Packaging’s development

Fast track to MultiPackaging Ltd and Packprint Ltd.

A historical perspective

Packaging’s development has been affected over the centuries by advances in technology, transportation developments and by societal changes. Just as progress and change had an impact on our lives, so have these things on packaging. The present day accentuated the consistency of some packaging formats, and highlighted the appearance, every decade, of new formats and ways of dispensing products. The introduction of new packaging formats and designs is driven by manufacturers creating new products; by packaging technologists and producers devising new solutions to their clients’ needs; by brand managers driven by market imperatives such as brand profile and differentiation; and by designers seeing to answer their clients’ briefs by employing.

Any review of packaging design also reveals the influence of artistic, cultural, and lifestyle factors. Designers are like sponges soaking up different influences, either consciously or unconsciously, and these manifest themselves in their design solutions. Good designers know how to manipulate these influences to transcend mere fashion, cosmetic solutions, to create designs that reflect the zeitgeist and are relevant and meaningful to consumers.

Lifestyle and behavioral patterns

Packaging’s roles has extended in response to consumer’s changing lifestyles. For example, people now live more mobile lives and packaging has developed to accommodate this. In simplistic terms, this has led to the development of travel-size variants of products but it has also let to packaging designed specifically to fit in handbags, briefcases and other luggage.

For many years certain types of packaging have has a role beyond the purely functional. Packaging has become something to value in its own right. In recent years packaging “display” has become part of certain types of design brief as a response to the sheer power of brands and the concomitant status they convey on the owner. Packaging acquires an importance disproportionate to the product itself.

Measuring packaging design’s success

Packaging design, like all design, does not operate in a vacuum. Designers are given a task, or tasks, that reflect the aspirations of the brand owner- such as increased sales, higher profits, greater market share, reduced packaging costs, faster market reactivity, increased distribution, re-focused consumer perceptions, or new product introduction- and they set out to achieve this objective.

One of the particular strengths of packaging design is that its effectiveness can be measured quiet easily in contrast to some other design disciplines.  Sales of a product can be measured by EPOS.
Packaging is used for several purposes:

• Contain products, defining the amount the consumer will purchase.
• Protects products from contamination, from environmental damage and from theft.
• Facilitate transportation and storing of products.
• Carry information and colorful designs that make attractive displays.

A Review

From containers provided by nature to the use of complex materials and processes, packaging has certainly changed. Various factors contributed to this growth: the needs and concerns of people, competition in the marketplace, unplanned events, shifting lifestyles, as well as discoveries and inventions. Just as no single cause influenced past development, a variety of forces will be required to create the packages of the future, but a very important factor will always be consumer choice. Ultimately, only the packaging that our society demands is produced. We choose by the products we purchase.