(or is it the opposite?)

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.

However, if you take the time to look ‘behind’ these mass-market outlets, you may find local products, be it souvenirs or chocolates. It is here you can discover some unique packages you will never find at the Zurich airport, nor at Heathrow.

This time I concentrated on biscuits, snacks and chocolate produced by local manufacturers and I was fully rewarded with outstanding designs. I was once more reminded that if the client has vision and the designer artistic creativity, packaging can be, as I have always wished, folk art! I have already written about  this and my friend Fabrice Peltier in Paris has even issued a book on the subject, so why bring it up again? Well, because I strongly believe that, if well done, such unique designs will stand out and increase sales!

Today we promote ecological thinking, i.e. recycling and waste reduction, Fair trade supply, etc. which is fine to me, but would it not be in a brand’s interest to also be seen as something cultural!

Such a design has also the advantage of looking different, which means that pricing is more flexible, as the consumer sees the pack as ‘something more’ than just the product. The Japanese discovered this many years ago with their handcrafted gift packaging. The packages shown here are as well gift/souvenir, as art packages. In my opinion, the role of a designer in our society is to make this world a more beautiful place through aesthetically pleasing objects. That’s what I learned in my youth, growing up in a Scandinavian environment. Enjoy these designs!

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:

1. The Reason-to-buy (RTB)

If the package design does not clearly inform why the product is great tasting, convenient, practical, etc. I have missed out on the main point. Well, in certain cases, information about the product is not necessary as, for instance, if millions are spent in other media as for a Mars bar or a Coca-Cola can. However, there are very few such products in the food and drinks category.

2. You have to convince

It is not enough to have a clear RTB if it is not communicated in a convincing way. It is surprising to see the hours designers spend to optimise the logotype or the product illustration, forgetting that the RTB has also to be designed to convince.

3. Concentrate on ONE message!

I once read that inexperienced communicators believe more is better. That is why the front of most packages which are often ‘designed’ by young brand managers are too crowded. If you have more than one strong message, I suggest you print ½ of the print run with one and the other ½ with the other message. This is more efficient than to let the one message compete with the other one on the same surface!

4. If you are not seen, you cannot be bought

Simplify in order to amplify! If you can amplify your RTB, your appetite appeal, the convenience (e.g. only 3min. cooking time!), then it must be presented in a clear and convincing manner (see above). Too busy designs do not stand out and become un-noticed!

5. The pack design cannot do all

When a client asks me to design a pack, I always start to define a concept, i.e. a big idea thanks to which the package becomes the main media. I show what the POS material can do, what an outdoor poster has to do, or what a print ad in a weekly journal can achieve. It is the sum total which means synergy; 1+1 suddenly become 3! If you repeat the same message in the same execution on all media, 1+1 becomes 1! It is the role of the designer to explain this to the brand manager.

6. Make the back, or service panel interesting!

90% of all back panels are totally non-interesting. To use the word ‘design’ would be wrong, as the meaning of the word ‘design’ is about interest, simplicity, harmony, clarity, efficiency, etc. and I see nothing of this, unless the pack is from Special K, Innocent or Arla. I always say that the back of a pack should be as interesting and easy to read as a freer journal like Metro, 20 minutes, etc.

7. You must be ecological

No doubt consumers in the Western worlds are, by now, aware of the fact that we have to take care of our planet. It is therefore important to tell the consumer how to get rid of the pack once it has done its job. Here we are dealing with two different worlds, the one that has adopted the incineration as part of the solution and the world that still ‘hides it in the Earth’! Whichever world you live in, you should be taught on the pack how to deal with it!

8. Surprise!

Yes, surprise! Because if you do not surprise, you do next to nothing. When I say surprise, I mean ‘within the product category’, as you must follow the rules of the product category in question. Any good pack designer knows these rules, i.e. how to achievde freshness, how to amplify taste, etc. Consumers see differences, not always what is better. Design helps to differentiate.

9. Instill trust!

How do you do this? Best is to constantly work on the image of your brand and its identity. I believe in strong branding which means a powerful brand logotype, brand icon or brand message. When during your shopping you are constantly reminded of a brand identity as for instance Kellogg’s, it means: strong brand = trust! As a young designer, I participated in a workshop in London given by Irv Koons, a famous pack designer from U.S. He said that when you are happy with your job, increase the brand by 20%. How right he was!

