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REALLY GOOD PACKAGING
explained
 2009 , 2011 Crescent Hill Books, LLC.

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 REALLY GOOD PACKAGING
explained

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Bronwen Edwards
Marianne Klimchuk
Rob Wallace
Sharon Werner
 6 The Authors
Bronwen Edwards
Marianne Klimchuk
Rob Wallace
Sharon Werner

3 0 Chapter One
Food

92 Chapter Two
Beverages

14 0 Chapter Three
Home & Garden

168 Chapter Four

Health & Beauty

200 Chapter Five

General Retail

23 8 Bonus Chapter
Not-as-Good Packaging Explained

254 Just for Fun

Author Favorites

27 0 Index
 THE AUTHORS

Design or Decoration?
What makes great packaging design? This is a tough brief. What
pearls of fresh wisdom can I impart here on a topic that has
been the subject of endless debate? No doubt you have read and
absorbed a vast number of opinions on the matter throughout your
careers, and no doubt you have views and opinions of your own.

This book however, contains examples to aspire to and lessons to

learn from.

The issue here-as with all creative industries-is that what

makes great design is subjective. There are no definites, no secure
ground; all work is subject to the personal opinions of a vast,
differing audience. There is much debate to be had, but no firm
proof, which means that people can believe pretty much what
they want to believe. Because of this, some great designs never
see the light of day, victims of a client for whom a safe decision is
preferable to a brave one.

Some people confuse design with decoration. Sadly, there is a

lot of decoration around in packaging. Decoration tends to be the
most conservative of the design outputs, mainly because of client
demands. Great design has an extra element: an idea behind it.
Great design has an Injecting a truly original, relevant idea into a design transcends
subjectivity. It incites a striking engagement that is instant,
extra element: an idea indisputable, and appeals to clients' instincts rather than their
tick-lists.
behind it. Injecting a
truly original, relevant Good design not only captivates an audience's attention, it makes
them linger. Great design means that the audience will connect
idea into a design with the brand, want to engage with and then remember that
package later on. This is often achieved by having a great idea at
transcends subjectivity. the start-and at the heart-of whatever you do.

Ideas can come from any direction: They can be softly witty,
intellectually playful, or something that breaks all boundaries yet
is still sharply relevant. The best ideas are easily spotted-when
they're someone else's-by that horrible feeling in your stomach
when you think, I wish I'd done that. I had a fantastic tutor during
my degree who drummed into me the importance of ideas over
simply style-led designs-a design must speak for itself. Outside
the studio, nobody is going to be there to explain to the consumer
the intricacies and deeper meaning of subtle color reference. The
best work needs no explanation, so if you're ever in doubt, ask
someone who hasn't seen it before if they "get it. .. If you need to
talk them through it or convince them of its worth, go back to the
drawing board : Your wider audience will be the same. Styles and
trends will come and go, but a good idea, beautifully executed, will
last forever.

7
REALLY GOOD PACKAGING EXPLAINED

with Bronwen Edwards

8
 THE AUTHORS

My favorite package designs inside this book are ...

Gu [page 76) and Honey Pot [page 73). Both have
really innovative structures and graphics.

You know a package design is really good when ...

Irs iconic, redefines a category, or you buy it just to
have it, not to consume it.

The best thing a client ever said to me was ...

Youre the expert; I trust you ..

And the worst ...

Sorry, my wife doesn t like it. "

For creative inspiration, I...

usually turn to other creative disciplines, such
as illustration or advertising-they can spark off
interesting thoughts-or stroll through central
London, which is always full of vibrancy and
creativity. Failing that, I sit in the bath and hope!

The smartest thing I ever heard anyone say about

package design is ...
You have to see it to do it.

The best career advice I ever received was ...

Styles come and go; ideas live forever"

Most designers probably don't know that...

Theres more to life than packaging!

