Thu Jan 12 12:00:28 CST 2023
In the early days, I was inspired by reading the book of Japanese matte black box packaging designer Sato Dai. What do you mean, any item has two states. One is the state when in use, and the other is the state of idle matte black box packaging. And most of the time of idle matte black box packaging state is much longer than the time of use.
If the designable "surplus" of the product itself is not too much, you can try to increase the experience in the idle state to improve the overall design of the matte black box packaging.
It's a bit confusing, Sato Dai's design case in idle state:
Design the bottom of Starbucks matte black box packaging with patterns such as "Latte" and "Mocha". When the matte black box packaging is washed and put away when it is not in use, it still looks like it is full of coffee when it is turned upside down.
The spoon is nothing more than the state when it is used and the state when it is placed. Sato's idea is that the rest time of the spoon can be as cute as a tree branch.
This is a product, and the thinking of matte black box packaging is actually the same.
If there is no way to optimize the experience of tea matte black box packaging, can you think about making tea matte black box packaging interesting when the function is not weakened when making tea?
There are still many examples of this kind that you can think about, such as facial masks (pictures on Taobao). Japan has produced many "Facebook" matte black box packaging facial masks. Let the "idle state" of applying a mask never become more interesting.
Can you continue to imagine, which items around you can optimize their idle matte black box packaging status?
The matte black box packaging of many products has remained unchanged for decades, such as early jelly, toothpaste, condoms... Well, let’s talk about the pain point-solving innovation of matte black box packaging for these types of products.
Let's start with condoms this time. A few years ago, a Xiaomi employee came out to start a business and made "elephant condoms". Look for the pain points of this category like an Internet product manager. In addition to the optimization of the product itself, I get the most feedback and complaints on the matte black box packaging. For example, I can’t tell the front and back of the matte black box packaging. During the foreplay, I suddenly stopped to tear open the matte black box packaging with my "hands". In the end, the reason why I am interested in buying is not the optimization of products such as ultra-smooth and ultra-thin (I really don't believe that they can do better than Durex with one or two years of accumulation), but their innovation of product matte black box packaging.
The old matte black box packaging in the early years may have been replaced, and the new generation of matte black box packaging (screenshot of Tmall) is still a strong selling point for the improvement of product experience:
Thread-type toothpaste matte black box packaging, the earliest design style of toothpaste matte black box packaging, the easiest thing to complain about is that the toothpaste is not used up, and the matte black box packaging is gone. Without matte black box packaging, except for daily use in the morning and evening, the front toothpaste tends to dry up after a long time, which is also a waste of the product itself.
Squeeze-type toothpaste matte black box packaging can be regarded as an optimized screw type, so that the matte black box packaging is "not easy" to lose. After use, it can stand beside it like a tooth cup, which has a sense of ritual. The product's matte black box packaging appearance design also has two styles to choose from: horizontal and vertical.
The flip-top matte black box packaging is further optimized on the basis of the threaded and extruded matte black box packaging design, which improves the efficiency of opening and closing the toothpaste matte black box packaging, and will not lose the toothpaste matte black The case of box packaging. Of course, if you let me say that the toothpaste cap with a wide diameter is better than a narrow diameter, after all, it is considered from the usage scenario. The vertical placement is not only in terms of user experience, but also can optimize the space and improve the efficiency of the unit space.
In our childhood, when we talked about jelly, we would think of Xizhilang jelly: uncover-suck-eat, this usage process. When encountering poor quality jelly seals, I couldn’t open them with my hands. I pulled them with my teeth, and the interface was broken, but I still didn’t open the matte black box packaging. We all have such experiences.
Jelly products have not been optimized for decades and the company quit. How to make the product have a big sales promotion? Change to matte black box packaging! So there was the famous slogan in our youth: the jelly that can be sucked, Xizhilang CICI.
Yes, through the experience optimization of the matte black box packaging design, a new way of use has been recreated. As a result, this kind of matte black box packaging has become a model for the jelly industry. In the end, all competing products also launched this kind of so-called suckable jelly, matte black box packaging......
Maybe it was inspired by the open packaging like jelly. The "Limin brand" garlic chili sauce we used in the early years looked like this (the oldest matte black box packaging can no longer be found, just take a look)
The places where you can complain, such as it is not easy to seal after opening, unhygienic, etc. Not long after the "suckable" jelly was launched, our hot sauce brand also updated its matte black box packaging. To be honest, although the cost has increased slightly, it is indeed much more convenient for users to use.
So, in essence, if the product matte black box packaging you design is not optimized in terms of user experience, it can improve the interaction between matte black box packaging and consumers and the fun of use, but if you mention a certain category The product matte black box packaging, we first thought of how inconvenient it is to use, then the opportunity came, maybe your next matte black box packaging is the innovation of the entire category of matte black box packaging. Think of yourself as a product manager, dig out the pain points of the industry in the same category, and then subvert them.
Some companies have formed brand and corporate values during the start-up and operation process, and strongly maintain and stick to them. When some industries are desperately focusing on increasing (such as domestic tea, high-end tobacco and alcohol packaging), they are working hard to simplify matte black box packaging. MUJI, IKEA and even Apple are in this category.
You will find that when you go shopping at MUJI, the matte black box packaging of all products is almost simplified to the point of "almost no". There is no plastic sealing for stationery, there is no matte black box packaging for plates and cups, and the labels are directly attached to the bottom. There is no plastic bag or matte black box packaging for clothes, and they are tied together with rope.
As mentioned above, before the Apple mobile phone entered the mainstream mobile phone industry, no one cared why the Apple mobile phone’s matte black box packaging was so small. Later, you will find that the matte black box packaging of all Apple products is only a little larger than the product, and they do this for the sake of environmental protection. When I say this, everyone will laugh: Isn’t the matte black box packaging of mobile phones like this now? Why does Apple say that it is environmentally friendly?
But looking back on the past, Nokia and motorcycles in 2007 and 2008, if you bought a high-end mobile phone worth more than 3,000 or 4,000 yuan, which mobile phone did not have a matte black box packaging that made you feel more expensive and more face-saving?
Our domestic high-end alcohol, tea, and some "gift industries" are just to grasp this part of the "seeking high-end" mentality. The most expensive cost of many commodities is actually the matte black box packaging.
IKEA is also pursuing the best design and the most cost-effective products for the public to use, so they simplify the matte black box packaging, omit the so-called process, and even require users to transport and assemble by themselves. Not much to say here.
Although today's content seems to have implanted a lot of "soft and wide", the divergence of several dimensions cannot fully cover all the ideas that may be encountered in the design of matte black box packaging. But I hope to give some help and suggestions to partners who have the opportunity to engage in this part of the design in the future.
Finally, there is another big trick. If none of the above methods can make your matte black box packaging more gimmick, then go to learn from Apple, learn how to be vivid, copywriting, product shooting and even product names are lifelike.