The Emergence of 'Natural Technology': What's in Store for the Future of Package Design?

By Jonathan Ford

Technology has long been feted as the future. But just how far can we develop without taking a step back without looking at the human needs that this technology is trying to meet?

Today, nature and technology are becoming more symbiotic. Just as robots are a mechanical manifestation of a person, so technology is taking a step back, borrowing and mimicking nature in an attempt to better relate to us and correspond directly to the current yearning for naturalistic forms.

Architecture across the world is embracing naturalistic forms, but what can brands learn from the natural world to be more empathetic to our needs? How can design help brands marry the best of nature and technology to create successful future brand innovations?

Brand owners should look for design teams that can combine design aesthetics, technology, and natural elements, instead of using them in isolation.

Prevailing need for connection

Firstly, we need to look at why both nature and technology have become such dominant forces for the consumer. Essentially, there is a prevailing human need for connection and today we are looking for this connection from brands as much as from people.

The phenomenal growth of technology across the board has undoubtedly come from its ability to provide instant connection. However, in general, technology has the power to connect us on one level but keeps us one step removed—a functional connection. In contrast, we generally perceive our relationship with the natural world as a more sensory and intimate connection—an emotional connection.

Design has the power to balance function and emotion, to address both technological and natural aspects. Through a combination of the component parts of packaging design, such as structure, materials, copy and colour, a brand can promote what's good and what's not and form a meaningful and desirable connection with the consumer.

Design is the interface between brand and consumer

Design is, of course, the visual representation of a brand, and we are seeing a distinct shift away from the mechanistic and hard-edged to a feminization of brand design; using the power of technology to emulate and recreate the natural, the curvy, and the linear. In broad design terms, brand owners are adopting this creative concept.

We are seeing the representation of things animal, plant and mineral within business and retail interiors, home and fashion accessories and car design—the YCC Concept Car from Sweden, the Splinter Vase from Marcel Wonders Holland, and curved cork walls and furniture from Dou Design in Hong Kong, to name but a few. As yet, however, we have not seen such a revolution with packaging design.

As the key message interface between brand and consumer, packaging has the power to connect on a physical, spiritual, and sensory level and packaging designers need to start harnessing the consumer power afforded by using naturalistic forms and natural technology.

The design icon of the 21st Century, everything from the Apple name to the smooth and contoured structures of the hardware, is based on a natural ethos and philosophy. The phenomenon that is the iPod, the "pebble" of the family, with its second skin packaging is a perfect example of the desirability and (therefore resulting) success of both form and texture within natural technology packaging.

When working with U.K. supermarket chain waitrose to repackage their range of pickles, we also decided to focus on form, using complementary photography and typography to convey the raw, natural state of the products and the beauty to be found in natural imperfection. Technology per se is often symmetrical whist nature is irregular, less contrived and less perfect—a case of beauty in imperfection. Consumers are looking to brands for this same sense of authentic connection that they look for in people.

Materials for individual expression

Texture combined with use of color informed our recent graphic identity work for Soho House spa brand Cowshed. To remain true to the rustic origins of the brand, we used materials, textures, and color, drawn from nature and the English countryside with a repeat-pattern wallpaper effect reflecting the room interiors of the UK's Babington House. This provides a sensory and mental connection based on intimacy and individual expression.

In terms of materials, we have been seeing a return to the more traditional and natural, such as with glass. However, we are also seeing increased research and development into new materials which mimic the state of the natural world.

Award-winning fragrance Euphoria, by Calvin Klein, is packaged in a bottle which gives the appearance of liquid metal or of a precious mineral such as hematite. In turn, Swedish brand Sjal Skincare takes a holistic approach to innovation from NPD through to packaging—packaging reminiscent of a pure gemstone.

Sjal, know as the "perfect synergy of spirit, heart, mind, and soul," is a good example of a brand looking at the whole rather than the sum of the parts and this is the mindset that should govern brand design moving forward.

The ecosphere of the future

The evolution and maintenance of the natural world is founded on an ecosystem whereby all elements are useful, relevant, and seamlessly work in harmony to progress and develop with their environment. In turn, the majority of technology is dependent on an integrated network.

Not only do the component parts of packaging design need to work holistically to create the most visually desirable brand solutions, but brand owners need to look at ways for brand teams to work as a collective and combine design aesthetics, technology, and natural elements at the start of the creative process rather than using them in isolation.

In this way, brands can create naturalistic design underpinned by emerging technologies, establishing their own brand design ecosphere with the power to fulfil human needs on all levels, create desire, and truly connect with the consumer on a long-term basis.

Jonathan Ford is Creative Partner of Pearlfisher, a future-focused design consultancy in New York and London. Pearlfisher's award-winning identity and packaging design for the food, drink, and luxury markets includes an enviable list of clients such as Innocent Smoothies, Absolut Vodka, Green & Black's, Audi, Fortnum & Mason's, and Waitrose. Reach him at jonathan@pearlfisher.com.