Before designing functional packaging you must first carefully analyze the product you wish to enclose, study its shape and its criticalities. The boxes should protect their contents by guaranteeing their integrity: it is, therefore, essential that the packaging is useful before it is beautiful. We summarize this principle in the design maxim “form follows function”, which stresses how important the functional design is for the usability of a product.
Until the birth of the applied arts, extreme decoration characterized the beauty of everyday objects, often at the expense of practicality. The new vision introduced by functionalism has led to the birth of increasingly useful and functional products that needed packaging tailored for their purpose to set themselves apart. Functionality became the new standard of beauty.
Packaging became essential for the success of a product and needed to satisfy the customer both on a practical and aesthetic level. The form is no longer a simple matter of containment but needs to satisfy multiple requirements to transform the packaging into an essential marketing tool.
These are the main principles to keep in mind when designing functional packaging:
- Containment
- Protection
- Logistics
- Communication
- Eco-sustainability
The packaging design should, therefore, aim to create packages that protect the products, facilitate their transport by optimizing the overall dimensions and guarantee the brand’s visibility and communication to facilitate its recognition and success.
Here are some examples of packaging designed to meet the requirements listed above.
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