Most entrepreneurs invest a lot of time and money in building their corporate identity. The corporate identity is made up of the corporate design on the one hand, and the marketing strategy and the actions of the company on the other. Ideally, this results in a symbiosis for a corporate identity with recognition value. Companies that offer products are also faced with the challenge of presenting their corporate design appropriately for packaging design. This is not just about placing the company logo on the packaging.
On the one hand, the design of packaging depends on the product and the type of packaging itself. Depending on the product, cans, bottles, bags, cartons, tubes and a few other variants are available. However, the type of packaging usually does not influence the customer’s choice. The decisive factor is whether the packaging design conveys the manufacturer’s image in a trustworthy way and whether the design itself appears a little more attractive on the shelf than that of the competition. But even this is not the end of the challenges of a packaging designer. In the long term, even a pretty design with recognition value is not enough if the customer has had bad experiences with the packaging.
How packaging design can influence the purchase decision
Every customer is probably familiar with the morning struggle when opening packaging. Cheese and sausage in the plastic packaging with the infamous arrow “tear open here” or the jam jar, which simply cannot be opened. In the long run, it is of little help if the packaging looks pretty and the manufacturer’s corporate design is appropriately conveyed. If you have not been able to open the same packaging three times without any problems, you may reach for the competitor’s product the next time you make a purchase.
But it is not only in the food trade that the construction of packaging is of great importance. In the toy trade, computer accessories and countless other areas, sealed packaging is part of everyday life. These so-called blister packs are a real nuisance for every customer. After the purchase, still full of anticipation for the new product, such blister packaging quickly causes frustration. Ideally, the product compensates for the nuisance after unpacking. In the worst case, the product is not liked and a return would have to be made, which is only legal with the restriction of undamaged packaging. Further frustration and the decision never to buy a product from this manufacturer again are likely consequences.
Linking packaging design and packaging construction
Good packaging is therefore based on two components: design and usability. First and foremost is probably the packaging design itself, because only attractive packaging encourages the customer to buy. Customers who have been guided by design for the first time may no longer buy it for the next time because of the design alone. This is where experience comes into play. On the one hand, of course, the product itself must meet the requirements. But opening the packaging also has an influence on the positive association with the product.
A good packaging design combines graphic design and construction. The focus is therefore not only on the corporate design, but also on the customer and handling. This combination requires crucial cooperation in the packaging design process. Only if design and packaging construction are perfectly linked will they serve as an effective advertising medium for the manufacturer in the long term. In the meantime, prototypes are even commonplace in testing the handling of packaging, which are tested as packaging samples by future customers. Usability and user-centered design are therefore not only decisive factors for success and failure in web design.
Conclusion: A successful packaging design
The fact that design and function have to go hand in hand was recognized by the technology company Apple early on. Since the first iPhone generation in 2007. Not only the products, but also their packaging have been constantly developed and optimized. Ten years later, the market launch of the Apple iPhone X triggered a real unboxing hype. The corresponding YouTube video now has more than twelve million clicks. Of course, this hype is not only due to the successful packaging. And yet the unboxing interest would probably only be half as great if unboxing didn’t work intuitively and barrier-free.
Packaging design is part of the corporate design and thus also of the corporate identity of companies. The mere design of packaging is no longer enough today. The feel, the material used and, in particular, the handling when opening the packaging are also moving further into the foreground. In the future, companies will no longer be able to use their packaging as mere advertising space. For a convincing and successful product, the customer must also be at the center of the design of the packaging.