9
REALLY GOOD PACKAGING EXPLAINED
10Mistakes Designers Make
When Designing Product Packaging
BY BRONWEN EDWARDS
1. Not following the brief.
First, and let's start at the beginning here: not
following the brief properly. I'm guilty of this myself.
Irs easy to get selective amnesia over certain details
that you find uninspiring and to hope that somehow
the client will share this memory loss. Sadly, they
rarely do. This usually results in a painfully
convoluted process where you have to go back and
re-address the design. It devalues the work you did,
even if it's the best idea you've ever had and you're
busy dusting off the trophy shelf. Most important, you
lose the client's trust, which is bad for business and
also makes it much more difficult to push for ideas in
the future-the client will not believe you have the
brand's best interests at heart.
2. Approach.
Some designers give up the minute they start a
project "Ugh, this is going to be rubbish; they insist
on this, and that, and it's got to have .... It's up to us
as designers to challenge every brief, to push every
aspect of a design . If you start with the attitude that
the design is destined to be uncreative, then it's
doomed from the outset. Some of the most award-
winning work has come from heavily restricted
briefs, which force us to be more imaginative in how
we get around them : The gauntlet is thrown down .
3. Reaching for the mouse.
Right: You've read the brief; your brain is sharpened,
raring to go .. .then you get straight onto a computer.
WHOA! These days, with the industry revving up at
a scary rate, time demands becoming an increasing
pressure, and the ease with which we can now
translate our thoughts digitally, the worst thing you
can do is head straight for the computer. Sketches
are the medium of ideas, and no matter how dandy
you think you are with a mouse, you can never
thoroughly explore the ideas you are capable of on a
screen. It's impossible to do so without addressing
the style, which should be the next stage, not the
first. Sketches should be rough, scribbled, quick,
expressive, and-as long as you can read the idea-
then, and only then, should you flex those Photoshop
muscles.
10
4. Not challenging preconceptions.
There are two sides to this: a) the category; and
b) the physicality.
Category: There is normally a category language.
For example : It's fruit juice, so, unsurprisingly,
everything has big, predictable photos of fruit on
it-how dull. Challenge everything without losing
credibility in the genre.
Physicality: Just because you know it should
be in a certain format, try to question every
aspect-structure, finishes, substrates-use every
opportunity to break existing preconceptions .
Although this is not always appropriate, try,
whenever possible, to push for the unexpected .
5. Style over content.
Don't be seduced by whimsical styles. Never-ending
trends sail through the ever-evolving sea of design ,
all of which can be used as a vehicle for an idea .
But if you rely solely on these to carry your design,
you'lllook back in two years' time and cringe. It
won't be original; there will be others just like it;
and it will date horribly. It's incredibly lazy to rely on
trends: They don't last. But a great idea transcends
its execution .
6. Not just a pretty front face.
When thinking about packaging, whether structurally
or graphically, it's easy to forget that it's more than
just a shelf shot; it's a 3D object. Sometimes when
the brief is restrictive on the selling face, you can be
more creative with the other aspects. For example,
there's been a great surge of witty barcodes, evocative
copy, and legal iconography. These are lovely after-
thoughts that are often overlooked and can make the
concept come to life in an unexpected way. Ideally,
the front face is only the immediate side of the
packaging; the concept should involve its entirety.

7. Seeing the pack out of context.
It's easy to forget that our designs are heading for
the big, wide world out there. They live in a consumer
environment crowded to within a hair"s breadth with
other people's designs. It's in store, in a shop, not
sitting pretty on a white backdrop. It's also taken
home, held in the hand. It serves a purpose and has
a journey from purchase to disposal. Successful
designs consider the entire process and use it to
their benefit. Be aware of what's out there-visualize
it in its future environment, consider its function-
and you 'll end up with something that has difference.
8. Designing for awards.
Designing for designer"s sake, purely for awards, is
really tough. We all love a bit of industry recognition,
but focusing on this rather than the brief in hand
never seems to get great results. Try not to put that
pressure on yourself. Turn that drive toward the job
in hand, try to create the most innovative solution for
that category or problem, and the awards should take
care of themselves .
11
THE AUTHORS
9. Knowing which battles to lose in order to win the war.
It's a subjective industry, and clients are rarely
visually literate. Sometimes it can feel like a constant
battle to get the right results through. Remember,
the secret is knowing which fights to pick. Getting
precious about kerning on the subsidiary copy or
angering a client who is stubbornly attached to pink
is never going to get the bigger concept across, and
sometimes you have to lose a few soldiers in order to
win the war. Being able to compromise shows open-
minded ness and builds trust with clients. It's difficult,
but try to step back from the job, focus on what really
constitutes the big idea, then figure out what can be
sacrificed in order to get a great result, even if that
kerning makes you wince.
10. Taking yourself too seriously.
This might upset some people, but what we do really
isn't rocket science. We're designing for a business
and a consumer, not for ourselves. We're privileged
to be paid to happily do what we love, which-let's
face it-in the long term will be redesigned, and in
the short term ends up straight in the bin. If you can 't
have a bit of fun, take criticism objectively, and keep
getting excited about briefs, then you're destined
either for burnout or for unbearable conceit. (By the
way, I will be signing autographs ... if you're lucky.)
World traveler Bronwen Edwards is half Welsh but was born
in Belgium and spent her childhood in Istanbul. After art
school, she went directly to Coley Porter Bell, a design firm
in London, and is currently an awardwinning designer at
Brandhouse. She has a penchant for vintage clothing and
wants to own a sloth one day-they're good for the humor,
she says. Her 2008 photography exhibition, New Dawn-
a collection of portraits of Ethiopia-was attended by the
Ethiopian ambassador. She lectures for design courses
and blogs for the top-rated packaging design blog
TheDieline.com. Bronwen is 6'2" in heels, and, she claims,
over 7' on a ladder.