Packaging & Merchandising Design / Task 1: Exercises

 30.08.2022 - 04.10.2022 (Week 01 - Week 06)

Adeline Wong Chyn Nee / 0344017 / Mr. Shasmsul & Ms. April

Packaging & Merchandising Design

Task 1 / Exercises

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LECTURES

Week 02 Lectures: Introduction

Notes

During F2F class on week 2, Mr. Shamsul briefed the module to us in class, and we learn about the module outcome and the projects we will carry out throughout the 14 weeks of the semester. After that, we were introduced to Ms. April who will be facilitating us alongside Mr. Shamsul for this module. After that, we toured the laser cut studio, carpentry studio, as well as the Mereka studio.

These are the notes I took during class:

Notes:

- We were told that we need to catch up with the project timeline as we are already in week 2. Submission for exercise 1 is on week 3 (Tuesday).

- Exercise 2 is a box-making exercise based on 2 loose items, we are required to find 2 items such as MacBook, or any item with a box, we can come up with a design for the item (with no box), or we can redesign a bad box design.

- Exercise 2 is to be submitted on week 4.

- Project 1 will be a promotion box design for “Happy Meal”, the design should not be too far from the original design, should include a piece of educational information in it, and should include stuff from the previous exercise.

- Final outcome for project 1 is a physical box.

- We are encouraged to use the laser cut studio, and we went for a tour to look around the studio later during the class.

- Project 2 is a group project will be given, and we will be given until week 10 to submit this project.

- We are to work with the bioscience students for project 2, and we are to also work with Kawan Food to create the packaging for them.

- In this semester, we are required to create both the digital mock-up and the physical packaging.

Week 03 Lectures: Packaging

Notes

A. History of Packaging (Notes)

Fig. 1.1.1 Glass jars for storage

- In class, we talked about the history of packaging, which started back in 1500 B.C Egypt where they used glass jars for storage.

Fig. 1.1.2 Treated mulberry bark to wrap food

- China then used sheets of treated mulberry bark were used to wrap food.

Fig. 1.1.3 Tin-plated cans for food and card box

- England started to use tin-plated cans for food and cardboard boxes were produced.

Fig. 1.1.4 Paper bags for commerce use

- Further down the line, they created paper bags for commerce use

Fig. 1.1.5 The Smith brother's cough drop packaging

- The Smith brothers started to brand their packaging with their cough drops for the benefit of the consumer.

Fig. 1.1.6 Stick-on tab introduced by Falls City Brewing Co.

- The stick-on tab was invented and introduced by Falls City Brewing Co. in Kentucky.

Fig. 1.1.7 First Whole Foods supermarket

- in 1980, Whole Foods opened its first natural food supermarket.

B. Packaging as a Salesperson

Packaging today has evolved to act as the role of a salesperson, they are to meet a need. The greater the need, the more energetic the consumer will be. Although the packaging is used to preserve freshness and quality to prevent contamination packaging is also to advertise the product, giving consumers the first look at the product. The packaging connects the form, color, structure, material, typography, and imagery with the product information to make the product suitable for marketing.

C. The purpose & function of packaging

Fig. 1.2.1 Egg box is used to protect the egg inside

Some packaging is also used to protect the product such as eggs from shock, vibration, and compression. Their purpose is to protect the product. Some may say that the egg box is perhaps the greatest piece of functional packaging ever

D. Information Transmission

Fig. 1.3.1 Information on packaging

- Packagings have labels to communicate how to use, transport, recycle, or dispose of the packaging or product.

- Some information is required by the law of the local government of certain countries.

E. Transport

Fig. 1.4.1 Transportation for distribution of products

They are also used for transportation mean, like boxes for manufacturer use to deliver to retailers/consumers, as well as help to distribute the product.

F. Communication

The packaging role is primordial, it has to basically stand out from the competition by conveying the best message among all its competitors.

G. Display

Fig. 1.5.1 Products attractively displayed

Products are attractively displayed to sell, in the image above, the packaging design is designed to form an image when displayed on the shelves of supermarkets and stores.

H. Marketing

Marketing is carried out to encourage potential buyers to purchase the product.

