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The Front Panel
by Marianne R. Klimchuk

Untangling the Lines
Packaging, Packaging Design, or A Package?
I say, “packaging design.” You say, “package design.” Sounds a bit like, “I say tomato, you say…” Although tomato means the same thing no matter how it is said, this is not the case with the words “package,” “packaging,” and “packaging design.” Even those of us who are professionals in these arenas interchange these terms. We do not necessarily interchange what we do. As a design professional, I assert that there are definable differences among the terms “packaging,” “packaging design,” and “package”; and that the sooner we all use them appropriately, the sooner we will clarify the terms for the public.

A successful packaging design creates a meaningful relationship between the consumer and the product by communicating the brand’s promise. Packaging design utilizes the packaging to support the marketing objectives of the product.
While the terms do not blur, they do overlap at times. “Package” is a noun. A package is a carton, container, or bundle. “Package” can refer to a pack of cigarettes or a parcel from the post office. This broad and vague term is most often used in an all-encompassing manner, i.e., as a way to refer to the total package. The term “package” does not imply the marketing component of packaging, although its use may incorporate packaging and/or packaging design.

“Packaging,” on the other hand, can be either a noun or a verb. Packaging refers to the wrapping or covering of an item or items. The packaging may be cellophane, paper, fabric, glass, plastic, or metal. Packaging may be the shell of an egg or the egg carton itself. In the case of the artist Christo, known for wrapping structures, the sheets of muslin he employs are the packaging. A box, can wrapper, carton, bag, jar, and tube are among the many forms of packaging. Packaging, then, is something applied to a commodity for the purposes of marketing, transportation, protection, and containment. Packaging requires an action and is dynamic.

This insert to the package pictured below reinforces the brand by proclaiming the packaging's new look.
There are packaging schools, packaging associations, packaging machinery manufacturers, and packaging materials manufacturers. These professionals and organizations support a multibillion dollar industry in areas including packaging materials, the scientific and technical aspects of packaging, handling, distribution, production, and engineering.

It Is What It Accomplishes
“Packaging design” is yet distinct from the other two terms. Although the finished result of packaging design is often referred to as a package, this subtly implies the generic nature of the object. Packaging design is the combination of materials, structure, typography, imagery, color and other visual design components for the purposes of communicating the marketing objectives and strategies of a particular brand or product. A successful packaging design creates a meaningful relationship between the consumer and the product by communicating the brand’s promise. Packaging design utilizes the packaging to support the marketing objectives of the product. The goal of packaging design is not simply to be aesthetically pleasing but to win consumer appeal.

Inside the box of a recently purchased product was a full-color insert introducing the “World Premiere” of this product’s “All-New Look!” The insert read: “Same Great Taste! Great New Package!” The photograph on the insert displays the same physical package with an impressive new packaging design. It is the packaging design not the package that will play a critical factor in the success of the brand’s new marketing strategy.

The professional credit due to packaging designers is continually lost in mistranslation of terms. Around the world, hundreds of packaging design firms charged with creating brand imagery and communicating product attributes to a global consumer audience are the invisible part of our hidden profession.
Let us, in all of the related professional arenas, lead the way in differentiating among the terms and concepts of package, packaging, and packaging design. Since packaging design will continue to play a significant role in shaping the visual panorama of our consumer society, let’s get straight what we call what we do.

Marianne R. Klimchuk (marianne_klimchuk@fitnyc.edu) is the Associate Chairperson of the Packaging Design Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she has written curriculum, taught courses, and directed the packaging program for over 13 years. As a packaging designer, Marianne has worked on many major consumer brands. She holds a Masters degree in Packaging Design and was a board member of the Brand Design Association.
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