Materials of packaging

When visiting supermarket consumers see a lot of different packaging that is made of different type of materials like carton, plastics, glass and thin. It all depends on the type of product to choose the material because it can be ‘potentially harmful such as solvents or packaging products such as medicines which can be sensitive to environmental factors like ultra-violet light’ stated Giles Calver (p.70, 2007). A material that is commonly used I carton. It is used for frozen foods, cosmetics, electrical goods, medicines, confectionery and household goods. The size of the carton have to be determined by the secondary packaging  such as the bottles of personal care products sometimes the product will be a lot smaller than the packaging its self. ‘A carton’s shape may similarly be influenced by the product it holds or by a desire to make it eye catching on shelf. Look at an average display of Easter eggs and you see that products display plays a large part in the shape and structure of the packaging, to the extent that the product often seems disproportionately small compared to its packaging’ (Giles Calver, p.72, 2007). 

There is variety of boards that cartons are made from. For example solid, bleached board is typically used for products like cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and frozen foods. Folding boxboard is often used for food packaging according to Giles Calver (p.72, 2007). Sometimes boards can be coated or laminated with aluminium foil it depends on the type of product to improve its look and feel. Another material that is commonly used for drinking bottles and perfumes is glass. In the last century glass was the main material for bottles, but nowadays designers are tented to use plastics instead for example the soft drinks like Coca-Cola. In some cases designers have no choice of choosing glass or plastic for example ‘pharmaceutical bottles need to be cleaned and sterilized using steam or dry heat, and plastics would distort if subjected to this treatment. Some products like beer need to be pasteurized, so also require glass, vegetables. Some products like peanut butter need to be filled hot, because in their cold state they are too solid sated Giles Calver (p.76, 2007). Sometimes the material conveys a different message for example fine spirits look more of good quality in glass rather than in plastic. Tubes are mainly used for personal care products or cosmetics. The materials used nowadays are aluminium or plastic but in the past designers used to use metal. Tubes have special printing for graphics because of the material and their size. Giles Calver says that metal tubes use a process called ‘Dry offset Letter press’  where the design is transferred colour-by-colour onto a central blanket cylinder and then rolled onto the can in one pass. 

As a result, this process does not replicate half-tones well. Plastic tubes are printed in two ways: laminate tubes are printed flat, using a litho process and then formed after printing. This process allows four-colour process like silk-screening of flat, opaque colours, can be added. Aluminium also used for cans and needs to be printed flat before forming, to form the correct image on the finished can. This type of material and packaging is used mostly for beers and soft drinks cans. Cans can be in different shapes not only a cylinder shape. For example Sainsbury designed a new can that has a squared shape for their tomato soup. Also Nescafe has launched cans but not different shape but in another innovative way, of self-heating can. Clamshells packaging is that packaging that is made of paperboard at the back and plastic. With this type of packaging, the designers don’t have to put a photo of the product because the consumers can see the product as the packaging is transparent. This type of packaging put the designers in a challenge as it has a small area for graphics. The graphics has to simple and forward.

Reference:

Calver, G. (2007) What is packaging design? (essential design handbooks). Edited by Leonie Taylor. Mies, Switzerland: RotoVision SA.