Industry Voice
By Kevin Marshall, Vice President, Pret-a-Porter Custom Standards
Design is belief system. It is also about evolution and moving forward with vision. Design is the belief that shape, color and proportion improve the places in which we live. And they do, for when a designed object speaks to a consumer simply and in earnest, it can instantly become a part of their lives. When a package and product deliver what they promise, you have earned the consumer's trust honestly.
The process by which we arrive at a successful design is just as important as the result itself. The unification of spirit, design, technology, business, function: all of these things is where the clever use of materials and a designer's skills matter most. By respecting all aspects of the creative process we find that bringing beauty and functionality into daily life is often more joyful than holding the end product, and that conversely, the end product is often more joyful to hold when approached this way.
We adhere what we consider to be a few basic design tenets. Not only do we strive to do things a little differently, but feel that it is imperative to do so. Of course, there is no overall "recipe" for success anymore, but we should look at design and it's place within this industry and decide how we might best take advantage of this process.
Is it possible to create faster, more creatively and more profitably? It's only by challenging our traditional "places" in the creative arc, that we will find answers to these questions.
The Beauty of Economy
Combining new industry perceptions, a heightened awareness of consumer needs and technological advancements, there are more possible ways to approach package design. There are also more markets to approach than ever before. As a result, the consumer is overwhelmed with choices. On all levels, competition for the consumer's attention is intensifying.
This is exciting for designers because it can lead to new packaging and design opportunities. Today, creative people are working for the bottom line.
If clients are forced to work against economic realities and do not believe so much in design work as they do in the perceived power of choices generated by design work, then we as creative people are presented with a dichotomous challenge: to create something more effective, competitive and creative--but to do it with less time and less money.
This is not an ideal approach to creative problem solving, but we are beginning to rise to this challenge. The idea that originality and economy are not mutually exclusive concepts, appears to be coming into it's own. It is possible to be creative and cost conscious.
We can see the unfolding of this idea in a variety of "shifts": the rise in the use of stock packaging by companies who can actually afford to custom design; burgeoning direct relationships between clients and manufacturer's who act as "design" houses; the intensification of customization technology and options; and manufacturers launching standard designs in all types of materials. This reorientation is actually an opportunity for clients and their designers to take the packaging of products to a different level.
A broad selection of standard designs now allows us to launch more product lines than before, or customize new product types and packaging for a certain customer base. It allows us to explore markets or product directions we may not have previously wanted to, due to cost and timing issues.
It allows us to experiment with less risk. Or effectively accommodate changing consumer preferences or create new demands on the fly. Remember: design is a means, not an end.
Conclusion
Consumers already demand more from their products--can their packaging be that far behind? Design is about many things: evolution, vision, commerce, faith. But to distill that notion even further, design is about people. And people are always changing.
As an industry of creative professionals, how will we address change? How will we relate to the design and packaging of new products for new customers as yet unseen? It is up to all of us to push and redefine how we relate to an evolving market.
The future does looks exciting for those willing to let go of the old and an embrace the new. Always embrace the new.