On the characteristics and design basis of packaging design

As a professional category of modern design, packaging should not only comply with the basic principles of modern design such as science, practicality, economy, aesthetics, and creativity, but also require the positioning of physical and mental functions of packaging, as well as its own professional designs. Features. In the early 1980s, China put forward the principle of “scientific, economic, firm, beautiful, and marketable” for export product packaging design. Since then, it has put forward the principles of “scientific, applicable, economic, and beautiful” in the development outline of the Chinese packaging industry. It can be said that there is no fundamental difference between the two, but the former's "firm and marketable" is generally improved to the latter's "marketable." In short, they are all aimed at achieving the overall functional purpose of packaging. The following is a brief analysis of the characteristics and basis of packaging design.

First, the personality characteristics of packaging design

1. From the property. Packaging is designed for the purpose of protecting the safe circulation of goods, facilitating consumption, and promoting sales. Therefore, packaging design must first determine the functional goals of specific packaging based on the specific nature, forms, distribution intentions, and requirements of the consumer environment. Positioning, and then according to the specific purpose of the functional package of the packaging of goods to carry out the planning and design of the packaging, this is the key to insurmountable, so the packaging design is subordinate to the distinctive features of the interior goods and consumer objects.

2. Commerciality. In view of the fact that packaging is the carrier of the contents, it is an indispensable part of the goods, and finally it enters the circulation market and the consumption link with the appearance of specific goods. Therefore, packaging design must carry out in-depth product and market research, through packaging as much as possible to strengthen and show the characteristics of the product features of the product, to create a specific image of the product is a true and trustworthy, accurate and rapid delivery of product information, in order to attract customers to guide consumption, Establish products and corporate image services.

3. Comprehensive. The packaging design of the overall system integrates practicality, artistry, information, economy, and craftsmanship of packaging. It requires comprehensive solutions to the protection of goods, convenience of production, processing and storage, consumption, recycling, beautification of goods, and communication of product information. , To increase the value-added of goods, to actively attract consumers and other aspects of packaged substances and mental functions such as consumption. Therefore, the packaging design integrates the processing methods of the packaging with material selection planning, packaging shaping, structure, visual communication, packaging add-on design, and the application of modern scientific and technological achievements. It has typical characteristics of comprehensive application creation.

4. Timely. Packaging, as a carrier and organic component of modern commodities, is inextricably linked to the environmental conditions of commodity production and circulation, contemporary people’s lifestyles, consumption concepts, and aesthetic requirements. Therefore, designers are required to have a keen sense of the times, be good at capturing the frontier information of the market and science and technology, analyze and grasp the development trend of packaging and the market, conform to the trend of the times, update concepts, apply new materials, new technologies, and new methods in a timely manner, and renew and reform. To develop new packaging that suits contemporary consumer demands and guides the market trend.

5. Internationality. The development trend of modern commodities and markets is free and open, free from geographical or national boundaries. Packaging is an integral part of the commodity and a tool for market competition. It enters domestic and international markets simultaneously with various types of commodities. Products from different regions and different countries sell at the same time in the market to compete and win the fittest. Therefore, packaging design and production must be in line with the international market, comply with international standards and environmental protection requirements, look at different regional and international markets, and establish concepts that suit the design of the international environment.

6. Advertising. Nowadays commodity competition is based on the inherent quality and service quality of products, and to a large extent, it also depends on the image of packaging and the competition of marketing power. Packaging is an important part of shaping the quality of products and corporate image. It is the most cost-effective advertising media and competitive tool in corporate marketing, and it has increasingly attracted the attention of enterprises. Therefore, modern packaging design seeks to use the wisdom of the group to conduct planning and research and design, and to use the combined forces of major designers and high-intelligence groups to adapt to the requirements of the era of high-level design competition and to fully utilize the advertising power of packaging.

Second, according to the purpose of product and packaging design

The basic principles and characteristics of packaging design are also the basic rules that packaging design should follow together. However, seeking the personality characteristics in commonness is the essence of design. Targeting the physical and mental functions of a particular product package is the starting point for packaging design and the destination and goal of packaging design.
Different kinds of goods and different circulation links, different storage and transportation conditions, different sales and consumption methods, and so on, will have different specific functional requirements for the functional design of the packaging. It is impossible to be stereotyped. This is an absolute principle. That is, the same product, because of the above-mentioned different reasons, will inevitably produce significant differences in the specific functional purpose of the package, directly affecting the different requirements for packaging design. For example, taking the change of the sales method of the same kind of daily-use ceramic tableware produced by the same company as an example, to enter supermarket sales, it must require that the matching packaging not only has the function of independent stacking, stacking, and storage, but also directly enters the shopping mall shelf display. In the exhibition, art displays how to convey the characteristics of product information, attracts customers, and relies on packaging to actively promote products, and acts as a silent salesman. Thus, the functional design of the transportation packaging of the tableware and the sales packaging are combined into one; if the tableware is sold in an ordinary store sold by the salesperson, a full set of tableware samples can be directly displayed in the sample counter at the point of sale, and can be seen at a glance. The product itself attracts customers and conveys product information. The function of packaging is mainly to protect the goods from storage and transportation, and the packaging does not need to be put on the shelves to display the display. This can significantly reduce the cost of packaging materials and color printing. The design focuses on Pursue safe, convenient and economical effects; if such a tableware is directly sold and ordered by a manufacturer to large and medium-sized hotels, restaurants, restaurants, etc., and the manufacturers directly deliver goods to the household, then the packaging design is only required to protect the safety of the goods. Tatsu, under the premise of accurately distinguishing the quantity of the contents, it can greatly reduce the packaging design and reduce the packaging cost. Taking gift packaging design as an example, that is, the same kind of gift, due to the difference in gifts or sales methods, there are great differences in the packaging design concept, such as sales of various gift packaging, in addition to design requirements on the expression of gifts In addition to the humanistic intentions (such as traditional holiday gifts, birthday gifts, weddings, etc.), it is also necessary to embody the characteristics of the product itself to meet the psychological needs of people in purchasing gift gifts and material choices. Assume that such a gift is a free gift for the guests during the major celebrations or business activities of the enterprises and institutions. Then, in the visual design of packaging, the key lies in reflecting the image of the company, expanding the influence of the company’s propaganda, and the contents of the company. It is not the focus of publicity, and it even gives people a sense of mystery. As for gift boxes, gift bags, and decorative materials that are tied at the point of sale, it is generally more flexible and versatile. As far as transport packaging is concerned, long-distance and short-distance shipments, export goods and domestic sales goods have different requirements for packaging design, thus constraining different ideas for packaging design. Therefore, designing according to the requirements of the physical and functional aspects of the packaging of goods and aesthetics is the key to any packaging design. It is the soul and main line of packaging design. The selection of packaging technology and materials, packaging, shaping, structure, and interior design should all be focused on serving the overall functional purpose of the goods and packaging.