Packaging is one of the most important links in the production and marketing of modern commodities. The pros and cons of packaging are directly related to the value of commodities in the market circulation. The initial packaging of goods was mainly for the convenience of customers. With the development of the market economy, people began to realize that as a visual communication tool, commodity packaging is by no means an optional thing, but the face of a commodity. Modern packaging is becoming a simple and clear form. Indispensable part of the product. Packaging not only gives the product a unique personality, but also creates a perfect visual image for the product. Currently, packaging has become one of the most direct means of competitive marketing for commodity manufacturers and distributors. Packaging is the self-presentation of goods to customers. It has become a prerequisite for consumers to judge the quality of goods. With the continuous deepening of China's accession to the WTO, the necessity and importance of commodity packaging have emerged day by day. People have constantly experienced that in today's economic globalization, only the exquisite commodity packaging and high-quality goods can be the attention and favor of the majority of consumers, in order to stabilize the competition in the fierce market competition.
First, the functional concept of packaging design
1 safety concept. Ensuring product and consumer safety is the most fundamental starting point for packaging design. In the design of commodity packaging, safety protection measures such as storage, transportation, exhibition and sales, and use and use should be considered based on the attributes of the commodities. Different commodities may require different packaging materials. Currently available materials include metals, glass, ceramics, plastics, cardboard, etc. When selecting the packaging materials, we must ensure the material's seismic, compressive, tensile, anti-squeeze, anti-wear properties, but also pay attention to the sun, moisture, corrosion, leak-proof, and flame-proof issues of the goods, to ensure that the goods under any circumstances All intact.
2 promotional ideas. Promoting product sales is one of the most important functional concepts of packaging design. In the past, when people purchased goods, they mainly depended on the promotion and introduction of salespersons. Now, supermarket self-selection becomes the most common way for people to buy goods. In the process of consumer shopping, goods packaging naturally acts as a silent advertisement or a silent salesman. If product packaging design can attract the attention of consumers and fully stimulate their desire to buy, then the packaging design truly reflects the concept of promotion.
3 production concept. Packaging design to ensure that while styling, we must consider whether the design can achieve accurate, rapid, mass production, can help workers quickly and accurately processing, molding, loading and sealing. In the design of commodity packaging, proper packaging materials should be selected based on the attributes of products, use value, consumer groups, etc., in order to unify the form and content, and fully consider the time saving of production and processing in order to speed up the circulation of commodities.
4 humanity concept. Excellent packaging design must be suitable for the storage, transportation, exhibition and sale of goods, as well as the carrying and opening of consumers. For this reason, in the packaging design of goods, it is necessary to make the ratio of the box-type structure reasonable, rigorous structure, exquisite shape, focus on the shape of box-type and material beauty, contrast and coordination beauty, rhythm and rhythm beauty, and strive to achieve the box-type structure function Complete and exquisite appearance to adapt to production, sales and even use. Common commodity packaging structures include portable, suspended, open, windowed, closed, or combinations of several types.
5 artistic concept. Excellent packaging design should also be perfectly artistic. Packaging is an art that directly beautifies goods. Products that are exquisitely packaged and of high value for art appreciation are more likely to jump out of a mass of merchandise and give people the enjoyment of beauty, thereby winning the favor of consumers.
6 environmental protection concept. The awareness of environmental protection in modern society has become the consensus of most countries in the world. Under the trend of ecological environmental protection, only product packaging designs that do not pollute the environment and do not harm human health may become consumers' ultimate choice. Especially in
Food Packaging, more attention should be paid to green packages.
7 visual communication concept. The essential characteristics of visual communication are simple and clear. Excessively modified content will only cause mutual interference, making the packaging theme difficult to highlight, not only affecting the visual impact, but may also mislead consumers' thinking. According to the laws of visual communication, in the process of product packaging design, unnecessary visual elements should be removed as much as possible, and the visual theme should be emphasized to find the most creative and expressive visual communication methods.
Second, the color and emotional color of packaging design are the visual information symbols that are most sensitive to visual stimuli and have the fastest response in all visual elements of the human body.