I. Mandatory information for packaging (food aspect)

Fig. 1.6.1 Example of mandatory information

- Brand logo

- Company logo

- Manufacturer Address

- Net content

- Benefits

- Weight

- Ingredients

- Usage/ dosage

- Expiry

- Barcode

- Halal logo

J. Packaging design as communication

Visual problem-solving is at the core of packaging design. 

Fig. 1.7.1 Textured finishing on packaging

Perceive Value
Different packagings have different perceive values. Some brands look cheap and some look premium. The brand, the finishing, the material, and the aesthetic design. Not many typefaces on the more expensive designs and more combinations of typefaces on the cheaper ones.

Week 04 Lectures: Understanding board tools & techniques

Notes

Tools in packaging design are to create mock-ups. From the lecture, we know that the design of packaging requires not only a new set of hand skills for the packaging designer, from creative engineering to the mastering of mock-up construction but a different way of thinking about a solution and presenting the information.

We are shown a set of tools required of designers back then:

- Metal ruler

- Scoring tool

- Cutting mat

- T-square

- Adhesive – spray mount, PVA glue, double-sided

- Cutter, scissors

At certain points in our package construction, we will find that it’s preferable to fold rather than to cut the board. There are two different ways to score a piece of cardboard.

A. Scoring point

Fig. 2.1.1 Scoring point

For cardboards, the points where we wish to fold but not cut, we can use either a scoring tool or the back of a knife to achieve that look.

For the normal printing technique, they use the die-cut method.

In class, we were shown a video to show how a card box is made by folding, in the video we see how boxes are mass-produced in factories, and how they go through machines for cutting to create a sturdier form. In the end, after the form boxes are made, they are sent to be colored or printed with illustrations/ photos, 90 boxes can be made in a minute. 

B. The structure of the packaging

There are many different types of packaging, and it is important that goods are packaged

correctly, and the products are protected when they are transported. Packaging comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. 

There are four basic structures in packaging:

Fig. 2.2.1 Six-sided box

- The six-sided box- is the most common use storage structure, simple to construct and practical

Fig. 2.2.2 Pyramid box

- The pyramid- can be designed with three or more sides, and its base will change accordingly to the design.

Fig. 2.2.3 Cone box

- The cone- Typically used for gifts, the base is round with a single triangular side that turns around onto itself along the base.

Fig. 2.2.4 Cylinder box

- The cylinder- the cylinder has a single vertical side that curves around itself,  usually made from moldable materials such as plastic or metal, instead of paperboard.

C. The studio technique

Fig. 2.3.1 Die-cut technique

- The die-cutting technique (to create special shapes)

- Embossing

- Perforations

- Pop-ups

- UV varnish (to create a shiny and smooth surface, a different file has to be created to create a spot UV look on the packaging)

D. Offset Printing

Fig. 2.4.1 How Offset Printing Works by Express Cards

We were shown a video about offset printing during the lecture, I learn that this printing technique has 4 different coloring processes and then dried off at the end to create a full image of colors on the paper.

Bleed on paper

Having bleed is important so the pages get properly trimmed, all of the bleed areas are to be trimmed off.

Week 05 Lectures: Packaging Material

Notes

In class, we talked about the materials for packaging, what it does and why.

Packaging is an essential component, it tells stories and makes promises in an attempt to win trust. There are different types of material to make sure the product is marketable to consumers,  employing these processes can help a product stand out from its competition – the ultimate goal of packaging – and add to the expressive capabilities of the design.

Types of packaging material:

Fig. 3.1.1 Metal, plastic, and paper packaging

- Paper - paper bags, aseptic (juice boxes, milk cartons), sachets, etc

- Plastic - blister packs (for vacuum packaging, show example), clamshells, bottles [insert an image I took in class]

- Tubs, shrink - wraps, etc

- Glass - bottles, jars, etc

- Metal - cans, tubes

- Wood - crates etc

- Leather - bags etc

- Fabric - bags etc

A. Metal:

- An air-tight container made of thin metal that requires cutting or tearing to open.

- Can, tin can, or tin, these containers hold a variety of products, with the overwhelming majority being food preserved by canning.

- Typically can have a printed paper or plastic label glued to the outside cylinder body.

Fig. 3.2.1 Canned Foods

Typical uses:

- Vegetables, fruits, milk, nuts, soup, fish, engine oil, and pet food.

- Aluminium is attractive, and light strong at the same time, but requires a lot of raw materials energy to make it.

