Across all fields and industries that produce physical items for customer use and or consumption, packaging is how the brand speaks and connects with you.
The colors, the fonts, the packaging materials and even the shape of the container all must work in harmony to call out to and reach the target audience.
We as humans subconsciously consider many factors when choosing between similar products.
How does it look and feel? What's the quality? Does it suit my lifestyle, my tastes? Do I like the attitude or personality of the brand that makes it?
Packaging is visual communication it its most tangible form. So scroll down and see how I can make a product speak for itself.
The fictitious wine brand, Untamed produces more than one wine. Each kind must follow the brand standard, yet also be distinguishable within the brand. The core elements of the branding all stay the same on every bottle. But the color changes with each type of wine. This allows for easy identification and recognition in the store. In example: if you’re craving an Untamed Riesling, just look for the violet stallion.
And there's more to Untamed than you might think. Check out the slideshow below to see how it can become the perfect gift.
This gift set is designed to be customizable - everything inside is compartmentalized, allowing the online buyer to choose what they want. The gift set is then assembled, packaged, and shipped. For demonstration purposes, this set contains one bottle and two glasses.
The exterior boxes of the gift set are held firmly together by cross banding, which uses a slit-hook system for easy opening and closing. The horizontal band must be undone first, then the vertical band behind it. Afterward, the banding can be slipped off and the boxes accessed.
Silhouettes on the front of each box visually hint to the viewer as to the contents. The silhouettes are printed at precisely the same size as the actual items within, setting up a real and honest expectation of what is inside.
All of the items that can be put into the gift set can also be purchased individually. Hence, every box is capable of standing on its own.
Once you pull up the lid, the sides of the box release and fall out for you, opening like a flower. When closed, the box is held together by pure tension, the lid the only thing keeping it shut. No glue. No tape. Just tension. And when you release that tension, the box blooms right before you, stylishly presenting its contents.
All of the items that can be put into the gift set can also be purchased individually. Hence, every box is capable of standing on its own.
Once you pull up the lid, the sides of the box release and fall out for you, opening like a flower. When closed, the box is held together by pure tension, the lid the only thing keeping it shut. No glue. No tape. Just tension. And when you release that tension, the box blooms right before you, stylishly presenting its contents.
Smaller items, like these stemless glasses, are protectively packaged in their own boxes. Like their larger brothers, they too are able to stand on their own for individual sale. The online shopper can swap out one or both of these during the ordering process for other wine accessories, such as corkscrews, unique stoppers, and more. Any space left in the exterior box becomes occupied by an appropriately sized filler box to prevent shifting and rattling.
The inclusion of the Riedel brand name on the box label conveys quality and value. Riedel is a well-known glassware company that produces high-quality wine glasses (and yes, those are real Riedel glasses in the photo). The same brand inclusion would be done for any of the other items the buyer could possibly select to include in the set. For the safety of the smaller product, these boxes follow conventional construction and access.
More often than not, packaging dimensions vary quite wildly within a given family of products. As a fictitious organic grocery line, I imagined Skookum produces a wide variety of foods from basic ingredients to convenient meals. This meant that the branding had to flex with the unique measurements and materials of each container, while still maintaining the colors, typography, and overall crisp look that all lend to the identity of Skookum.
Showcasing how the design adapts to different containers, this set features a liquid carton, dry carton, plastic bag, aerosol spray can, and glass bottle.
