The Front Panel

by Marianne Klimchuk

Is the Murk of Mono-Culturalism Eradicating All That’s Individual From the Art of Packaging Design?

Since the rise of the consumer culture in the early twentieth century, packaging design has reflected the ever-evolving cultural values of American consumers. However, have today’s packaging designs lost their individual identities in the face of mass branding? Do the packaging designs on products in the marketplace truly project the cultural values of today’s consumer? Are these designs simply loud attention grabbers in an over-consumption driven mass market? As designers, we have embraced technology and globalization and the opportunities they have provided. But do we, as designers, truly understand the nuances of communicating within our global multi-cultural society or are we simply providing the masses with culturally void designs?

Years ago, it became apparent that consumers felt dominated by the material abundance of our global society, and packaging designs communicated this concern. Packaging designs depicted a culture that valued the old-fashioned, the traditional, and the purity of nature and the beauty of our natural environment. Many packaging designs visually expressed the consumer’s contemplation of the loss of the individual and the homemade touch, which prior to mass-production was an essential element in the manufacturing and production processes.

The cultural symbols that were incorporated into packaging designs were at one time clear indicators not only of a product’s personality but also of the values of the consumers. Yet our world and therefore the world of packaging design sped forward in a new direction. The interpretation of that which once represented “old-fashioned” to a generation of consumers no longer carries symbolic meaning. Within a globally transient society, the visuals meaningful to the earlier generations are now barely significant.

“Old fashioned” shows its age

“Old-fashioned” to this new consumer audience means the design styles of the 50s and the 60s. The old, traditional visual imagery of a nuclear family is not resonant today. Today life is fast-paced and has an endless slew of time-constrained responsibilities. Often the closest consumers get to nature is drinking bottled water. Global consumers see the entire world right in front of their faces, from their computer screens.

The fashion world has clued into contemporary consumers’ yearning for that which represents nostalgia to them—the fashion of the 50s and 60s. The music industry too has reconnected consumers to Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, and Joni Mitchell. Yet packaging design in today’s marketplace seems less connected to the values that for so many consumers hit home.

A good example of design from a bygone era is the packaging design for Campbell’s Soup. The once classic red-and-white label, immortalized in 1962 by Andy Warhol, is gone. Now these cans follow the same design formula as their global competition. Corporations are no longer willing to risk having their marketing approach stray too far from their competition. In today’s consumer world, in which the rich, poor, cool, and nerd dress alike, buy the same products, and value the same mass brands, the mono-culture approach to design is king.

Yet, the attachment that consumers all over the globe have with all that is mass-produced cannot be denied. Brand names have become the symbols of our cultural values. Globalization has propelled the value of these major brands. With all of this, however, packaging designs have lost their individual identities or the unique personalities that once set them apart.

Time to think, and design, for ourselves

All of us in the field of packaging design now have the opportunity to take back design; to bring fresh innovative concepts to our clients and to seek to enrich our means of communication to audiences ready for change. The consumer’s design acumen has been forever changed by the availability of technology. We as designers must now take packaging design to a higher level. We work with powerful communication tools, but we must reexamine how we speak to the consumer through package design.

Packaging design can influence environmental change, add value to any given product, communicate a specific personality, and yet be marketable to a broad audience. Packaging designers should challenge themselves to develop a new design course. There are many opportunities waiting to be explored. By breaking apart the mono-cultural approach that has begun to dominate our field, we can find the hidden design opportunities that will bring a higher aesthetic to our culturally diverse world. There are millions of consumer brands waiting for a true identity.

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.