Packaging Design through the Human History

Packaging Design through the Human History

What is packaging? In short, packaging is a great method to impress your target buyer and to make sure he remembers you for a long time. Packaging design is a full area of work and field of creative decisions. And sure, packaging has its own stories. One of them is the story it tells to you.

Packaging is a very ancient and notable thing. We don’t know where or when packaging was invented, but it seems it was near the first steps of civilization.

Ancient people used all types of sources to make their life more comfort and bright with packaging, but it is not only about comfort. Packaging is a way to show and present inner ideas of product. It’s a language of symbols and something that speaks to the human heart. People used leaves, vines, animal skins, hides, bones, different animal parts and skin to make the first product containers. The choice of packaging was a very important thing and was connected with religion and the tribe’s life vision. Some materials was sacred, some used for temple and rites purposes and others for common use. Also, they were divided between the common people and elites. Every detail on the package (same as the details of clothes, weapons etc) told other about social position of its owner. It was a sort of status symbol, as we say today. Artisans created wood or limestone containers, decorated them with different objects and then sell or give to another social groups for the use. Containers were not only used as a utility item, but as part of the culture, social and personal life affected by the person’s own lifestyle and position. This is something very similar to modern branding and package design.

Containers from different materials were used for different purposes depending on the purposes and materials available. For example, nomadic tribes primarily used leather containers with bone carcasses and sedentary peoples mostly prefered wood or limestone as materials as way to differentiate. The studying of this theme is a very interesting and exciting thing! These examples of ancient craft can inspire designers to create efficient package with their own sense of purpose, utility and message to their customers.

The modern art of packaging was redesigned and reborn during the Industrial revolution near the beginning of the 1900s. The city lifestyle inspired a crafters generation, but the Industrial Revolution took it to a new level. Many artisans moved to cities and established their own craft shops or businesses. They worked together and with other industries. This made packaging a greater necessity, and it is still in demand by modern entrepreneurs and old brands. The changes in production level increased demands to designers. Companies invented new types of packaging to different goods. They invented print methods and individual packaging, and this was a really new chapter in packaging. From the 1960s to now, this is still the most preferred product of packaging.

Packaging is an interesting branch of design, and this is one of the most dynamic aspects of modern art. This is also the best way to bring new life to your product and deliver your personal message to the whole world and your customers. Packaging can visually explain what you created personally to every person and make your product iconic in your customers minds. This is a powerful design instrument in modern business and marketing.