10. Be available!

It is the job of a brand manager and the sales people and obviously not the designer to see to it that the pack be available, i.e. well placed in the shop. However, what a designer can suggest is to suggest POS material to help the consumer discover the pack in the shop. A pack design is so to speak backed up with hard-selling trays or shelf-ready corrugated boxes, etc.

However great your pack design is and you have only one facing among 5-6 other brands, you will have difficulties to stand out. So do your best in applying the above advice!

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.

At the time, each design was a small masterpiece of simplicity and creativity, imagined by artists, crafted in a way to express a unique illustration. Today, we leave out too often the artistic side and we design packages with just a trite photo, typeface and logotype.

Elsewhere on this site, I have written about my wish to see more art in package design and in order to stimulate young designers, I give here a collection of safety match designs from the last century.

But before analysing the 8 basic groups of designs, we should not forget “Solstickan” (meaning sun-stick) which survived both competition and today’s cricket lighter, remaining the only brand (design) on the Swedish home market.

It was designed by Einar Nerman, one of the three very wellknown and respected brothers in Sweden.

In the twenties, the business world had already discovered sponsoring and part of the sales of these safety matches went to charity. The Solstickan Foundation still exists today; the text on the pack says “sold in favour of children and the elderly”.

So here are the 8 design groups/styles/categories that I found, looking at some hundred match boxes. Some 9’000 brands were used since their introduction in the 1880ies.

A brand with an icon that amplifies the brand

A special situation or emotional story

The magic of the figure 3

In this collection, we find the most famous design on the world market: three stars. This design, referred to as “the Mona Lisa of labels”, was designed as early as 1887! Please note that, with the exception of this label, the text “Made in Sweden” appears on most designs – what a publicity for a country!

The strength or personality of a special animal

A real character

As the attentive reader may realise, some of these designs would most likely not be possible today!

An object typical of the 1920ies-30ies

Whereas in some countries the telegraph wires are still above the earth, the phonograph is long gone and the Fire Engine is more modern. As Swedish Match did not only produce in Sweden, the text on the Fire Engint says “British made”.

A special edition

The “Sudoku” of the 30ies

As each match box contained about 60 matches, The Magic Square told this in a very creative way. Note that however you add it up, whether vertically, horizontally or diagonally, you arrive at 60!

If you wish to learn more about this very special collection of designs, I suggest you go to Tidaholm in Sweden where this business originated. I got my collection from the Tidaholm Museum. Most of these designs were printed at the Vulcan Lithography Company in Tidaholm who also designed those labels which were not conceived by recognized artists. There is also a book on this subject: “Matchbox Cover Design” by Ben Jones.

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.

Steel is the most recycled mono material; it lends itself to a very fast and efficient filling process for cans and is so strong that it requires virtually no outer (secondary) packaging. It is the most tamper-evident material and offers 100% protection against light, water and air. Food packaged in steel has equivalent vitamin content compared with freshly prepared products and requires no refrigeration during transport and storage.

So much for the technical side of steel packaging. Now, as www.packagingsense.com is about communication and design, here are some of my favourite steel packages:

Steel is by far the best material for special edition packages we wish to keep and re-use for maybe other products. My preferred ones are the Kambly and Oreo biscuit tins which have been embossed to amplify the structure of the two products. I specially like the attractive surface which furthermore does not need any label!

Second on my list of preferred steel packaging are all NIVEA tins, be it the standard small size (see special article about the NIVEA identity), or a special edition such as “SWEET moments”.

Great timeless steel packages are Jean-Paul Gaultier’s products such as perfumes, aftershaves, etc. They are excellent examples of how to stand out in one product category by choosing a can typical for another product category (preserved food).

What I specially appreciate with steel packaging is the simplicity achieved when a label does not cover up the surface as on many preserves. I love the Amici tin from Illy, the Standard Vodka (there are also many whiskies packed like this), the beautiful Japanese Sapporo beer.

A package communicates through shape, illustrations and texts, but the most memorable property is no doubt the touch, specially the combination of structure and temperature. The steel pack gives a chilled touch that communicates freshness.

Long live steel packaging!

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.

