Technical: contain, measure, protect, dispense, preserve, & store

Marketing: communicate, promote, display, sell, inform, & motivate

PET - used for soft drink bottles due to its ability to contain fizzy drinks

PP - capacity to act as an efficient barrier to oxygen in the air. Frequently applied to medical sector b/c withstands sterilization at 120 degrees

PET, LDPE, & HDPE - frozen food

66% of plastic packaging is used for food products

U.S. produces between 70 and 80 billion pounds of plastics, mostly from "hydrocarbon" or petroleum-based sources

4 Principles

1. Reduce 

2. Reuse 

3. Recycle

4. Recover - before land filling, any possible recovery should be made (energy from incineration)

HDPE

(High-density Polyethylene)

PVC

(Polyvinyl Chloride)

LDPE

(Low-Density Polyethylene)

PP

(Polypropylene)

PS

(Polystyrene)

1. A coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, distribution, storage, retailing, and end-use

2. A means of ensuring safe delivery to the ultimate consumer in a sound condition at a minimum cost

3. A techno-economic function aimed at minimizing costs of delivery while maximizing sales

1. Containment

2. Protection

3. Convenience

4. Communication

-Basic function of packaging.

Without containment, much product would be lost and the environment polluted

-Primary function of packaging.

The package must protect its contents from outside environmental effects, and in some cases, protect the environment from the product

-Modern lifestyles have brought about tremendous change in the packaging required

-Refers to how easy it is to package the product in the first place and then store and distribute it

"a package must protect what it sells and sell what it protects"

-UPC

-distinctive branding allows supermarkets to function on a self-service basis

- the eye registers a product in 1/6 of a second

-shoppers spend 2/3 of their time on the visual elements of the package

-consumers purchase products they hold in their hands 80% of the time

-shoppers spend only 5-10 seconds viewing beverages before making a purchasing decision

-70-80% of purchase decisions are made in store

Value of Branding

(for consumers)

- speeds consumer purchases by identifying specific preferred products

- provides a form of self-expression and status

- evaluates product quality to reduce the risk of purchase

Value of Branding

(for marketers)

- identifies and differentiates a firm's products from competing products

- helps in the introduction of new products

- facilitates the promotion of all same-brand products

- fosters the development of brand loyalty

- can create valuable intangible products

1. Shape

2. Size

3. Color

4. Graphics

5. Materials

-adults, men in particular, react more to form

- children respond more to color than adults

- rectangular packages create image of sharpness, neatness, and cleanliness

- round packages have association with security, plentifulness and generosity

-big packs build feeling of plentiful, expensive and energy-giving food

- small bottles seem more expensive and exclusive

- color codes: some product sectors (esp. food) have color codes

- green color was unacceptable for food packaging, now it is standard for health food products

- whit or light colors: diet, light, salt-free, low calorie, etc.

- color affects perception: coffee example

- inaccurate color affects brand identity

- inconsistent color affects consumer perception of product quality

- should make the package immediately and easily recognizable

- ex: Morton salt girl keeping up with the times

- affect perception of quality 

- material choice also affected by mandates, logistics costs, manufacturing costs, special applications, etc.

- corporate responsibility

- the world's wealthiest garbage tycoon is a woman

- China's wealthiest woman

- founder of packaging manufacturer Nine Dragons Paper Co.

- made fortune by recycling paper from America into packaging products

2 types

1. process colors

2. spot colors

= transparent colors that overprint one another to simulate photographic quality images

- Process colors are Cyan (C), Magenta (M), and Yellow (Y). Black (K) is added to help build contrast

- used instead, or in addition to process colors

- created when a customer wants a specific color to match something

- can be transparent or opaque

PMS

(pantone matching system)

= a consistent way of communicating color throughout the design and printing industry

- over 1100 colors have been created

GCMI

(glass container manufacture institute)

= colorless transparent inks used to protect the printed piece from scuffing

- 2 types of coating are aqueous and UV

- can also be decorative

- substrate: paper

- volume: amount of ink on paper

- viewing conditions (light)

- coatings

- person viewing the color 

1. Hue = the color family or color name. Directly linked to color's wavelength

2. Saturations = "chroma". A measure of the purity of a color 

3. Brightness = "luminance" or "value", the shade (darkness) or tint (lightness) of a color

1. Gravure - web

2. Flexography (Flexo) - web, sheet-fed

3. Offset Lithography (Litho) - web, sheet-fed

4. Letterpress

5. Screen Printing

6. Digital Printing - variable data

- this process fills holes in the printing cylinder with ink

- the paper is then pressed against the cylinder picking up the ink

- ink volume is controlled by the size of the cell (dot) and the depth of the cell (dot) on the gravure cylinder

Advantages: simple printing press, high speed, consistent color, easy drying by evaporation, & good quality on cheap paper

Disadvantages: high cost of cylinders, only economic for very long runs, long print runs needed - 300,000+

- this process applies ink to the raised surface of the printing plate

- the paper is then pressed against the inked parts

- the plate is photopolymer in rubber (can print on multiple surfaces)

- ink volume is controlled by the size and depth of the cell on the anilox roll and the size of the dot on the flexo plate

Advantages: prints well on inexpensive paper, prints well on most plastics, ink dries quickly, high speed, prints on multiple surfaces, can print and die-cut in-line

Disadvantages: difficult to print smooth gradations, plates can distort in use, set up costs are high, long print runs needed, changes on press are expensive

- this process uses chemistry and the fact that oil and water don't mix to put ink onto the required parts of a plate

- the paper is then pressed against the plate picking up the ink

- the plate can be made of metal or polymers

- ink volume is controlled by the amount of ink on the rollers and the size of the dot on the plane

Advantages: good reproduction of photographs, plates are easy to prepare, wide range of papers can be used

Disadvantages: ink/water balance problems can cause color variations, damping can cause the paper to stretch, dense ink films are difficult to achieve

Lithography Uses

(most popular)

- prints by having a plate with raised, usually lead, letters on it that serves as the image carrier

- the ink is applied to the plate and is pressed onto the substrate, which is usually paper

- it is used very rarely as a commercial process today

Advantages: good quality printing type, dense ink

Disadvantages: inflexible, not suitable for modern design processes, high quality paper needed for best results, most big presses have been taken out of service

- can be applied to any surface

- very simple process

- only printing process where the ink passes through the image carrier

Advantages: non impact process, can print on virtually any material, can print a thick film of ink

Disadvantages: difficult to achieve fine detail, low volume output, four color work is difficult

- inkjet printers use cartridges containing liquid ink which is forced out of a tiny nozzle either by heat or pressure

- there are typically  4 separate print heads, three spray the primary colors and the fourth sprays black