- For this reason, it must be recycled.

B. Carton (specialty)

Fig. 3.3.1 Canned Foods

Boxes can be created in a variety of specific shapes and usages.

- Various geometric shapes including rectangles, squares, ovals, and rounds can be designed specifically to hold a particular product.

Typical uses:

- Specialty cartons include those for eggs, milk, and juice.

C. Aseptic Packaging

Fig. 3.4.1 & 3.4.2 Aseptic packaging

What is Aseptic Packaging?

- Aseptic packaging is a specialized manufacturing process in which food, pharmaceutical, or other contents are sterilized separately from packaging.

- This method uses extremely high temperatures to maintain the freshness of the contents while also ensuring that it’s not contaminated with microorganisms.

Polyethylene is used as a barrier on the inner and outer sides of aseptic packaging. These layers protect against moisture entering or exiting the container.

Film foil helps preserve the product by keeping light and oxygen out.

D. Plastic

Easier to form but difficult to degrade, although now we have bio-degradable plastic, however, it is not as strong as normal plastic.

This is the most common packaging material & at the same time, one of the most difficult to

dispose of. The factors common to all plastics are that they are light, strong & cheap to manufacture.

It is for these reasons that they are used so much, as an alternative to cardboard & glass

packaging materials.

Plastic Problem

Fig. 3.5.1 Plastic Problem

- Almost 10% of our rubbish consists of different types of plastic.

- They are a problem in landfills as they are bulky.

- Separated the rest of the waste, they can be upgraded for the good of everyone, by upcycling and upgrading

E. Glass

Fig. 3.6.1 Glass Packaging

Ideal material for foods, especially liquids, it is inalterable, strong easy to recycle.

It is the traditional vessel in the home (jars, glasses, jugs, etc.).

Its weight shape may involve some difficulties for transport storage as glass is a fragile material.

Labels & Barcode

Fig. 3.7.1 & 3.7.2 Barcode examples on packaging

A bar code is a series of black-and-white bars and spaces that represent a series of

characters & symbols.

- Its purpose is to code information in a form that is easy to read by a machine.

- Bar codes are read by sweeping a small spot of light across the printed bar-code symbol.

The three advantages of barcoding over manual data collection are:

- Speed: data are entered into the computer more rapidly

- Accuracy: bar-code systems are almost error-free. They do not rely on people to type correctly

- Reliability: bar-code formats are designed with various forms of error checking built into the code.

Week 06 Lectures: Packaging Colours

Notes

This week we are introduced to the colors of packaging.

In the lecture, we learn that color is one of the elements that will set the business apart from others and your packaging such as the ones of competitors. The colors you choose should send the right subliminal messages to inspire any potential customer to buy your product.

The human eyes see color before the brain recognizes imagery in the form of shapes, symbols, words, and other visual elements, so seeing color is a complex process. 

Our packaging colors should relate to your logo and reflect the image you are sending to the marketplace to attract buyers.

Lastly, we shouldn't make the mistake of choosing our favorite color without checking the subconscious messages of the color first. It might be a great packaging color but just inappropriate for your business image.

Extras: (elaborate on them)

Put ourselves in the shoes of consumers and think of what they would like to see when buying the product.

Image, typeface, and cultural preferences determine them

Example:

In class, we were told that once a big company came up with a white angpao, so understanding color for cultures is very important. 

How to make the right colour choice for packaging:

- Keep the consumer of your product in mind, your target market - put yourself in their shoes to see what motivates them to buy - what is their age, their gender, their economic status, their

education level.

- Determine the purpose of your product and what message you want the packaging to send to your buyer.

- Understand any cultural preferences of your target market as well as any cultural meanings

attached to your colour choices before making your selection.

- Select the colours based on the message you want to send to your target market together with the above information.

- Find a way to stand out from the crowd (or your competition) to grab the attention of your buyer.

- Test your colour packaging in the marketplace to determine its success and make changes if

necessary.

Colour Psychology & Representation

White- white is the blank canvas waiting to be written upon.

- It relates to innocence, equality, optimism, cleanliness, truthfulness, and new beginnings.

- As a packaging color it is safe, basic, unadventurous, and conservative, but a good choice where you want to create the impression of cleanliness, purity, efficiency, or simplicity.