Japanese scientists have found that people’s attention to color accounts for about 80% of human vision, while attention to shape only accounts for about 20%. Therefore, color plays an important role in packaging design. Colors can be divided into primary colors, intermediate colors, complex colors, and complementary colors. Its three elements include hue, purity, and lightness. Various elements have different attributes and meanings. Hue refers to the appearance characteristics of colors and their differences. The basic hue includes red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet, and their wavelengths are different. The effects on the human retina make people feel different colors. The red, orange, and yellow light wavelengths are relatively large. Human vision has strong impact, while blue, green, and violet light have smaller wavelengths and weak impact. Hue can reflect the inherent color and warmth of things. Purity is a qualitative indicator of color in terms of quality. Brightness refers to the amount of light that stimulates the human eye. Faced with different colors, people will have different psychological reactions such as cold and warm, light and dark, light and heavy, strong and weak, far and near, and expansion and contraction.
The color design of the product packaging should match the attributes of the product. Color design should enable consumers to think of the characteristics and performance of the product. What needs to be emphasized is that regardless of the color, the basic starting point should be to coordinate the contents of the goods. According to the color of the product packaging, consumers can think of the packaging of goods, such as green can reflect the canned green beans, orange can reflect the orange juice. If this practice is violated, consumers may be misled, which is detrimental to the sale of goods. For example, if a black bottle is used to hold mineral water, it is difficult for consumers to connect from black hole packaging to crystal clear mineral water. In color science, this color, which embodies the attributes of goods, is called the image color. The use of image color should follow the principle of proper and vivid image. In general, the red tone means passion, passionateness, unrestrainedness, and is mostly used in cosmetics and food; the blue tone is calm, cool and calm, and can be used for swimsuits, water sports equipment, cold drinks, summer vests, fans, refrigerators, etc. Hardware machinery and electrical appliances can also give people a fresh feeling. In addition, hospital hygiene supplies can also be used blue tone; Purple tone noble, elegant, mysterious, often used in senior cosmetics, jewelry, gift gifts; yellow tone happy, lively, wealthy For packaging textiles, people will feel warmer. However, it needs to be pointed out that the use of image color is not old-fashioned imprisonment and sticks to conventions. If it can adapt to local conditions and be flexible and innovative, it may “rebound new ideas” and receive unexpectedly good results. For example, a company uses blue tints to package moon cake foods, so that consumers think of the beauty of the Mid-Autumn Festival and Yue Ming, thus sprouting the desire to buy and eat moon cakes.
In the final analysis, product packaging should be able to meet the aesthetic needs of consumers and express the emotional voice of consumers. Only by embodying and inducing the good feelings of the consumers with colors can it stimulate their desire to buy. A market survey in the United Kingdom showed that when housewives go shopping in supermarkets, the goods purchased for exquisite packaging usually exceed about 45% of the budget, which indicates that the packaging design is very attractive.
Third, green packaging is the future of packaging design
Saving natural resources and protecting the ecological environment are the basic contents of the sustainable development strategy. As an important part of social and economic activities, commodity packaging will inevitably embark on the road to sustainable development—green packaging. Green packaging, also known as environmentally friendly packaging, means that the packaging design must ensure that the performance of the product is intact and environmental protection factors are taken into account. That is, packaging waste has no damage to the ecological environment. For some time, due to the neglect of the harmonious development between man and nature, a large number of packaging materials or packaging processes that cause environmental pollution have been used in the packaging of goods, causing serious damage (potential hazards) to the ecological environment or human health, such as the use of non- Degradation of plastic caused by "white waste" disaster. Today, mankind has become more and more aware of the importance and necessity of green packaging. For example, Japan has banned the use of non-biodegradable plastic packaging of vegetables and fruits; many foods in the United States began to use soy protein packaging film, which can be cooked with food. China also attaches great importance to the development of green packaging. For example, some corn baking and packaging cups used in ice cream products are not only conducive to ecological and environmental protection, but also popular with consumers. It can be predicted that green packaging will become the mainstream direction of future packaging design.
