Something From Nothing
Packaging design brings together the best of right-brain creativity with left-brain logic.
February 2008 by Tom Polischuk
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Creating a new product/packaging design and taking it from concept definition to the store shelf (and beyond) is quite a complex process. It involves many different disciplines, several different companies (typically), and to say the least, many different personalities. Throw in a mix of technologies and time constraints (such as, “You’re late already!”) and you have a real-world packaging design assignment.
Right in the middle of this mix is the packaging/graphic designer. The designer’s role is to take what a brand owner wants to do and create something that can be done—sometimes, not an easy task. Package printers have a huge stake in this process, tasked to deliver what the brand owner is expecting.
So, why not be involved in the design process? Executives from several design firms spoke with packagePRINTING and felt that involving the printer is the way to go.
pP: How well versed are graphic designers in the capabilities of the various printing processes? How can printers communicate their capabilities as the design process progresses?
Chuck Miller, creative director for Combined Technologies, Inc.—Designers make up a fairly resourceful group. They spend quite a bit of time building solutions and researching the means to complete them. To do so, they seek out answers from their sources (printers). Package printers need to continue to inform designers of their capabilities. Networking with designers is a great way to accomplish this.
Kris Sexton, president/owner and creative director, packaging, Directions Inc.—In general, graphic designers come out of educational experiences with little to no exposure or experience in the print process. As “printing” is considered a “trade,” it is not often in the college curriculum. The primary way a graphic designer/artist gains knowledge regarding printing capabilities/limitations is through the “life experience” of the work arena.
What can be done? Several things. For graphic designers destined primarily for the commercial application of design, printers could develop educational units that could plug and play into any educational curriculum, with no cost to the school. A secondary benefit is that, as sponsors of a program, printers have the opportunity to “set” their brand/capabilities in the minds of designers coming into the market, as well as to educate.
For the perfect program, printers should develop alliances with paper merchants to participate in educational activities of this nature, as the specification of paper alone is probably the biggest factor in how a project will net out.
Right in the middle of this mix is the packaging/graphic designer. The designer’s role is to take what a brand owner wants to do and create something that can be done—sometimes, not an easy task. Package printers have a huge stake in this process, tasked to deliver what the brand owner is expecting.
So, why not be involved in the design process? Executives from several design firms spoke with packagePRINTING and felt that involving the printer is the way to go.
pP: How well versed are graphic designers in the capabilities of the various printing processes? How can printers communicate their capabilities as the design process progresses?
Chuck Miller, creative director for Combined Technologies, Inc.—Designers make up a fairly resourceful group. They spend quite a bit of time building solutions and researching the means to complete them. To do so, they seek out answers from their sources (printers). Package printers need to continue to inform designers of their capabilities. Networking with designers is a great way to accomplish this.
Kris Sexton, president/owner and creative director, packaging, Directions Inc.—In general, graphic designers come out of educational experiences with little to no exposure or experience in the print process. As “printing” is considered a “trade,” it is not often in the college curriculum. The primary way a graphic designer/artist gains knowledge regarding printing capabilities/limitations is through the “life experience” of the work arena.
What can be done? Several things. For graphic designers destined primarily for the commercial application of design, printers could develop educational units that could plug and play into any educational curriculum, with no cost to the school. A secondary benefit is that, as sponsors of a program, printers have the opportunity to “set” their brand/capabilities in the minds of designers coming into the market, as well as to educate.
For the perfect program, printers should develop alliances with paper merchants to participate in educational activities of this nature, as the specification of paper alone is probably the biggest factor in how a project will net out.
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