3D Branding: Graphics and Structure – better together

Lucy O'Brien

Taking the lead from advertising, graphics are the primary voice through which brands talk to consumers on shelf, with the physical pack only fulfilling practical and functional requirements. In the world of packaging design, graphics and structure are often considered separately; leading to graphics which may be unsympathetic to the pack form, or pack designs which don’t support the brand.  When graphics and structural design work together in harmony, brands tell their strongest story.

A very pure example of how powerful this can be is Naoto Fukasawa's legendary banana juice carton concept.  As an illustration of how pack format, form, colour, texture and graphics can work together to communicate a product story, it is hard to beat.

Considering some successful commercial examples of integrated packaging design, let’s firstly take Tŷ Nant’s http://www.tynant.com/ iconic spring water bottle design designed by Ross Lovegrove…

Question 1. Had  Tŷ Nant opted to choose an off-the-shelf packaging solution, could graphics alone have recreated every message encapsulated in the iconic bottle shape? Maybe, but nowhere near as effectively. The use of form to create flowing lines that describe the product inside allows the packaging to become almost invisible, as if the consumer is holding water itself.

Question 2. Would the structure alone be enough? If we were talking about a single object then maybe, but form alone leaves you with a beautiful yet anonymous product, it needs a name, an identity and a personality to seal an emotional connection with users. In this example delicate, minimal graphics compliment the invisible packaging concept and cement the brand’s values.

Telling the story of your product better than anyone else is one way to differentiate a pack. Another is identifying an unmet need and using it to inspire its design. Taking another example, Head and Shoulders built a concept around the simple observation that people store shampoo and conditioner next to each other in the bathroom. Their latest packaging range uses both form and graphics to emphasise that their products are best used together and has led to a clear design concept that users can both understand and relate to. Method’s tub scrub follows a similar path by providing a space to store a cleaning cloth, a small details that says ‘we are hear to help where we can’ and portrays them as a brand that cares about its consumers.

The act of integrating conceptual structural and graphic design can dramatically change user perceptions. It can transform a pack from being seen merely as a throw away item to a considered, beautiful and useful object in its own right. This is especially important because packaging is often the first point of contact with a brand and should be approached as an extension of the product experience.

In short, graphics and structure work better together to produce the most compelling results. Brands that don’t recognise this are missing a trick and the examples here prove you do not need screaming graphics or excessively gratuitous shapes to get noticed. Strive to stand out for all the right reasons!

Lucy O'Brien is Senior Graphic Communucation Designer at Kinneir Dufort