Silver

- It implies elegance, classiness, professionalism, and sophistication.

- It is more gentle than gold and it combines well with almost all other colors illuminating anything printing or decorating on the packaging.

Yellow- yellow inspire original ideas and creativity

- It is cheerful, intelligent, innovative, optimistic, precaution, playful, and uplifting to the spirits.

- In packaging colors yellow suggests either something original and innovative or a cheap, fun product. Its positive and happy energy attracts children and young adolescents.

Gold

- It suggests expensive, strong, luxurious, and high quality.

- However, your product should reflect this high standard or you will lose credibility

- A poor-quality products inside gold packaging will appear cheap and have the same effect as fake gold!

Orange

- It means adventure, optimism, self-confidence, and sociability.

- It is enthusiastic, extroverted, and uninhibited. The orange color suggests affordability, fun, and adventure when it comes to packaging.

Red

- In color psychology, red means energy, vitality, power, action, passion, excitement, and strength.

- Using red for your packaging colors draws attention to your product, stimulates the senses, and excites the potential purchaser.

- Dark reds are perceived as professional and luxurious, while bright reds are more exciting and energetic and generally of lower perceived value than dark reds.

Purple

Purple relates to high ideals, imagination, mystery, and spirituality.

- Using purple in your packaging colors implies luxury, extravagance, premium quality, or uniqueness, particularly if used with gold or silver printing or decoration.

- Purple tends to be more attractive to the female and youth market, although it is slowly becoming more acceptable to males.

Blue

- Blue relates to trust, honesty, reliability, harmony, loyalty, strength, stability, security, and unity

- When used in your packaging colors it communicates trust and reliability in the product.

- The darker the blue, the more professional, serious, and conservative the product will be perceived to be.

- The lighter the blue the softer and more creative the product will be perceived to be.

Green- green is a color of balance and harmony of the mind, the body, and emotions.

- In color psychology, it relates to security, life, youth, freshness, wealth, and growth.

- For packaging colors, green suggests natural, organic, and healthy, a good colour to use for environmentally friendly products.

- Dark green implies wealth, luxury, and professional quality.

Black

- Black is the color of power, authority, and control.

- It tends to stand out when used as a packaging color as it makes products appear heavier and more expensive and transmits a higher perceived value.

- Black adds a degree of mystery and intimidation on one hand and elegance and class on the other.

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INTRODUCTION

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Task 1 / Exercises

Week 02- Week 03

In this module, we have a total of two exercises, a case study and making box packaging.

Case Study (2 weeks) - 10%

For the first exercise, we are to study an existing product packaging by dissecting the design details and identifying the advantages and disadvantages of the design value. 

For this exercise where we do a case study exploring existing packaging design, we are required to choose one existing packaging design. It can be any design of our choice. Study on the entire design, practicality, ergonomics, target audience, and how the packaging carries the brand image. Lastly, write a short report based on our observations and research.

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Research Process:

Attempt #1: "These Cards Will Get You Drunk Too" Card Game

For my initial idea, I found a card game at home, a drinking game card to be specific. It's called "These Cards Will Get You Drunk Too", an extension card pack. 

Fig. 3.1.1 "These Cards Will Get You Drunk Too"

Starting with the case study, I start to dissect the first look, target market, information on packaging, and its brandings such as design and material. With that information, I have created my slides draft to show Ms. April.

On week 3, I showed my progress to Ms. April and I told her that the brand could be a "China-made" copy of the original game, which I was unaware of until I was told to look it up by Ms. April. I realized that the packaging I have been dissecting is actually off-brand, so I have decided to try again with a new packaging.

Attempt #2: "Frosted Party Dreams" Sephora Makeup Palette

For my second attempt, I found a Christmas-themed makeup palette in one of my drawers and felt that it could be good packaging for this exercise. With its hardcover material, packaging design, and content, it can give this case study sufficient information to dissect.

Fig. 4.1.1 "Frosted Party Dreams" front and inside

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Slides Content

Slides 1-2: Introduction and exercise outline

To start with the slides, I started off by introducing the exercise by stating the requirements.

Fig. 4.2.1 Slide 1-2: Introduction and exercise outline

Slides 3-4: Company and product overview

For my second attempt, I started by researching the brand's company and the product overview. The product name which is "Frosted Party Dreams" is from a care and beauty retailing company, Sephora.

