Packaging, classically described as the means of protection for products and what can be thrown away afterwards, has too one-sided a meaning. Packaging also plays a role as decoration, for example as wrapping paper for a gift. It also has a display quality, for example how a media appearance was ‘packaged’ to perfection.
Packaging in production process
Functional refers to the practical, to packaging that lasts well and is efficient in the production and final process. For example, in a warehouse, different types of boxes are used to efficiently package a good. In addition to the packaging in which a product is already contained, they are additionally packed in boxes to enable production. The packaging itself also contains a clear message about what we can find inside the packaging. Milk that is in a carton is only ‘certainly’ milk because it is also stated on it. As stupid as it may sound: anyone who stands in a store without any information about which product it concerns will not know what was in the package without being able to open the packaging. In this sense, packaging is not only the casing within which the product is located, but also contains a clear message to be functional.
Packaging as decoration
When we think of packaging as decoration, we immediately think of the wrapping paper of a gift. It goes a step further than the functionality of the packaging, more towards the role of decorating something, because there is an extra external layer. A stronger final packaging of something is then impossible. The way the packaging is applied to the gift is considered the ultimate attempt to complete the attractiveness of the given product. The curiosity about ‘what is in the gift’ is therefore also something that the packaging entails.
Packaging as a showcase
What we see with the naked eye is only a very small part of where the development and expansion of this packaging actually began. A boy who sees a nice car in a toy store is sold by its beautiful shape, colors and attractiveness. How the product is displayed makes an impressive impression, just like in advertising. An impression of ‘this is what I want’, or there is a strong response to it. The much longer journey this product has taken is immediately forgotten, especially as a child. The many workers who have worked on every part of a car, the journey that the different cars have traveled together in different boxes in the warehouse, to ultimately be neatly displayed in the store, reflects how we mainly view society: displayed, contemplating and finished as much as possible.
In the media
When we think of a performance by a well-known star in the media, we can immediately say that that performance was well packaged. Even to the extreme, with the aim of making the performance very pleasant, glamorous and attractive to the audience. The way the performance was shaped can therefore also be described as the packaging. The packaging no longer only relates to individual elements such as clothing, make-up, stage construction, mood lights, but to the total concept. This makes what appears in the media something special every time and makes it seem all-powerful.