So far, so good! But isn’t marketing something much wider? It is all very nice to have consumer insight and know their behaviour, but you have to give equal attention to the products’ communication! And as www.packagingsense.com is about packaging communication, my preoccupation is to not only have consumer insight, but to also have the consumers in sight!

As I do my store checking practically every day (I’m mainly dealing with FMCG companies), I have the possibility to analyse the market situation. And what do I find? That the FMCG companies are giving a lot of information on the front (which could be on the back) and very little communication, which means that products are just presented to the consumer in what the brand manager finds an attractive manner.

But the consumer will only buy a product if

• it is seen in the store;
• it has a convincing message which should be the RTB and here I mean ‘reason-to-buy’ and not ‘reason to believe’.

So next time you design a pack, think how to put the product ‘in sight’ and do not follow too closely the results of ‘consumer insight’…

In my opinion, marketing people are today much more interested in having their packs as informative as possible, with the result that they become crowded and do not stand out on the shelves any longer. They often just stick logotypes and add information which is not always well structured for the buyer to understand. They forget that if you are not seen, you cannot be bought!

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

• most consumers do not understand;
• 99% of consumers do not need as nobody is looking for calories, etc. when eating confectionary/sweet products;
• is duplicated, i.e. appear on both the front and the back panels (GDA)!

How wrong I was! Since 2007, it has become even worse. If you look at the Cadbury Dairy Milk wrapper illustration (and I could find numerous other examples from other companies), I give you here my findings:

1. Net weight appears 3 times when nobody is interested in the weight of a standard bar of chocolate. It is like printing 1 litre on the standard Tetra Brik (Combibloc, Pure-Pak, etc.). Once is enough to cover legal requirements and in Europe it can be on the back panel;
2. 90% of the texts are below 2 points/1mm, i.e. practically illegible, especially as the contrast gold/violet is not very big.
3. Twice the information about the new “peel-me” opening device. Why twice?
4. Nutritional information for 3 chunks, i.e. 4% of what is called your ‘daily amount’ (incidentally, most of us do not stop at 3 chunks…). And this figure of 4% (80 cal.) appears 3 times?
5. I could criticise other texts like Joyville, Fairtrade, websites, storage, etc. which could be better or different, but that would of course anger the regulatory affairs’ people as they certainly have made research that says that consumers are interested in all this information…

I am so naive that I still believe there is a company out there who is interested in giving its consumers information that really matters! I’ve found one in the UK and that is Innocent. In France, there is Michel & Augustin, although the size of their messages could still be improved to be more readable.

Now here is, in a nutshell, what I would do:

1. decide which information belongs to which media in order to each time be printed big and legible. I do not think, for instance, that the Fairtrade belongs to the pack, at least not on the front.
2. I believe the ingredients list should be printed considerably bigger for easy reading. I wish the consumer would put more importance in reading this list before the nutritional information. Imagine the importance of the ingredients declaration at the time of the last horsemeat scandal…
3. I think the “be treatwise” is an interesting story, but in my opinion, it belongs to the website.
4. I believe we eat chocolate for the taste and not for the nutrition. Where on the Cadbury Dairy Milk label is there any mention to this?
5. I do not believe that the barcode must be 40×28mm, when it is not even half the size on a chewing gum!
6. I believe a more attractive illustration of the chocolate would have an influence on sales,

etc.

My advice to a brand manager would be to

First: study the legislation! 50-70% of the information is legally not necessary (in Europe) and can thus appear elsewhere.

Second: My hierarchy for the commuication on the back, or rather service panel, would be

1. how to best enjoy the product;
2. how to best establish contact between brand and consumer, i.e. through website, apps, phone, QR Code, etc.
3. how to make the ingredients list easily readable;
4. how to educate and explain nutrition in an understandable manner;
5. increase the ‘word-of-mouth’ communication by printing a text like: “We are very happy you have chosen our product. We do hope you don’t keep your satisfaction just for yourself. Thank you!” or “We hope you will like this chocolate and be encouraged to tell your friends about it. Thank you!”

This article would not be complete without some words about ‘designing the information’. A service panel should be as interesting as the popular free journals as Metro, 20 Minutes, etc. Remember that readability has to do with

1. where I give the information
2. how I design the layout of the nutritional table or GDA
3. typefaces chosen
4. contrast
5. interest of the various information
6. the amount of words

May I underline that I am a strong believer in clear information about ingredients, servings, recycling symbols, opening instructions, mentions as to suitability for vegetarians, etc., but mentioned only once on a pack, at the right place and in the right size!

