Packaging for socks.

Packaging Design Design Process

Leena Jain

Introduction

The concept behind packaging design is about giving the product a visual and convenience leverage over other products in the retail environment, it works for markets ranging from supermarkets to high end brands and often packaging defines the quality and the standard of the product range.

Packaging is the first contact of the consumer with the product, so if that impresses them, it is likely for them to pick the product, or atleast keep in mind for future purchase.

There is a lot of clutter in a store or a mall with multiple products/brands and grabbing the attention of a potential consumer when our attention spans have gone lower by the day it gets more challenging by the day.

Good packaging design often breaks the monotony of how other products have been packaged, whether it is through graphical intervention or through structural innovation.

In this Graphic Design Level V module, each one of us was given a product, for instance my product is socks, to design packaging solutions for a fictional brand for that product.

Brainstorming

Simple Ideas

Innovative ideas After brainstorming a few details - naming ideas, packaging ideas and brainstorming on all sorts of problems, activities and properties related to socks, I came down to solutions which were eye-catching which is the most important aspect of a packaging design - to catch the attention of the consumer leading to recognition or purchase.

Idea 1 The rabbit out of a hat magician technique is an inspiration for this idea of packaging.

The socks can be visualised as the ears of a rabbit and the packaging would be in the shape, form and colours of the magician’s hat. A tagging collateral with the logo, size and usage would be attached to the socks.

Baby socks Athletic Socks

Idea 2

School Socks

The idea emerged from various types of shoes under which socks are worn along with different age groups and occassions, so an illustration in black and white of the shoe style underneath which the socks would be hanging.

Idea 3 This idea for packaging is also on the basis of the types of shoes to be worn with the different socks, but a transparent shoe illustrated as a package over the sock which would show how the sock looks and also spark interest of seeing what is covered.

Choosing the right ideas Sock - a - Souk, the brand name was catchy, but the packaging needs to be done in mind not just keeping a store or bazaar or souk in mind but also a mixed apparel market, where the socks needed to shine out among other sock brands.

The packaging idea is interesting with the shoe illustration but there could be more brainstorming on whether the box should be used or can it be done more efficiently, such that the socks stand out even when they are kept in the conventional hangers with other brands.

Paired is an interesting name but there isn’t much that is done in the packaging idea, it is a conventional tag with a minimal illustration, which can be eyecatching but not interesting enough for a consumer to pick the product.

Footprints is a great name with a lot of visual appeal and has a good sound to it, so here we finalize the brand name.

The idea of actually having footprints as the packaging such that the sock on the ‘foot’ sounded interesting, but later I and my mentor realised that it might give out an unconvincing message of the socks being toe-socks, and even if the packaging was for toe-socks, the form of the socks is the same as the packaging, which makes it redundant.

The bunny out of a magician’s hat is out of nostalgia of a few other ideas that came to my mind, like fries out of a french fry package or two feet relaxing on a couch or a surprise element of someone falling upside down in a bucket! This idea struck looking at all the brainstormed drawings and the form of the sock as they could also be bunny ears and that would create the nostalgic surprise and catch the eye of the viewer and the consumer would be interested in picking up the product.

The idea was chosen for its fresh packaging concept and the hint of nostalgia.

The idea of using the ‘shoe’ illustration comes from the first idea of using a box in which the socks are rolled/crumpled, but here the packaging is changed in a manner such that it could be hunged in a conventional manner with all the other sock brands, but still catch attention and likely to be picked by a potential consumer. Also, the idea of using shoes to differentiate socks makes ‘picking socks’ easier for the consumers, and the illustration makes it a great attention catch for the consumer.

Again, I am using the shoe illustration but instead of a top view, it is a profile view, and the interesting element is, that the packaging is transparent, so the sock can be seen in profile inside the shoe, an interesting idea which would garner a good kind of attention when put through in a retail environment.

Execution Logo Exploration

F

tprints

Other Details Made in India Wash by hand only.

Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Packaging Idea 1

Layout Ideas

Size ‑ 7

Illustration Ideas

For the right steps at the workplace!

Manufacturing D Ludhiana Industri Ludhiana, Punjab Ph ‑ +91 4984954

Wash by hand only.

