Some Views on Flexible Packaging Printing Pattern Design
Abstract: The development trend of packaging design should reduce the number of colors, reduce the amount of ink usage, highlight creativity, be closer to nature, consider the integration with printing materials, and fully explore the sustainability of the development of packaging printing.
By paying attention to the flexible packaging printing patterns seen in daily work, I found some changes in the flexible packaging printing patterns design of domestic daily consumer goods in recent years. In combination with the examples and characteristics of packaging and printing pattern design abroad, and the changes of consumers' aesthetic habits in our country, as well as considering the new requirements of environmental protection and health safety, here are some opinions on the printing pattern design of food and beverage packaging from the perspective of gravure production.
1. Design idea of packaging printing pattern
Nowadays, the commodity circulation cannot do without packaging. The packaging pattern design is the information carrier to communicate with consumers, not only showing the type, name, brand, quantity, composition and usage of the products, but also reflecting the inherent characteristics, history and cultural of the goods. Bar code, QR code and security patterns are add into the commodity packaging for modern circulation, sale and traceability. Usually, the packaging designer will consider exaggerating and highlighting the characteristics of the goods, and seek to be different, catching the consumer's eyes by the outstanding and unforgettable packaging pattern with strong color and innovative design, which is still the outstanding feature of packaging pattern design in domestic food packaging until now. However, the increasingly prominent environmental and safety problems are gradually changing people's understanding of commodity packaging patterns, coupled with the new requirements of relevant standards for packaging design, the idea of printing with strong and multiple colors is slowly changing. The packaging and printing design ideas should be changed and closely following the direction of social development, which can both highlight the characteristics of the packaged goods and ensure safety and environmental protection, as well as increase the selling points. This idea should be referenced by more and more designers of daily necessities packaging printing pattern.
2. Use of color
Different patterns are presented with various colors. In the printing process, the level and fineness of the pattern can reflect the exquisite effect of printing, so the use of color can show the creative strength of the designer. Now, with the photography technology applicable to printing design, and the use of advanced plate making process, printing patterns can easily restore the original appearance of the goods, and also reduce the difficulty of design. But this kind of physical pattern printing often brings challenges to the use of color. Besides basic colors, multiple spot colors may be used to bring out the practical effect of the pattern.
If the pattern is pure artificial creative design, the color can be freely selected according to the theme, with simple pattern and less color. If the design is related to the elements from the nature, including animals and plants, scenery, characters, etc., which is required to printed on the packaging realistically, the color will be more complicated and the difficulty of printing will be greatly increased.
Packaging design should be more creative. Choosing cartoon or graffiti patterns for animals and plants, scenery, characters, etc., and using one color or less color can help not only reflect the high level of designer’s creativity, but also simplify the use of color. The decorative effect of specific goods will not be weakened, but will become more innovative, lovely and interesting, attracting more young consumers, and making for the environmental food safety.
This design is more common on food packaging in European and American countries. Now, some food packaging printing design is also very distinctive, which is based on prominent text as the background, such as large font, with a single background color, or simply use bold/artistic words, so that the type of color is less, but does not affect the grade of packaging.
To set off the characteristics of the design, use less variety of colors and match with the fine patterns and matte printing substrate materials, which can add a distinctive visual element to the packaging pattern. From the recent printing color number of product packaging, the number of color on the design is mostly below six; design with two color or three color is also common. The packaging printing design is developing towards the trend of decreasing color.
3. Aesthetic development trends
For the printing pattern of flexible packaging, the strong visual impact is one of the good’s selling points. Especially the distinctive printing pattern combined with the unique packaging form makes people bright and unforgettable. So lots of goods will do everything possible to create this effect in packaging design, especially in printing pattern design. With the enhancement of health awareness and the change of people's visual aesthetics, it is not enough to rely only on the strong visual impact brought by color. The packaging pattern design should reflects the quality, grade, connotation, brand and cultural value of the goods, so that the products can have durability and continued popularity. We need to identify different levels of consumers, and customize the packaging pattern design solution according to the personal style, beliefs and needs. Pay attention to subdivision to meet the needs of different people, so as to achieve the rise of products in the market.
The printing pattern design should not only consider fancy colors, but also meet the changing trend of people's aesthetics. In addition to environmental protection and safety awareness is gradually deepening the people's hearts, the design with too much color will make people insecurity, because those packaging designs with strong color or bright color require more ink, whether it is solvent ink, water ink or UV ink, it will have a variety of pigments.
