Brief Discussion: The Process of Packaging Design

Packaging design is not only an artistic creation activity, but also a marketing activity. Packaging design masters are often experts in both aspects. When conducting packaging design from a marketing perspective, one must re-consider who the packaging design is for? Why is it designed? What is it?
Packaging design is naturally for the packaging of products. However, the product is merely the object of packaging design, not the main entity. The main entity consists of three components: the designer, the client, and the final consumer.
Some designers adhere to their own design principles, maintain their own design style, and pursue aestheticism. These designers often have disagreements with clients and then blame the clients for not understanding art. However, art and the market are two distinct concepts.
As the market has developed to this day, all marketing activities of enterprises should center around the end consumers. Packaging design is no exception. All disputes between designers and clients should be unified around the end consumers. Packaging design is not for the designer, although he can earn a living through his designs; packaging design is not for the client, although the client pays the designer a salary. Packaging design is for the end consumers. This principle must be adhered to in order to avoid the failure of packaging design; otherwise, it is impossible to succeed.
Product packaging design is like people wearing clothes; it serves the purposes of protecting the goods and promoting sales. These two purposes are far from being as simple and easy as designers imagine. With the increasing variety of goods and the intensification of market competition, it is necessary to re-examine why packaging design is important.
When it comes to protecting goods, designers and customers have always emphasized ensuring that the goods remain intact throughout the entire process from production to circulation, and from circulation to consumption, without being damaged. In fact, this demand is far from sufficient, because a product that remains intact is not necessarily functionally intact. Moreover, packaging also has the function of adding value. The protection of the product's functionality should also revolve around the end consumers as the core, enabling them to maximize the use value of the goods. If a product remains intact but cannot be used, is inconvenient to use, or fails to fully exert its functionality, then the packaging design has failed.
The definition of an expert is: Packaging refers to the use of appropriate materials, containers and techniques to ensure that the goods remain in good condition during transportation, storage and sales. In modern marketing activities, merely having this understanding is not sufficient; a re-evaluation of the connotation and extension of packaging is necessary.
From the perspective of connotation, packaging is a product and an important part of customer consumption. Generally, the marketing mix consists of four factors: product, price, distribution, and promotion. However, many marketing scholars consider packaging as the fifth factor of the marketing mix. In fact, the complete concept of a commodity should include three levels: core product, tangible product, and additional product. The core product refers to what customers actually purchase when buying a product; the tangible product includes brand, features, style, quality, and packaging; the additional product refers to a series of after-sales services. Thus, packaging is an important part of the tangible product.
"The concept that 'packaging is the product' is an extension of the idea that packaging serves the end consumers. The establishment of this concept will bring about significant changes in the field of packaging design."