Fig. 4.2.2 Slide 3-4: Company and product overview

Slide 5: First impression of the packaging

Based on my first impression of the product's packaging, I wrote down the overview first impression of the product's name, color, packaging quality, and graphic element. 

Fig. 4.2.3 Slide 5: First Impression

Slide 6: Target Market

Based on my research and personal input, the target market of this product is determined based on its packaging design, material, and merchandising.

Fig. 4.2.4 Slide 6: Target Market

Slide 7: Packaging Information

From the packaging of the product, I have written down the information from the front, back, as well as inside of the packaging.

Fig. 4.2.5 Slide 7: Packaging Information

Slide 8: Packaging Design

Based on the packaging itself, the colours, graphics, and typography aspects of it are focused on and dissected.

Fig. 4.2.6 Slide 8: Packaging Design

Slide 9: Packaging Merchandise

Based on the packaging itself, the material, finishing, and functions are focused on and dissected.

Fig. 4.2.7 Slide 9: Packaging Merchandise

Slide 10: Product Defects

Based on the packaging itself, I observed if there are any defects with the one I have on hand as well as the images of the packaging I found online.

Fig. 4.2.8 Slide 10: Packaging Defects

Slide 11: Reference

The references for the content of my slides.

Fig. 4.2.9 Slide 11: Reference

FINAL SUBMISSION

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Task 2 / Exercises

Week 04- Week 06

In this module, we have a total of two exercises, a case study and making box packaging. This is the second exercise, which is box making

Box Making (2 weeks) - 10%

We are required to choose 2 loose items. The size of the items should not be larger than 300mm. We need to design a box for each item and consider the purpose of packaging when designing the box.

Requirements:

In week 4, we showedour chosen loose items to Mr. Shamsul as well as Ms April where next week, we are to have our box boards and ai layout design ready. We are advised to buy extra materials since it's a trial and error process. For the material size, we are to keep the layout design within 730mm x 430mm for our artboard size in ai. To determine our cutting methods, we have to fill the line colour with RGB red or blue for normal cutting line and dotted line cutting respectively. Finally, we have to make sure that the layout line weight have to be 0.001 as it is the requirement for the laser machine.

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Research Process:

These are the two loose times that I have found in my room, I have brought both of them to class during week 4 and received dome advice from Mr. Shamsul. 

Item #1: PLANT ORIGINS Goognight Sleep Aromatherapy Room Spray

Fig. 5.1.1 PLANT ORIGINS Goognight Sleep Aromatherapy Room Spray

Item #2: CORSX Hyaluronic Acid Intensive Cream

Fig. 5.1.2 CORSX Hyaluronic Acid Intensive Cream

Feedback in Week 4 for box layout:

Fig. 5.1.3 Mr. Shamsul's sketching on the glass table (in-class feedback)

Item #1: PLANT ORIGINS Goognight Sleep Aromatherapy Room Spray

- For this type of products, you could try a 6-sided box with handle

- The spray nozzle could be used as a handle itself

Item #2: CORSX Hyaluronic Acid Intensive Cream

- Instead of a product insert, you could try making the shape of the box a hexagon/ octagon shape to hold the product in place

- For the top, it could just open like how it normally would.

Creating the box layout design

For my box layout making process, I have made a couple of test layout design to cut out on my material to make sure there was no mistakes with the layout, as I proceeded I realised a couple of mistakes from both the layout designs.

Item #1: PLANT ORIGINS Goognight Sleep Aromatherapy Room Spray

- Wrong box length: I realised that I should have included some top space for this specifically or it wouldn't fit

Fig. 5.2.1 Initial box layout design for item #1

Item #2: CORSX Hyaluronic Acid Intensive Cream

- Missing stick-on for sides: I missed out on adding a stick-on on the most left/ right of the layout to connect with the rest of the sides

Fig. 5.2.2 Initial box layout design for item #2

Final Box Layout Design:

Item #1: PLANT ORIGINS Goognight Sleep Aromatherapy Room Spray

Full View:

Fig. 5.3.1 Full view of 1# box layout design

Top-part view:

Fig. 5.3.2 Top-part view of 1# box layout design

Inner fold part:

Fig. 5.3.3 Inner fold part of 1# box layout design

Bottom-part view:

