Modern packaging of nature

As early as the middle of the 18th century, the packaging of high-end goods had already taken shape, although its packaging function was basically carried out around transportation problems. But in the following 150 years, the development of commerce has greatly promoted the extensive and rapid development of packaging design. The function of packaging has evolved from the previous protection function to the protection of product safety, which facilitates the preservation and transportation, the beautification of commodities, and the enhancement of the external visual image of the product, and even becomes a commodity in itself. Good packaging design becomes a silent salesman and an important factor in achieving sales profitability. However, the development of the packaging industry has made significant contributions to economic development, but it has also brought serious environmental problems to humanity. Colorful waste packaging products and packaging materials become an important source of waste. Especially in the 21st century, almost all countries in the world have experienced more serious natural disasters. In the history of the past, human beings arbitrarily acquired resources from nature, and the living conditions and natural ecosystems related to human beings gradually lost their balance. The relationship between human beings and nature has never been such a swift and swift attempt. As a result, environmental protection campaigns have been vigorously launched around the globe, and green packaging has emerged. For modern packaging designers, establishing a natural view of the design is also crucial.

The natural view of packaging design refers to the use of non-polluting, recyclable or recycled packaging materials and products. That is, the entire process of packaging products from the selection of raw materials, product manufacturing, use to recycling and disposal meets the requirements of ecological and environmental protection. It includes such contents as saving the material resources, reducing the amount, avoiding the generation of waste, easy recycling or regeneration, burning or degrading, and other requirements with ecological and environmental protection. In other words, the colorful and good visual impact of packaging design materials, the support for commercial profits, and the growth, recycling, and environmental protection of material selection are in the same position in design.

As early as the early 20th century in Germany, Bauhaus School's design teaching system and design aesthetics talked about design and nature. Bauhaus emphasized that it is necessary to fully understand the significance of Eastern philosophy in modern design. The background proposed by this theory is precisely that after the Western industrial revolution, the development of western science and technology has overemphasized the role of the conqueror in nature, and widened the distance between matter and spirit, making people and people There is a loss of balance between science and technology and between nature. The spiritual world of humanity is empty and needs to be filled with Eastern philosophy. The concept of the doctrine of the golden mean and benevolent love of Confucianism in oriental philosophy, the dialectical concept of Taoism, and the concept of harmony between man and nature in Eastern philosophy not only had a great appeal to Bauhaus at that time, but was also used today in this concept. The idea of ​​having a degree of harmony and coexistence is still very practical. The prevalence of green design concepts has prompted modern packaging designers to begin to increase their awareness of packaging design materials and the environment and ecological protection in their designs. This is a change of concept and a change in the state of cultural psychology. In the new century, the development of science and technology, the improvement of productivity, and the progress of cultural concepts have brought unprecedented impact on cultural design to packaging design. The social and ethical responsibilities of the designers have led them to consider the need to maintain the natural world's normal operations against man-made damage and to use repeatable packaging designs when choosing materials for design. It even began to conceive of revolutionizing the packaging design using purely natural materials so that it can circulate in a large natural ecosystem. The lives of nature, including our human beings, have an ecosystem that carries out the cycle of energy conversion and metabolism. Maintaining the normal circulation of this system is the most important mission of the entire human race in the new century. Once this cycle is out of balance and even destroyed, the provision of a material-based ecosystem for our lives will itself lose balance and even collapse. Therefore, packaging design is not just a protection product or a simple aesthetic problem, but a fundamental life issue.

Designers are aware of their responsibilities. They have envisioned the replacement of packaging as artifacts into the entire natural circulatory system. Unused packaging materials can be returned to nature in such a way that the system accepts them, thus achieving recyclability. Available purpose. Instead of conquering nature, strengthening nature, and finally discarding nature in the form of rubbish, the final outcome is a tragedy that damages the quality of our lives. Based on this assumption, designers began to focus on materials that are more easily degraded. For example, crude fiber plants can become very good packaging materials after processing. These packaging materials are rich in material and have strong regeneration capability. For example, using coconut shells to design packaging materials is environmentally friendly and has strong protection capabilities. This requires designers to discover and innovate in packaging design. Because the selection and processing of this kind of environmentally friendly material is completely different from the existing production process, it requires a lot of capital and technical strength from trial to application, as well as the loss of increased product costs and loss of market share. For the average enterprise, there are The great risk is a matter of insufficiency. Therefore, environmental awareness is becoming part of the public's daily life and consumer awareness. Green packaging and products will play a positive role in the development of the company. In this hope and danger, the green road to packaging design is not only The responsibility of the designer also requires a lot of strength to join in, which is a long way to go.

The gap between the visual aesthetic of packaging design and the reliability of product quality has always been the focus of consumer criticism. The “old bottles of new wine” and “hanging the sheep's head to sell the dog's meat” in the colloquial language “discussed among others” are all about packaging design and product quality. For example, the annual moon cake package for the Mid-Autumn Festival, a three-four-dollar moon cake, hundreds of thousands of times, even more than 10,000 yuan, its selling point is over-ornate packaging design. There are also gold books, silver stamps, and so on. Here is the meaning of a packaging design. If our packaging design is purely beautifying life and improving the quality of our daily life, then designers and manufacturers have the responsibility and obligation to make the packaged products truly worthy of name. Of course, as a packaging design for artistic design, its design needs exaggeration and beautification, which can be achieved through the language of design, and does not require the use of expensive and extravagant materials. For example, the use of transparent materials in packaging not only allows consumers to see the quality of the product, but also enables the design to achieve a kind of imaginary artistic effect that seems to have nothing, not only meets the basic functions of packaging design, but also promotes the product. The transaction gained business profits. However, the fraudulence and hypocrisy of the design are issues that deserve long-term attention.

The purpose of packaging design is to promote the exchange of goods and increase profits. So packaging design as a part of business must meet the market demand. Should be suitable for the conditions under the conditions of the market to carry out the design of goods, there must be the design of the primary and secondary. Generally speaking, consumers who buy exquisite packaging with tens of thousands of yuan, and who still have a good reputation, do not occupy the mainstream in our society. The packaging design should be of similar quality to that of the product. There should be no high-end products to drive the low-end design, and no high-end packaging should be used to drive the low-grade products. There must be a degree of demand for beautification and propaganda, or else it will be to seek for the end, or even to be neither fish nor fowl. Like advertising, packaging design should also have a certain target consumer, and it must meet consumer's individual choice.

In the new century, packaging design faces not only simple product packaging, but also the simple mission of protecting products. Designers also use their own artistic designs not only to package products, but also to assist merchants in obtaining greater commercial profits. For packaging, a concept of growth, awareness of circulation and concept of reproduction, affinity of people and the environment, and harmony with the environment have become new problems faced by packaging designers, and they should also become their new consciousness. Design mission. Under the requirements of creating a harmonious and harmonious society in our country, besides the function of beautifying life that packaging design requires, the authenticity and appropriateness of design are the professional ethics codes that designers must adhere to for a long time.

As a packaging design for the visual and technological complex, relying on the dual factors of art and technology, it is not easy to achieve perfect packaging design. With the development of the market, the change of people's consumption concepts, the soundness of the legal system, and the enhancement of international exchanges, the concept of green environment for package design, its own good development environment, and the sense of moral responsibility of designers will surely become its development direction.

Reproduced from: Chinese artist