The answer to this question is both yes and no. Yes, as you do not play around with a logotype, a colour scheme or an icon! No, as you can easily adapt to local conditions if you understand a visual identity and how, within a given framework, you can be creative without the consumer noticing deviations.

During my recent travel to Asia to teach communication, I obviously passed through a number of airports, most of them having the same tax-free business offering universal brands from Toblerone to Hermès, from Rolex to Johnnie Walker.

As far as I see it, package design is all about selling a product to a new consumer who will hopefully be satisfied and come back! As I have no real influence on the product itself, it is my job to stimulate purchase through exciting package design. To do this, here are the ten points which all play a role and which have to be optimised in one way or another:

Between the two World Wars, the Swedish businessman Ivar Kreuger built an emporium with safety matches. They were no doubt of the highest quality, but so was the marketing of these matches, marketing built upon design! Fascinating designs by acknowledged artists, as the profession ‘package designer’ was not yet established. The very diverse designs were not built on today’s positioning, nor on target thinking, but according to the clients’ taste. Unfortunately, Mr Kreuger’s ‘empire’ broke down with his sudden death in 1932.

I have already written about cardboard and aluminium as packaging material. This time it is steel. Plastic and glass are still on my list, as all materials have a role to play in the world of package design. I like them all, but when it comes to longevity and protection, steel is a clear favourite.

One of the many buzzwords used by marketing people is no doubt ‘consumer insight’. What does it mean? Well, basically to know what consumers are interested in. So you ask them and you obtain answers that are categorised, turned into figures which FMCG companies use as a base for decision-making.

Some six years ago. I wrote an article called “Count the pastilles and divide them by 4”, explaining how difficult it is for a consumer to calculate the calories in a bag of Rowntree Fruit Pastilles (with 25% more fruit juice). I thought that in 2007 we had reached the maximum of what I call ‘foolish nutritional information’, i.e. information which

We just published part II of what I read and as it was written some months ago, some books were not yet published and some were forgotten. So here are 4 more which I have had great pleasure in reading:

In my book, as well as on this site, I have written about those books that have had an impact on my way of working and inspired me to do things a little differently.

Brand identity is important. It is certainly not something you play around with. It is something that , if properly handled, increases the strength of a brand every time it is seen. This short article will try to show how it is seen.