Cosmetics, like any commodity, are sold with packaging and are an extremely packaging-dependent commodity. Not only because the characteristics of cosmetic ingredients determine the rational packaging that needs to protect the safety and stability of products, but also because cosmetics themselves are a special commodity bearing people’s desire to beautify themselves.
In order to achieve a successful design effect, we need to carry out a systematic and orderly design of cosmetic packaging.
Brand positioning expression
Brand positioning refers to establishing one’s own market position or consumer’s psychological position according to the target market demand and the psychological demand of target consumers and determining a distinctive proposition for the brand, which should have great appeal to target consumers and establish a unique market position.
In the process of establishing this status, it is necessary to have a carrier to speak for the brand. The packaging design, as the image representative of the brand, can enable consumers to identify the value concept and product quality of the brand through visual means. After the brand positioning, packaging design can be targeted, can be more effective for the brand service, and become a meaningful design.
For example, CHANEL packaging is a minimalist representative, they have different product packaging, eyelash packaging, lipstick packaging, eyeshadow packaging, etc. They give up the excess color, in the color of the choice of classic black and white, only in a small number of products to mix with light blue, and light pink. For the shape of the container, CHANEL chose the design with a slight curve in the straight line, and the container surface is basically not decorated, more is showing the smooth feeling of a simple plane or curved surface, introverted and classic brand temperament can be perfectly presented.
Packaging design is a brand, culture as the standard discipline, which requires the designer when making packaging design, not only the pursuit of originality, fashion brings to the enterprise’s benefit, but through the accurate grasp of the brand positioning, the transformation of packaging design to build brand connotation, the important way of creating lasting brand value.
Rules for serial packaging
The variety of cosmetics is unprecedented, and consumers have more and more choices. As an enterprise, it is necessary to classify and design the product packaging through the efficacy and ingredients of the product, so as to facilitate consumers’ identification and purchase of cosmetics. In the product packaging classification design, mainly through the packaging of the shape, color, bottle paste, and other changes in the elements of the regular design. Generally, the cosmetic packaging design of series products can be combined in the following ways:
- The same container shape, different container color. This design can be implemented by cosmetics with similar efficacy but with different time periods. For example, the same series of early frost and late frost, at this time use two kinds of color differences larger container color to distinguish the concept of time.
- The same container shape and container color. Bottle stickers of the same design style, but one or several design elements of the bottle stickers are changed. This kind of design scheme is usually used for a series of cosmetics with the same function but different ingredients. For example, the cosmetic that belongs to the fruit series together, because all adopted fruit formula, using the container of same design style, but fruit formula divides pomegranate, lemon, tomato to wait for formula again because this bottle stick can draw corresponding fruit design to be distinguished.
- The container of complementary modeling. The implementation of this kind of design scheme is often with supporting functions of the product. For example, the same series of shampoo and hair conditioner, in order to reflect the unity of the two, and suggest that consumers should be used in sets to increase sales, usually the packaging of the two will be designed as a whole, combined as a new overall shape.
In a word, according to the different classifications of a series of cosmetics to adopt the corresponding design, providing consumers with a more effective, more intuitive, more convenient guidance consumption, will make both enterprises and consumers benefit.
Final cosmetic packaging design
1. Design of container appearance.
According to the degree of decent variation of the container, we can divide it into simple and lively type, moderate variation type, and complex decoration type. The container of concise and lively type USES the combination of plane and curved surface commonly in modeling, and the surface of the container has no embossed effect, so the container molding process is relatively simple. This type of container has a large proportion in the cosmetic market because of its simple craft and simple appearance.
Some cosmetic boxes are also relatively simple in shape, but the surface of the containers will be slightly modified, such as there will be a slight cut on the container, fluctuations, on the surface of the container to do some embossed decoration, or inlaid some accessories to better interpret the product quality.
There are some cosmetics in the container design with more complex forms, decorative effect is thicker and richer in symbolic meaning. Although the modeling methods of cosmetic containers are ever-changing, the specific design, the positioning characteristics and attributes of products, the complexity of container technology, and the satisfaction of human engineering when consumers use the products should be considered comprehensively, so as to obtain a beautiful and practical design.
2. The container color design
(1) Product positioning. The correct use of color in cosmetic packaging can produce a variety of impressions such as lovely, mature, enthusiastic, sexy, sedate, relaxed, and powerful. Clear product positioning, make the right color choice, so as to produce the expected psychological effect in the minds of consumers.
(2) Selection of container materials and use of printing technology. This is out of technical considerations, different materials to achieve different degrees of color, for example, plastic material, not only easy to shape but also can present arbitrary color, can make a pearl, color, magnetic white, transparent and other effects. Another example: the glass bottle for high-temperature ink screen printing, is not easy to decolorize, the color and luster heavier dumb, and the use of low-temperature ink screen printing color more brilliant. Therefore, the color selection of the container should not only consider the visual perception but also consider the realization of the technology.
3. Container surface decoration design
The surface of the container is usually decorated in two ways: texture and pattern. Texture usually covers the entire surface of the container and can be composed of text, both to decorate the product itself and to enhance the brand. Patterns will be selected to appear in the part of the container, with more attention to the composition effect. The expression form of design has a lot of kinds, can be the line that is rich in formal aesthetic feeling, this kind of line is soft beauty normally, appear with the word. The cosmetic packaging design can also be a form of graffiti with a sense of individuality and fashion. Design can also be used in the form of color blocks, the shape of color blocks can be regular or arbitrary, which is closely related to the product quality expressed by the product.
4. Bottle sticker design
Bottle stickers often appear on plastic, metal, and glass bottle packaging, paper packaging is relatively rare. Bottle paste on the design and container surface decoration design is similar, they will arrange some texture, pattern, image, and other elements, but the most important point of the bottle paste is the transmission of brand and product information because the bottle paste carries the text content, so the design of the bottle paste more attention to typography.
It needs to be pointed out that most cosmetics packaging with bottle stickers usually have front bottle stickers and back bottle stickers, and the back collage is usually just a lot of explanatory text, the form is relatively simple, as long as the style and front bottle stickers are consistent. And the front bottle affix has the brand name, the product name, the product brief effect description, and so on the text content, as well as the logo image, the raw material image, the decoration image, and so on the content. The design should incorporate all the above elements into a harmonious form.
Cosmetic packaging design is an orderly and systematic process. The clear brand positioning and the appeal of the brand concept should be the first designer to grasp the design premise, in the specific in-depth design, to container shape, color, surface decoration, and bottle paste and other elements are fully considered and refined, and finally achieve a perfect packaging design.
