Column
The anatomy of packaging design - Part 2
David Haslam
Material function and print processes determine design elements
In the first part of this series we discussed the graphic design
elements for packaging and the considerations that need to
be made to develop the canvas. We also must remember that
the package is the vehicle for the product, designed first and
foremost to protect what’s inside. That typically means that
the qualities of the packaging material and the demands for
its performance still outweigh how it’s decorated.
For example, let’s consider packaging for a simple bag of
shredded cheese:
• It has to provide a moisture barrier to protect the
cheese
• The seams on the bag must not leak or fail
• The bag must go through the filling line at high speed
• The bag must be strong enough to hang up
• The material must be recyclable at end-of-life
These are just some of the criteria – and by no means all of
them. With this example alone, the material will be a three-
layer laminate with three films that have three sets of material
properties. We’ll be decorating one of the layers as the film
is assembled. At this stage we’re looking at the various print
processes available. And regardless of the merits of each
(again, another article would barely cover this), the key pro-
cesses are gravure, flexo, offset, dry offset, digital and screen
printing. The challe