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:

“Creating Shared Value” about Peter Brabeck-Letmathe who told me at least 50% of what I today know about marketing in a big multinational company (which is equally valid for smaller companies). The book can be found in both English and German. It is written by Friedhelm Schwarz and published by Stämpfli Verlag AG in Bern.

Another book which I would recommend, although printed in French only, is “Ces emballages qui changent nos vies” by Anne-Marie Sargueil and my friend Jean Watin-Augouard, published by the Institut Français du Design. To obtain a copy, please contact +33 1 45639090 or write to the Institute at 5, Rue de Messine, FR-75008 PARIS, or go to www.institutfrancaisdudesign.com. The book tells the story about all those great European brands from Nivea to Cadbury, from L’Oréal to Danone.

The third book is for calligraphy aficionados who prefer to write with a pen instead of typing on a keyboard. It’s called “The Missing Ink” and tells the story of this endangered art form.

Last, but not least, I have to mention one of the best books ever: the second version of the Pentawards, edited by Taschen, a real gold mine which belongs in every package designer’s private library! Just a pity that the cover is miles away from the stunning cover of the first book, the great banana cover which stands out in any book shop and invites to be looked at. Imagine if Taschen had had the obvious idea to use the same cover, but with another colour combination… how simple! It seems that today’s designers use too much graphics which the consumers do not understand. Well, I hope that when book III comes out in a year or two, they will be back with the banana!

Happy 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.

New books appear constantly and by now I’ve become a fairly good client at www.Amazon.com. Here are the new ones, or some which were not mentioned in the earlier article:

The least expensive and most remarkable pop-up book I ever came across is Marion Bataille’s “ABC3D” from the Roaring Brook Press (a Neal Porter book) printed in China (where else!) as there is a lot of manual work involved. Stunning, or, as the text says, “Boldly conceived and brilliantly executed. Prepare to be amazed. Turn the pages of this remarkable book and you’ll be treated to 26 dimensional letters that move and change before your eyes. C turns into D with a snap. M stands at attention. X becomes Y with a flick of the wrist. And then there’s U…” As Marion Bataille is French, I just say “Chapeau bas!”

The second book all designers should have is my friends Brigitte and Jean-Jacques Evrard’s collection of Pentaward winners by Taschen called “The Package Design Book”. A real treasure, with a second edition on its way.

The third book which is a must is George Lois’ “Damn Good Advice (for people with talent)” at Phaidon. 120 advice how to communicate, mainly in advertising, but valid for any chosen media. I totally agree with some 117 of these advice!

Jonah Lehrer’s “Imagine” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is another book I read from A to Z. It’s about how creativity works. Maholm Gladwell’s comments to this book read as follows: “Jonah Lehrer’s new book confirms what his fans have known all along – that he knows more about science than a lot of scientists and more about writing than a lot of writers.”

The book of 2011 was for me Saul Bass: “A Life in Film and Design” (Laurence King Publishing) with a foreword by Martin Scorsese. Some 1’400 illustrations no doubt attract the reader, but I personally liked most of all the comments on design, creativity, humour, work process, craft, God, retirement, etc. Comments which I would have liked to have said myself!

Last, but not least, there is a book which has inspired me, especially as it underlines what designers should be, i.e. thinkers and problem-solvers. The book is “Bob Gill, so far” from Laurence King Publishers. Let me quote Ed Brodsky who writes in the foreword: “Gill’s latest should be required reading in every design school. His book has nothing to do with what’s hot… everything to do  with solving problems and letting go of preconceptions about how design is supposed to look.”

Happy reading!

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.

It goes without saying that if the brand colours are blue and yellow, they cannot be changed to blue and green. If the typeface used for the logotype is Bodoni, it cannot be changed to Futura. If the shape of the logotype is circular, it cannot be oval… or can it? Well, of course it can, depending how you use it or in which angle the logotype is seen. I am often surprised to see how traditional we are when it comes to the creative use of identities on packaging, advertising and POS.

We do not have to go as far as Google, but why not let the logotype be seen from another angle? The Nesquik pack is a good example and I am sure the reader will agree with me that the VW logotype is equally great as seen from a narrow angle!

