THE SHAPE OF PACKAGING

Creating the structure and shape of a packaging

Designers have two key tools to grab the consumers’ attention, graphics and structure.

The structure of a pack can serve multiple purposes:

• To create shelf standout and sell the product
• To protect the product
• To prolong the life of the product
• To facilitate the use of the product
• To reassure customers that it's part of a familar range

Designers create innovative and enticing packaging shapes using computer modelling and CAD visuals before they make mock ups to show how a pack might look and feel. While designing the structure of pack they will think about:

Creating standout

Some products are instantly recognisable simply from the silhouette of their pack.

POM Wonderful

Los Angeles-based Pomegranate juice brand POM took a similarly unique approach to structure when it launched in a bulbous plastic bottle in 2002. A designer called Bryan Honkawa designed the bottle and is meant to simulate two pomegranates on top of each other, the neck of the bottle being the crown of the fruit.

Toblerone

Toblerone was created in 1908 by Theodor Tobler and his cousin Emil Baumann. Since then, the triangular Swiss chocolate has become so renound it can even afford to create a pack without the Toblerone name on it because the shape of the pack is so intertwined with the brand.

Protecting the product

The rigours of the supply chain are an often overlooked factor influencing packaging design. Whether it’s biscuits or perfume, packaging’s role is to ensure the product gets to the customer in the intended state. Therefore it is important to run trials to see how the pack performs in the supply chain. There’s no point rolling out a pack if it’s not going to make it to the supermarket shelf.

Molton Brown

JKR strengthened the structure of the unique circular box they created for Molton Brown so the packs could be stacked in store and were reusable by the consumer. The striking packs increased sales of the Christmas gift packs by 50% from 2005 to 2006.

Cucumbers

Is it really necessary to shrinkwrap a cucumber? Cucumber seminars from Designplus and Brunel university debate whether packaging fruit and veg like cucumbers is really necessary. INCPEN, the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment argues that tests by the Cucumber Growers’ Association show that shrinkwrapping a cucumber can increase its shelf life by almost five times (to 14 days) compared with that of the naked fruit. Since a lot of energy is used, and a lot of CO2 is produced, by everything that is farmed for us to eat, it pays to use packaging to protect the product and extend its shelflife so that the energy and CO2 that went in to producing it isn't wasted.

Making the product easier to use

A quick way to put consumers off a product is to make it totally impractical to use. Packaging design must incorporate functional aspects that allow the consumer to easily use what they buy. Take your average milk bottle, for example. First the consumer must be able to grip the bottle, then unscrew the cap before pouring the milk without it glugging and spilling everywhere. Without packaging designers continually improving on what we've got, this isn't always possible. Remember the trials of trying to prize open a tetrapak carton of milk or the frustration you felt at not being able to reseal the glass bottle once you'd popped off the foil top?

Some of the most popular packs are the simplest. Fairy Liquid has celebrated its fiftieth year this year. While it has since moved away from its original pack, people still have a strong affection for it – not least because of its connections to children’s TV programme Blue Peter. Ultimately, it is a simple pack with a flip-top cap and dimple grips, but it is fundamentally functional and therefore very appealing to the consumer.

Usability is even more important when you consider the pharmaceutical sector. In many case, packs must both be impenetrable by children and yet still be opened easily by older people or people with limited ability. 

Dylon

Coley Porter Bell has worked with clothes dyeing specialists Dylon to completely revamp their brand. Famous for their round disk dyes, Dylon are the only consumer dyes manufacturer in the UK and distribute to over 70 countries. Despite a good level of awareness the brand was losing relevance with today’s consumer.

At the heart of the re-brand is the positioning of Dylon as ‘experts in colour’ which better reflects their many decades of experience. The ;design of the packaging for an innovative laundry product called ‘Colour Protect & Wash’ is shaped to help customers pour out the product for use.

Sector conventions

Often sectors will move as one in terms of shape, the laundry detergent sector being a prime example of a sector that moves in waves as the product evolves. Over the years the produce has changed from powders to tablets to liquid concentrates and the packaging has followed suit. Tesco’s head of packaging even called on the soft drink sector to take a similar approach to concentrates, promising support through merchandising. 

Ariel Excel Gel

An exception to the rule has been Ariel Excel Gel, which comes in a pebble-shaped plastic pack with a detachable dosing cap, designed by Studio Davis. The pebble-shaped pack features a polypropylene (PP) closure that includes a detachable doser co-moulded with thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) for precise dosing. An integrated 'visi-strip' shows consumers how much gel remains in the pack. Procter & Gamble has since moved its Fairy and Bold brands into the same packaging following the success of Ariel in the format.

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