Made in India Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Wa INR

499

2‑3 years

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Wash by hand only.

INR

499 Wash by hand only.

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

2‑3 years Size ‑ 7

2‑3 years

INR

499

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

Size ‑ 7

Manufactur Ludhiana In Ludhiana, P Ph ‑ +91 49

2‑3 years

For the right steps at the workplace!

years Made2‑3 in India Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Wash by hand only.

INR

499

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Wash by hand only.

Made in India

Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Made in India

INR

499

packaging paper ManufacturingAllDetails we useArea is made out Ludhiana Industrial of waste fabric.

Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Wash by hand only.

Wash by hand only.

INR

499

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

2‑3 years

INR 499 Wash by hand only.

INR

499

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

2‑3

Final Illustrations

Size ‑ 7

The illustration as decided was black and white, to attract attention against the overly crowded coloured retail market scenario, and to also compliment the colours of the socks(whatever colour combination they may have).

For the right steps at the workplace!

Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Wash by hand only.

Made in India Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

Wash by hand only.

INR

499

2‑3 years

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

Size ‑ 7

Two test prints were taken to decide the exact size required measuring the average size of the particular socks that would go in, and also three types of paper qualities were tested - 250 Matte Printing paper, Handmade paper made out of waste cloth and Ivory paper of which the printing paper gave a great look, with a good scope for mass production at a later stage.

INR

499

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

2‑3 years

Wash by hand only.

Made in India Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

INR

499

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

Made in India

Wash by hand only.

Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab ‑ 142026 Ph ‑ +91 49849547

INR 499

Size ‑ 7

Wash by hand only.

INR

499

All packaging paper we use is made out of waste fabric.

Packaging Idea 2 Layout - Magician’s Hat

Made in India Manufacturing Details Ludhiana Industrial Area Ludhiana, Punjab - 142026 Ph - +91 49849547

Wash by hand only.

INR

499

Front

Back

The layout is a simple magician’s hat layout, first done with a thick black paper and red paper, with the logo and other details as stickers, but to get a much better look, the logos and tags were set on a layout and printed on three types of paper - Ivory paper, Matte 250 GSM and Glossy 170 GSM. The sides of a magician’s hat have a unique shine, which looked apt in 170 GSM, the top circle and the bottom rings needed strength, so the 250 GSM paper suited the best.

Using the layout and trying the back and front with 2mm difference, the prototype was made and a little stuffing on the lower part of the sock to make the bunny ears stable, but the upper half left organic in form.

Learning outcome

It is difficult to catch attention in the clutter of the retail market, and it takes a lot of effort to create design that is effortless and fulfills the contextual requirements.

In this project, I first started my research by looking at commodities placed and packaged at various stores throughout the city, in the small stores to the bigger retail chains in the malls.

There is a lot of clutter, whether it is extreme juxtaposition of color when the designer didn’t consider the environment in which the product is going to be kept in, or the bizarre combination of fonts and typography, which do not relate to the product.

Though there were some products that caught my eye, they had great packaging concepts, whether it was through a surprise element or a nostalgic element, for instance, the graphics on the paperboat standee pouches or the convenience added in the packaging of Colonel & Co’s Nachos with an added part for the salsa and the packaging like a tray in itself.

The most important part of the designing a package is keeping in mind the context, the market and also the environment of placing the product - it creates a lot of impact.

Final packaging prototypes

For packaging socks, the ideation began from the instinct that how do people usually keep their socks, many crumple them tucked in their shoe, many throw them in the washer losing one out of the pair, some keep them rolled up with their next day’s outfits.

My aim was to ofcourse catch the attention by either something nostalgic or day - to - day but reminding of the activity, whether it is crumpling away the sock inside of the shoe, or wearing a particular type of a sock for a particular shoe depending on the occasion.

Another with the magician’s hat was

indeed a nostalgic and surprising element which would grab attention as soon as the eye goes there, which will generate further interest.

Creating prototypes for the two ideas, I would like to test how well they catch the eye in the retail market by putting them in the daily service of a general supermarket’s apparel section and also a store that sells specialized apparel.

The project was a great learning experience and was an aid in understanding how products are judged by the quality and graphical identity of packaging.