The other day, I was sitting under a Nestlé Frisco parasol and what did I see if not a clear identity, although reversed. I would like to see more cut identities as on the S. Pellegrino sixpack or at the entrance of the Royal Danish in Copenhagen.

If a logotype is designed so that it expresses something special as Gigantic, I am sure that this logotype can be expressed equally well, but differently on POS material, e.g. convex instead of concave!

The chocolate Crunch would look even crunchier if the logotype were broken differently (in various positions), thus producing also a more interesting display.

I hope this short article has inspired some designers to be more daring and creative to make the brand even more INTERESTING!

Are they particular? Can we learn from them? Are they creative? Do they progress? Can a Westerner understand them? All these questions come to mind when visiting this booming market. After two days’ storechecking, here is my analysis for what it is worth:

No doubt the progress this market does for foods, drinks, beauty and detergent products is more than noticeable, especially in the printing quality area. The investment in modern printing equipment by the converters give remarkable results.

Speaking furter about the technical side of packaging, more and more die-cut sachets are available. Plastic has become the over-riding packaging material and the number of small plastic sachets (individual servings) in plastic bags is overwhelming.

As I was in Beijing for the Combibloc company, I could analyse the milk market and it was interesting to see how the latter was divided in basically two package type categories: the drink cartons from Tetra Pak or Combibloc and the plastic sachets/pouches from the newcomer Ecolean fighting the very cheap paper/plastic laminates.

Analysing design and communication is no doubt more interesting and here are my findings:

Western design: All big international brands (Kraft, Kellogg’s, Lipton, Nestlé, Mars, etc.) have their standard designs, completed with Chinese characters. On the other hand, many Chinese companies have very Western designs.

I just read an article in Vanity Fair saying that during the last 20 years, while the entire IT industry exploded, very little has been done in design, fashion or the car industry. It is almost impossible to see any difference between a car produced in 1992 or in 2012. Same with package design. To 80% it is designed in the following way:

1. corporate brand in the upper left-hand corner;
2. product brand on top;
3. product denomination below;
4. product illustration below and repeated on the back, etc.

The Chinese designs follow this pattern, but have become even ‘worse’, as the legislation prescribes to print the net weight and the product denomination on the front (not needed in Europe).

Chinese design: Unfortunately, I saw very little of it. This is obviously due to the fact that I did my storechecking mainly in Beijing and not on the countryside. I find it a pity as the Chinese characters lend themselves to highly artistic design solutions!

As Japan, China has a fairly big gift pack market with sophisticated and highly interesting designs. However, these packages are in another price bracket compared to normal products in a supermarket. They are also sold in special shops, or rather boutiques. In this category, you find the Yunnan fermented tea discs…

…beautifully wrapped in silk paper. Other examples are for instance the special editions of Nestlé’s Yunnan coffee or their local and cheaper version of KitKat the identity of which we did some 8 years ago at supper on a restaurant napkin.

The year of the dragon: Amazingly few packages playing on this symbol!

Strong designs that stand out on the shelf: Here the winners are, as in many Asian markets, Kraft’s Oreo biscuit packs with their stunning blue colour and their Chips Ahoy! An excellent example of how to achieve shelf impact thanks to a brand colour.

This brings me to the comment that the Chinese designs are very unstructured and very few packages stand out as they are even more overloaded than in Europe, in fact very similar to the US, but, of course, there are exceptions.

Two package designs caught my attention: Kraft’s Tang with dry powder in a typical liquid standing pouch. It was very easy to pour out the powder to prepare a glass of this “sugar drink”.

The other design was a potato snack product called “Ya! TuDou”.

I have often said how  difficult it is to use people or people’s faces on pack design, but there is no rule without exception and I just love this man… he is so well designed and the printing quality, as on most chips sachets, is outstanding!

Conclusion: Go to China! It is fascinating and Beijing has soon as many architectural masterpieces as NYC! The new terminal by Sir Norman Foster is stunning (the world’s largest building!). Then there is the Bird’s Nest by Herzog & de Meuron, the Bird’s Egg by Paul Andreu and the China Central Television Tower by Rem Koolhaas called “The Pants”.

When it comes to package design, don’t expect anything very special. China is still in the period of looking at Europe and the US, i.e. doing copies. The most unbelievable copy is the one of Ferrero’s Raffaello!