Fig. 5.3.4 Bottom-part of 1# box layout design

Side tuck part:

Fig. 5.3.5 Side tuck part of 1# box layout design

Item #2: CORSX Hyaluronic Acid Intensive Cream

Full View:

Fig. 5.4.1 Full view of 2# box layout design

Sides:

Fig. 5.4.2 Sides of 2# box layout design

Top and bottom:

Fig. 5.4.3 Top and bottom of 2# box layout design

Side stick-on:

Fig. 5.4.4 Side stick-on of 2# box layout design

FINAL SUBMISSION

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FEEDBACK

Week 03:

Specific Feedback: Upon showing my slides progress to Ms. April, I was told that my initial chosen packaging can be an off-brand of the real product, so I was advised to choose a more conventional and credible product packaging. The rest is good and I'll have to show my progress on the changed packaging in class next week.

Week 04:

Specific Feedback: For our second exercise, I have brought 2 loose items and the products are approved by Mr. Shamsul so I can continue with the packaging design. For the packaging itself, I was advised to construct a hexagon-shaped box as it also acts with a function to hold the rounded product in place. As for the other product, I was advised to try a design where the spray trigger is exposed and acts as a holder for the packaging.

Week 05:

Specific Feedback: From our online feedback session, I was advised to create a mock-up before attempting to cut my material with a laser to ensure there are no mistakes on the actual box after cutting. The box layout design is good, I just had to make sure that the bottom part of my second box packaging design works by looking at my mock-ups.

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REFLECTION

Week 03 - 04

Experience

This first exercise has been an interesting one, I feel that when carrying out the task, I felt the freedom to have my personal creative input when I was dissecting the box and creating the slides. There wasn't a fixed guideline required for us to follow, so I think that allowed me to feel liberated while having fun with the exercise. 

Observations

On week 3, I showed my progress to Ms. April and I was told that the brand I chose could be off-brand so having it as my dissected packaging would not be the best idea. Before this, I wasn't even aware that the brand I have on hand could be off-brand but after much research and close observation, I have discovered that it actually is one. Next time, I would need to carefully check for the credibility of each brand before engaging in my research.

Findings

When creating the slides for the first exercise, I found the tools in Canva to be extra helpful in making my images fit better. For example, the "Remove background tool" is essential to show the product without its background, I have been utilizing that tool in order to create cleaner images to only show the product in my slides. 

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FURTHER READING

Week 02-04

Fig. 5.1.1 Packaging & Dielines (The Designer's Book of Packaging Dielines) by @DesignPackaging

In this book by DesignPackaging, I picked up some knowledge to bring over to my next task, which is box-making. I looked into page 47 which talks about "Folding Boxes", I have picked out 4 potential box designs for my next task and related the designs to my chosen products.

Fig. 5.1.2 Screenshot of page 46 (Folding Boxes)

Folding Boxes: Folding boxes are typically used for secondary product packaging when competing on shelves for consumer attention. Folding boxes are a more cost-effective option than rigid boxes because they use a card stock that can be directly printed and die-cut. Card stocks come in various weights, and we recommend testing what works for your application before deciding on a final material. Stocks range from 10pt to 18pt and above in either coated or uncoated surfaces. We recommend that you always print out the die lines to confirm dimensions, proportions, and user experience, and that the structure is what you envisioned prior to applying artwork. 

Box #1: 1-piece tuck box with insert

The 1-piece box with insert is a good choice to hold the rounded product in a place with the insert, while still having a square-shaped box.

Fig. 5.1.3 & 5.1.4 Screenshot of 1-piece tuck box with insert

Box #2: Long Box

The long box with an insert is a good choice for the product if the material used for packaging is a hardcover, which is suitable to be marketed as a gift. The box also has to have the equal length for all four sides.

Fig. 5.1.5 & 5.1.6 Screenshot of long box

Box #3: Threaded 2-piece folding box

The threaded 2-piece folding box is a good choice for it can hold the product in place, while still having that high-end look and touch.

Fig. 5.1.7 & 5.1.8 Screenshot of threaded 2-piece folding box

Box #4: Display Box

The display box is a good choice, only if an insert is added to hold the product in place. A window can also be added to let consumers peek into the product for a more interesting look.

Fig. 5.1.9 & 5.1.10 Screenshot of the display box