Filed under: Design better packaging
Image courtesy: Nestlé
I have with great curiosity studied the new tool “Compass“ from the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, SPC.
The tool offers designers to compare the environmental impact of various packaging design scenarios based on European or US data.
This is indeed an extremely relevant tool for a great amount of designers and packaging decision makers. That is at least my impression after having attended the conference “Sustainable packaging Innovation & design”, organized by ENG (European Networking Group) in March 2009.
Brand owners (and designers) now need to argue the sustainability of their packaging choices, but they are left alone, as no tools really exist for that purpose. So I am sure they will welcome this initiative!
The tool is available upon subscription but can be evaluated for free for a limited period of time.
I welcome the tool, BUT I am also very concerned that the data delivered from the tool is too general to be really useful.
Everybody involved in Life Cycle Assessments – LCA – constantly stress how difficult it is to compare packaging from the various packaging industries. A clear standard for comparative calculations still needs to be defined. The only standard I know of so far is the PAS2050 developed by Carbon Trust in the UK. PAS2050 was released earlier this year and is right now being evolved further on the European scene.
As part of a packaging manufacturing company, who was among the first in the packaging industry to develop a tool to calculate the carbon footprint of our products, I know that this is a long and tricky road to enter.
One major problem being to get the assumptions right, and another one to handle the country specific systems for waste handling and recycling (just to mention a few!).
The Compass tool uses average industry data, which may return completely wrong figures. Just as one example a country’s type of energy supply will influence a lot on the footprint calculation. Is the energy supply coming from a nuclear plant or a coal fired power plant? The calculation will turn out completely different!
For a packaging manufacturer with a major footprint deriving from the energy usage in the production, the result from the Compass tool may hence be very far from reality.
As this is not taken into consideration in the Compass tool the figures from the tool must be observed and used very carefully.
The general scope of Compass is right, but is it useful? The data being far too inaccurate compared to the data we get from our own tool. Would you make a packaging decision based on such average data?
I believe this is a step in the right direction. And I do hope that the people behind Compass will take it even further. A suggestion from my side would be to allow participating industries to enter their specific data and hence avoid any misinterpretations.
Otherwise it remains a gadget – a tool for fun – and we need more than that!
Want to read more – click here!
Filed under: Capturing new ideas, Design better packaging | Tags: packaging design, structural design
I see some confusion about the term “packaging design” so I have decided to dedicate a few lines here to my personal definition.
In general most packaging design I believe is controlled by advertising agencies and graphic designers who’s packaging design work in most cases consists of finding the best – existing – packaging to implement their new artwork on. You will find excellent examples of this category even on these pages.
In the more rare cases the design work even includes design of the packaging itself. This is where industrial designers – as myself – typically enter.
The economic challenge here is much bigger, as a project normally includes heavy investments in new tooling for the manufacturing of the packaging. But the great advantage is the benefit of unique, second to none, design solutions which identifies the customers very specific needs and ideas. A great example of a company which enlives this attitude is ICI, now a part of Akzo Nobel. This packaging was developed as a co-work between ICI, Superfos and Tinhorse:
Another example is the further development of the SuperSeal design which I have mentioned before.
SuperSeal offers the advantage of having a sealable and pealable packaging with re-closure but without the need for a sealing foil. An end-user test revealed that there was a need to improve the opening area to make it easier to understand how to open the pack. The following slides show how the corner opening has been transformed into a “curtain” grip, which is very easy to spot and which offers a good grip.
No need to say that customers also sometimes are confused, and have a hard time to find the right development partners.
The skills required to do these 2 kinds of packaging design are very different, but also several overlaps.
Both disciplines for instance call for extensive consumer empathy and behavoural insight.
So in the ideal world the two parties would sit around the table when a new packaging design is evolved. This is however far from the case in real life!
I wonder why?
Filed under: Good packaging design
Who is the best packaging designer in the world? Not an easy task to judge I believe!
The Lürzer Archive has never the less taken up the challenge. Following the Lürzer’s Archive Specials “Packaging Design I” and “Packaging Design II,” Lürzer’s Archive is now planning a new sequel under the “200 Best” banner, the name of the new volume being “200 Best Packaging Designers worldwide.”
Here are a few benefits:
- 3,000 copies will be delivered free to top art directors at the most important advertising agencies worldwid
- Worldwide distribution through our contacts – 70 distributors in over 35 countries3.
- A nomination as one of the 200 Best Packaging Designers worldwide.
To get your work included can be tough though. The guidelines are described here. Good luck!
- Art directors from top ad agencies nominate the best packaging designers.
- If your work has appeared in one of our previous Special Issues on packaging design, you do not require a nomination to submit samples of your work.
- The specimens of work submitted for “200 Best Packaging Designers worldwide” should not be older than 18 months.
- Work considered worthy of publication will be selected by an international jury made up of packaging design specialists.
- Packaging designers whose work is chosen by the jury will be informed of their selection and asked whether they would like to have images published. They decide how many are to appear.
- The production fee for a half page is € 500, with a full page costing € 850.
Filed under: Good packaging design
The Pentawards packaging price was launced in 2007, so it is still a rather new, but promissing event I believe. Give it look here.
The 2008 diamond award went to a packaging solution which is turned upside down. Basically most designers use the methodology of turning things upside down as a natural ingredient in their toolbox. But luckily this does not always result in upside-down products! But of course the marketing perspective is there – and in this case the shelf presentation certainly stands out.
The design was created by Viktor&Rolf who seem to be living out a dream of luxury and indulgence.
Of more the “basic” designs that got to podium I would like to share the “Spark” washing powder from Korean manufacturer Aekyung. The design is so iconic that it needs no further explanation…
Further stuff from the awards can be found at the official blog supported by thedieline.com
Filed under: Capturing new ideas
I urge you to visit www.storyofstuff.com to see the enthusiastic lecture about all the stuff around us.
The lecture gives a very refreshing view on how to replace the cradle-to-grave thinking with a cradle-to-cradle holistic view on our life as consumers. If you are into learning people about life cycle assessment I believe you will find great comfort in this presentation, as it takes the sometimes heavy and dull stuff into a very funny and easily understood level.
The amusing animations were created by Free Range Studios which is definitely worth a visit too. Check for instance their animation “The Meatrix” – the true picture of animal farming…