To develop green packaging, the following issues should be noted: 1) In the packaging design of goods, recyclable, renewable, or degradable packaging materials should be used as far as possible. For example, a French dairy company used lactic acid to develop a biodegradable plastic that could be degraded to farmyard manure at 55°C for 60 days. In addition, Japan and other countries are also studying biodegradable plastics based on propionic acid. 2) The packaging material or packaging process cannot damage the ecological environment. For example, the United States strictly prohibits the use of rice straw as a packing material, because straw may cause the spread of plant diseases and insect pests. Another example is that several countries in the European Union have banned the import of rainforest timber in order to prevent the greenhouse effect. 3) Packaging materials or packaging processes cannot harm human health. For example, due to the discovery of strong carcinogen dioxins in some blister packaging materials, Italy, Austria and other countries have completely banned the use of such packaging materials. 4) The urgency and inevitability of green packaging must be fully understood in terms of ideology. Green packaging may increase the cost of product packaging, but must not overlook the development prospects of green packaging. Green packaging is not only a revolution facing packaging materials and packaging technology, but also a great revolution facing the entire packaging industry, and it is also a great revolution related to the survival and development of human beings.
Fourth, packaging design should belong to its time and people
The German classical philosopher Hegel once said that every artwork belongs to its time and its people. As a cultural phenomenon, packaging, like a work of art, should also belong to its time and nation. In the field of packaging design, both national and foreign countries should fully demonstrate their national characteristics. The nation is the world. In modern commodity packaging design, in addition to absorbing advanced design concepts and science and technology from abroad, inheriting and developing our traditional art style also has great practical significance. China is an ancient country with a long history of culture and history. There are many things that are nationalized, and national personalities are manifested. If we can fully explore our national cultural heritage, we will greatly promote the development and progress of China's commodity packaging design. After China's accession to the WTO, commodity packaging in China is facing unprecedented opportunities, and it is also facing more severe challenges. In the packaging of goods, if we emphasize one-sidedly with international standards and neglect local culture, then it is certainly not conducive to the sustained, healthy and stable development of China's commodity packaging. The example of a branded milk powder with a white image printed on the international market is an example.
Packaging design should also grasp the pulse of the times. The society is advancing and the times are evolving. If old, immutable, obsolete packaging is used forever, it will certainly be detrimental to the marketing of goods. In the past, our country’s enterprises did not fully understand the importance of commodity packaging, and did not fully consider the sense of the era of packaging design, resulting in products of superior quality that were at a disadvantage in the international market. In fact, commodity packaging has a strong sense of the times, packaging design can only adapt to the ever-changing market. First of all, packaging design should be consistent with consumers' increasingly mature consumer attitudes. With the improvement of China’s economic and cultural level, the people of our country have changed from subsistence to well-to-do. The requirements for the structure, shape and function of commodity packaging are also increasing. Second, environmental protection concepts and health concepts have increasingly become the main theme of today's world. The packaging materials and packaging processes used in the packaging of goods should conform to the main theme. At present, developed countries have begun to promote the use of paper cans and other green packaging materials and processes [3]. Third, packaging design should fully consider contemporary human factors. For example, today's society has stepped into the Internet era. Therefore, packaging design needs to fully consider the full and fast-paced modern people's desire to return to nature in the Internet era.
Fifth, commodity packaging design should arouse consumers' strong desire to buy
Whether it can stimulate consumers' desire to buy is one of the most important criteria for evaluating the success or failure of commodity packaging design. Consumer recognition and purchase are the biggest rewards for product packaging design. In order to achieve this goal, designers need to fully consider various aspects of business, industry, art, psychology, etc., and based on the principle of “practice-design-re-practice-redesign”, proceed from reality and get product packaging design More and more consumer acceptance and recognition. Designers must realize that packaging design is not a purely artistic thing, but a multidisciplinary integration of literature, science, engineering, and business. In order to design a product package that is generally accepted and recognized by consumers, designers must study art design, marketing, sales, economics, consumer psychology, structural materials, ergonomics, physics, and printing processes. Learn relevant knowledge, expand and optimize your own knowledge structure. In short, excellent packaging design should be a popular, international, and market-oriented design. It should have a powerful impact on the consumer's vision and psychology, and it can arouse consumers' strong desire to purchase.
