SubscribeJim Dale, Design Manager at RPC Raunds, explains why the relationship between designers and manufacturers continues to be essential to delivering innovative packaging solutions.
Design plays such a crucial role in successful packaging that it is easy to forget the delicate balance between creativity and practical skill that is required.
When a consumer buys a pack, they see only the eye-catching shape or the attention-grabbing innovation…and there is the temptation, in an increasingly competitive marketplace, to prioritise the unusual or the novel design to the detriment of practicality.
Plastics lend themselves particularly to bespoke packaging design.With an extensive choice of materials, processes, shapes, colours and decoration options, the possibilities for creative design are endless. Yet this does not always translate into the perfect pack.
A brand image will not last long unless the pack offers something more than initial impact: it must also demonstrate outstanding functional attributes, show respect for the environment and make life easier for manufacturers, retailers and end-users.A so-called innovative pack or attractive design is not going to win any friends if the consumer can’t open it easily or the retailer can’t stack it effectively or if it cannot be produced economically or efficiently.
The development process for some of the best packaging designs will usually contain a history of practical and technical challenges that the end-consumer will be blissfully unaware of because they have all been successfully overcome.When devising a new pack, no creative flight of fancy is off limits, provided it is grounded in an awareness and consideration of commercial and practical realities.
It is for this reason that RPC has always advocated the early involvement of packaging manufacturers in any new project.
Close working partnerships with customers – and in particular a strong two-way relationship between designer and manufacturer - helps to ensure that fresh, independent creativity is partnered by technical innovation and proven workability.And even where a pack design originates in-house from the manufacturer, this dialogue still needs to be maintained.
The benefits are not only to be seen in pack designs themselves, but also in the greater ease in which they are brought to fruition.By being involved early in a new pack project, companies like RPC are able to ensure that critical deadlines are met to help to smooth the path towards a successful and on-time launch.
Early dialogue, where both parties feed off one another to spark greater achievements, is something to be valued and which RPC continues to promote through its sponsorship of the Starpack Designer/Design House of the Year Award, now in its third year.The Award presents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how the best designs are those that can be measured, not only by their creativity, but by successfully matching the requirements of manufacturers, fillers, retailers and consumers alike.