Published with the support of Package Design Magazine, this is a comprehensive guide to thinking outside the box to create practical, cost-effective, and eco-responsible packaging. With a broad ...
By CPP, Wendy Jedlicka
For designers wanting to move in a more sustainable direction, these days the list of what you cannot do seems to be getting longer, while understanding what you can do is still a work in progress. One thing everyone agrees on, though, is the idea of making more use of fewer materials and resources.
The idea of "less = more" has been at the core of many highly refined forms of expression for centuries. Today, the too popular opposite idea is "grab as much shelf facing as you can and hold on to it whether or not the product really requires that amount of physical space."
Doing more with less
In Japan, a small but well selected grouping of flowers and greens create the visual calm that is the essence of a tokonoma display—a niche or an alcove in a Japanese home for highlighting the beauty of a single object. This small presentation has much more impact on and emotional connection to the viewer than a dozen roses jammed in a vase. Another example is how the classic little black dress became a classic because it was simple, elegant, and required very few accessories to make a bold statement.
When looking to connect with an upscale buyer, the glint of metalized foil on a package has been the go-to signal for designers serving this market for decades. But as we get further and further into understanding how various techniques to decorate packaging impacts end-of-life resource recovery ease, bonding metals and plastics to otherwise easily recyclable substrates becomes an issue.
Over the years, some designers and converters have gone too far, using full-coverage foil-laminated boards and printing opaque ink over the top rather than using selective spot applications of foil to achieve the same effect. In some product segments, like toothpaste, "sparkle" is so overused that the most noticeable brands on a retailer's shelf are the ones not using foil, rather than ones that are. Tom's of Maine, for example, pops like an island of calm in an otherwise blindingly glimmering field.
As designers shift their attention to deeper issues like resource type and use, the Foil Stamping and Embossing Association (FSEA) understands well the implications of what this shift in resource use means for their industry, and has begun working to get in front of sustainability issues.
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