PACKAGING RESEARCH...

In this project I need to create a type of box packaging, here I will research different types of box packaging...

- Cereal boxes
- Washing powder boxes
- Cosmetic boxes
- Toiletries boxes
- Medicine boxes
- Chocolate boxes
- Cleaning product boxes
- Gift boxes - Perfume boxes
- Drinks packaging (Eg; Champagne)
- Food packaging (Eg; Frozen foods, rice, cake mix etc)
- Toy boxes
- Video game/console boxes

...The list goes on and on...

Above is a cereal box design for 'Sugar Smacks'. This was a popular cereal in the 1980s aimed at children. The design for this changed many times, this change was usually dependent on the free gift in the box. The design above works really well, the colours and the star like shape around the image would bring your eyes straight to this box on a shelf. The type is very bold and simple, the customer can see exactly what the product is called and who it is made by straight away. This particular design would definitely appeal to kids, it comes across almost as a toy box, the whole design is aimed at people who would buy the product just for the free toy! Although this design is from the 80s and can seem quite dated to some people I think if this was back in the shops today people would buy it just for the design!




Cosmetic products don't tend to use box packaging that often especially cheaper high street brands, but many more expensive brands are starting to contain there products in boxes. It makes the product seem 'special', some cosmetic brands rely on there packaging to make the product sell. Above you can see the box and the product that is contained in it...If this lipgloss was sold on its own without the box it would probably be sold at lower price, the box brings a lot more 'class' to the product.
Bars of soap sold individually don't tend to have a box packaging but the image above is a multipack. It is a very simple design for a very simple product. The product name just says '3 Unscented Bars of Soap' the product brand is called 'Body True' the brand, product name and packaging all fit together very well. The packaging is very sort of 'organic' with a nice rough texture. It doesn't seem to have much information on it, but it has all you really need, it shows that you don't have to have lots of description and images if you clearly tell the customer what the product is.... 3 Unscented Bars of Soap.....What else do you really need to know?!
The box above is for Pepto-Bismol, a medicine. The product itself is pink so they have incorporated this onto the design, with an image of the product itself in the bottom right hand corner. The product name is very large with the version smaller underneath, I like how they have put this in a letter 'P' it really stands out and makes it more interesting than just a blank colour across the box. On the front is tells you simply what the product does along with a little diagram, it c;ear;y states what flavour it is with an image of some cherries which matches the colour scheme, then shows you an actual image of what the product inside looks like.
The design above is for Cadbury's Roses. The brand and product is so well know it doesn't really need much else on the box. The design has been the same (or similar) for many years now and is instantly recognisable. It has the colour purple in the design which relates to the Cadbury brand, all the text on the front is the brand name and product name. On the back of the box will have a separate description for each individual chocolate, which is a lot more detailed than the front.
Above is a cleaning product box design for Brillo. This design is like above as it has hardly changed in years and years. It is a very simple design which works, the colours and type are very bold and it has a short basic description of what the product is. Of course this product was probably helped a great deal with Andy Warhol's work on the design in his own work.
Retail shops are starting to offer gift packaging a lot more nowadays. Like makeup this started for more expensive, designer brands but is now branching out to high street brands like Gap and American Apparel. This is a great idea for presents, especially around Christmas and other holiday periods. They are usually very simple with just the brands name on like the above one for Chanel. There are very few perfumes that do not come in some kind of box whether this is individually or in a gift set like the one above. Perfume boxes are usually very simple and sleek with most of the detail on the perfume bottle itself. I would say that people are more drawn to the product by how the bottle looks rather than the box, the bottles are always in view in stores for testing the perfume.


Some bottles of wine and champagne are packaged in boxes, this is a great idea and I don't know why more companies don't do it! Everyone buys wine as a gift for someone, why not make it look more like on in a nice box?! It also makes the product look a lot more expensive! Simple but very effective.


Various types of food is packaged in boxes like the above, they normally have a large picture of the product on the front and in some cases like this one (cake mix) will have simple instructions on the back. The image in the one above shows you a perfect finished version of the product, it has been sliced and placed with berries to make the product seem more appertising than just a big slab of cake on its own, which is what of course you will get once you have made the cake. This normally would have 'Serving suggestion' next to the image, this allows the brand to show more than just the actual product.
Most toys for children are packaged in boxes, normally for kids the theory is the bigger the box the better the toy! Toy packaging is usually very bright and eye catching and will vary in colour schemes depending on if the product is aimed at boys or girls, for example dolls are normally in pink packaging or a toy boat would maybe be blue for boys, this happens a lot more in packaging for babies (gift packaging etc pink for girls, blue for boys). Toy packaging will usually have what age it is suitable for in bright bold type, this is because if buying a gift for a child that is one of the first things your going to think of... Is this to difficult? Will they swallow parts of this toy? etc...