Industry News: Magazine Editors Offer Package Design Tips
Unique design elements, such as the ornamental flowers on the Marc Jacobs Daisy fragrance bottle, are more likely to catch editors’ attention.
In September, a panel of consumer magazine editors explained what design elements are likely to get beauty packages featured in magazines. The panel’s conference, held at the HBA Global Expo trade show, was called Make Your Packaging a Supermodel that Gets into Every Magazine.
“We look for anything with an unusual shape,” said Petra Kobayashi, art director for SELF magazine. For instance, said the panel, the Marc Jacobs Daisy fragrance bottle has been featured in many publications because its flower-shaped cap is more visually distinctive than typical round or square caps. The package’s look allows art directors to create more visually exciting page layouts.
The panel provided many tips about skin care products in particular. “We‘re always begging editors to find something that looks different—anything other than the usual white bottle with black type,” said Marilu Lopez, group creative director for Woman’s Day magazine.
“Too many skin care lines all look the same,” Kobayashi concurred. “Plain white bottles, white cream inside. Whenever we see even the slightest hint of pink [in the product formula], we’re so happy,” she said.
Certain publications, especially mass-market magazines, will never choose a white bottle to be photographed—no exceptions, said the panel. White packages often appear dull gray on a magazine page if the magazine’s paper isn’t high-quality, pure white, high-gloss stock.
The editors also discussed how they select products for a “plop.” (A plop refers to the practice of pouring product out of a package so that the product alone can be photographed. Plops are often done to make a page look more interesting, especially when product packaging isn’t.) “We’ll often have a few of the same types of products, in the same types of bottles that are all the same shape. We’ll start pouring the products out to see if we can do the plop,” said Lopez. In order for a product formula to be photographed for a plop, said the panel, it usually needs to be a color other than white.
The editors also said that all outer packaging is usually removed before a product is photographed, including hangtags and even caps. If removing any of these items detracts from the look of a product’s primary package, that package won’t make the cut.
Finally, said the panel, marketers of mass-market products should consider that although certain design elements work well on shelves, they don’t translate well in a magazine. For instance, a popular design, especially for hand soaps, is a clear bottle with a label on the back panel that can be seen through the bottle’s front. According to Karmen Lizzul, creative director for Family Circle, this type of design isn’t desirable because any type on the back label won’t be legible in a photograph.
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