At present, many packaging designs highlight the core of the packaging content, especially the the core raw materials, so as to return to the simplicity and close to nature. These natural elements will give people a natural security. From the perspective of different commodity packaging, especially since the popularity of online shopping, young consumers not only favor the individuation of packaging form, but also the packaging design. Especially the perfect combination of packaging form and packaging pattern will be more attractive to buyers. People's aesthetic developing trend is to pursue the creative, outstanding, safe and eco-friendly packaging patterns. Consumers’ healthier lifestyle has strengthened the clean and eco-friendly connotation of the packaging design, so the packaging pattern design is gradually changing the design direction of thick bright colors as the tone.
4. Connection of design & product
Commodity packaging design is mainly aiming to display the goods better, so how to realize the design concept on the product packaging, is the way to connect the design and the product. The connotation and innovation of packaging design endow the soul of the commodity, even bringing explosive market demand to the commodity. There are lots of successful product marketing cases due to the successful packaging design. Food and commodity packaging patterns are mainly displayed in supermarket and online sales channels, which is required a Intuitive appeal to customers. Creative design and display effects have an ideal model in the designer's mind. There is a ideal model of the creative design and display effects in designer’s mind. However, when the design is displayed through printing, it is often not perfect. There are many reasons for this, including the restrictions on the printing mechanism, influence of printing materials, defects in the plate making process and the problem of printing conditions; so the design should be well connected with the product.
To make the design and product seamlessly connected together, designers also need to learn more knowledge about plate making, printing process, and printing operation. When necessary, it is required to integrate each technical characteristics, including the color separation of the design draft before plate making, the difficulty of color pattern reduction, the characteristics of each pigment, the problem of overprinting, the thickness of the line, the transition of the color layers, the use of spot color, etc. Through the understanding of the printing, the designer can properly modify the design intention, prevent distortion, and avoid the printed product from reaching the desired effect.
5. How to reflect the cultural connotation of commodities
In today's highly developed commodity economy, the mass consumer goods have the features of unification, standardization and scale, as well as the convenience of circulation. It is easy to distinguish the attributes of goods from the packaging, but the cultural elements are relatively less.
Pattern and text are a carrier of culture. How to reflect the cultural connotation of goods in packaging pattern design requires designers to find a correct entry point.
Commodity packaging carries intuitive patterns and text information. Packaging design itself is a creative work, to rise it to the level of cultural creativity must be associated with the attributes, history, region and cultural customs of the commodity itself. Such as Europe, America, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, packaging design has obvious regional cultural features, from which it is easy to determine the origin from some words and packaging patterns.
Our country is a vast territory with many ethnic groups. Different ethnic groups from different regions keep their own traditional customs. Those cultural symbols can highlight the regional and national features of goods, and meet people's demand for the origin of food ingredients, if it is reflected on the food packaging. Plus, it can also avoid the sameness, and better show the diversity of the goods and culture, broadening people’s vision and providing more choices for them. Besides compliance, laws and customs, packaging is a most important carrier of culture, requiring designers’ deep consideration.
6. Influence of Environmental Protection on the Trend of Printing pattern design
Pattern design needs color presentation, a variety of color ink transfer to form a print pattern. Whether oily ink or water-based ink, is a source of pollution, which will not changed its pollution attribute in the processes of ink manufacturing, use and transfer printing. Under the new requirements of environmental protection and safety, the less type and usage amount of ink, the better, which can reduce the bearing capacity of the environment, and realize the sustainability.
The packaging design should conform to the social development, highlight the characteristics of The Times, and has a keen grasp of the change in consumer cognitive habits. Especially for the packaging design of mass consumer goods, it is necessary to grasp the consumption habits and integrate the current status of information networking, which is the new requirements for packaging design. It is necessary to consider the development trend and prospect. Packaging materials are more prominent in green development. From recyclability and sustainability, it is necessary to consider the integration of printing pattern design and packaging form and structure design to conform to the sustainable development direction of printing materials.
Under the new situation, environmental protection and resource protection are advocated, and people's consumption habits and cognition have changed greatly. Food packaging printing design can only adapt to this change through color change, pigment screening and reducing pattern area, so as to achieve sustainability. Under the new development trend, in addition to adapt to the requirements of safety and environmental protection, but also to reflect the creativity and cultural connotation. In addition, with the change of the printing method and the large use of water-based ink, the past designs used the traditional solvent ink should also be changed, which should be more adaptable to the new printing method.
Article From: < PACKAGING FOREFRONT>,
Author: Xinan Hosokawa(Nanjing) Packaging Co., Ltd. - Wang Dongjing
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