There are always parameters involved in packaging design. The eventual contents may impact the structure and possible material types. Size will be a consideration. There may be specific legal requirements as to the information that must be included on the packaging. And so on.
But many brands also follow certain ‘coding’ in their packaging design. By sticking to an expected palette of colours, fonts and other elements, designers can signal to customers what their product is. It makes it easier for them to identify what they’re looking for on the shelves.
For example, fast food brands often use yellow, red and white in their packaging. Certain colours are associated with specific flavours of crisp. Pharmaceutical products often follow colour rules for easy differentiation.
Sometimes though this packaging coding is disrupted with interesting results.
Standout from Competitors
Possibly the biggest reason a brand may deviate from packaging ‘coding’ is to standout from their competitors.
As already mentioned, a lot of customers use cues from packaging to help guide their buying decisions. Moving away from this can help a brand standout on the shelves.
At the same time, designers need to make sure that they don’t disrupt things so much that consumers feel misled and end up buying something they don’t want. For example, plain crisps are typically sold in red packaging. If a brand were to use red for their salt and vinegar crisps, this could cause some frustration for consumers who may be buying based on colour rather than reading the details carefully.
US Salad brand Plenty has found a good way to walk the line between disruption and making sure customers know what they’re buying.
Its packaging uses fonts and colour schemes that you would associate with fast food rather than lettuce leaves. By using the coding customers expect from one product area and applying it to another, Plenty draws attention to its products.
A window within the packaging allows the customer to see the salad contents which means they aren’t confused about what they are buying.
Surprise Consumers with Unexpected Contents
Another way that brands can use disrupted packaging coding to their advantage is to surprise the consumer with what’s inside.
The Rihanna owned Fenty Beauty has teamed up with art collective MSCHF for a limited-edition product run called Ketchup or Makeup. Each box of Ketchup or Makeup contains six small packets that either contain some Fenty Beauty lip gloss or literal ketchup. The packaging design has all of the hallmarks of classic ketchup bottles using the colour red and a white central label.
The concept is a play on customer expectations as they never know what the contents will be until they open the individual packets. It’s a really fun example of how packaging can be used to entertain and surprise customers by not following the established rules of what products go in what packaging.
Get Attention
One thing that disrupting the expected coding of packaging design is good for is getting attention. This can be the launch of a new product into a category or a rebrand designed to set the company apart from others. But it’s also very effective as a promotional and awareness tool.
A fantastic example of this is Cadbury’s partnership with Age UK to ‘donate’ the words on their chocolate bar wrappers to lonely older people. During the campaign, Cadbury’s famous purple packaging was printed without its branding on the front. For customers who were used to seeing the classic design, this was jarring and drew their attention to the product on the shelves. They then learnt that Cadbury were donating 30p from the sale of each bar to Age UK and encouraging people to start conversations with older people.
It shows how disrupting what people expect, especially from a long-established brand with instantly recognisable packaging, can be incredibly effective at getting their attention.
By Jack Stratten, Head of Trends at retail trends agency Insider Trends.
