Packaging Design

Packaging is extremely important in the marketing of a product. I found that the Coca-Cola and Ciao Bella examples from "Isn't it Iconic" truly demonstrated this importance, but in different ways. In the case of Coca-Cola, the company packaged its product in an iconic bottle for many years. Throughout the generations, consumers became attached to Coca-Cola, and thus developed an emotional response to the classic Coca-Cola glass bottle. In more recent years, the company has reverted to a more environmentally friendly means of packaging, but still uses the classic bottle to market its product. For example, on the Christmas edition of the two liter Coca-Cola bottle, an image of the classic Coke bottle was displayed, thus recreating the emotional response to the classic design. The Ciao Bella example also testifies to the importance of packaging. Ciao Bella is a relatively new company that makes a high quality dessert product. As "Isn't it Iconic" mentioned, the company turned to a design firm to develop the package design for the product. The year after the new packaging was developed, sales of Ciao Bella doubled, and the company has now spread to a numerous private retailers and large grocery stores. Many different companies are capable of making delicious gelato. However, the exceptional packaging design of Ciao Bella sets it apart from the competition. The packaging of this product declares "this is a high-end, high-quality product." If a shopper walked down the frozen food section at the grocery store looking for ice cream, he or she would be drawn to Ciao Bella's product, and would be inclined to try it. In this case, the packaging does the initial selling, while the quality and taste of the product determine whether or not the consumer will continue buying the product. A recent example of how packaging influenced my decision to buy something occurred recently at a grocery store. Most days, I eat breakfast in my dorm room, so I need basic breakfast foods like yogurt, cereal, and milk. As I was looking for milk, I walked by the grocery-brand milk, which was packaged in an unappealing clear plastic carton with unattractive green lettering. The combination of the green lettering, the white milk, the plastic bottle, and the harsh refrigerator lighting gave the milk a revolting greenish hue. I continued looking for milk, and stumbled across Horizon's product, which was packaged in a bright red paper carton. The carton had a picture of an extremely happy looking cow, inviting text, and most importantly (for me) the word "organic" displayed prominently across the top of the carton. I bought the much more expensive Horizon milk because of the appealing packaging, the fact that it was organic, and because I did not want to go anywhere near the grocery-brand product.

I think that Apple uses extremely iconic and effective packaging. Apple has a very simple logo, but one that is very distinctive and recognizable to a large portion of the population. On most of the product boxes, the logo is displayed prominently against a bright white or dark black background. The boxes use very few words, usually just contain the name of the product, a picture of a product, and the Apple logo. Since Apple products are much more expensive than, say, Coca-Cola products, most people do not buy Apple products just because of the packaging. However, the packaging contributes to reflective design, and makes the consumer feel like he or she is buying a quality product before opening the box. Another excellent example of iconic packaging is Naked Juices. Naked makes high quality fruit juice and smoothie products which are packaged in a plastic bottle with a square base. The bottles are beautifully designed, containing pictures of fresh fruit and bright colors. There is a perfect balance of visibility between the juice inside the bottle and the excellently designed product label.

Many usability issues exist for packaging. The packaging must be durable, especially in the case of food products, and must seal off the product from the outside. Packages should be able to fit closely and efficiently together, so that less space and money is used while transporting the product. For example, packages that can stack or be placed together with little wasted space in between are particularly efficient. For liquids, different kinds of materials must be used to protect the product. For example, durable paper cartons, plastic bottles, or glass are typically ideal materials to package liquids. The length of use of the product must also be given consideration. For example, products like maple syrup are usually kept in refrigerators or pantries for extended periods of time. Thus, maple syrup is usually packaged in strong, lasting containers of glass or plastic. Paper cartons would not be ideal packages for syrup because over time, the box would probably lose its structure and stability. I believe that Campbell's Soup is an example of good packaging from a usability perspective. Soup is another product that is usually kept on shelves for a very long time, so the packages must be completely sealed off from the outside to prevent the growth of mold and bacteria. The material of the packaging is also very strong and can be dropped on the floor without being punctured. There is very little wasted material in the packaging of Campbell's Soup. The cans are filled up to the brim with soup, so the bare minimum amount of aluminum is used. The circular cans usually fit perfectly within one's hand. Finally, the cans can be stacked one on top of another, which is ideal for shipping and storage in grocery stores and personal pantries.