of products.

LANDFILL IMPACT

Packaging is responsible for significant portions of the waste stream. According to the Ashland Food Cooperative, packaging is responsible for about one third of the municipal waste in the United States. Some waste can be recycled, but many materials are not appropriate for recycling. Post-consumer recycled content is often usable only in specific contexts. For instance, many types of recycled plastic may not be used in food containers, even if the original plastic came from food containers. Much of the waste produced by packaging ends up in a landfill.

PRODUCTION FOOTPRINT

Products with more packaging also use more resources in production. According to Green Living Tips, around 12 million barrels of oil are used to make shopping bags for U.S. consumers each year. Over 10 million barrels are used to make water bottles, and one pound of polystyrene (Styrofoam) uses about two pounds of petroleum stock. Production also requires energy, usually sourced from burning fossil fuels, and may produce air and water pollution.