Development and Design of Packaging Ecological Products II

two. Packaging eco-design style and trends

Designers in the new century must face many new problems, how to use limited packaging resources and use recyclable materials to make various products to reduce the use of disposable packaging products, which also requires the selection of packaging materials, structural functions , manufacturing processes, storage and transportation methods, product use, and waste disposal and other aspects to consider all aspects of the use of packaging resources and environmental impact and solutions. In the process of ecological design of packaging, energy consumption is reduced, disassembly is easy, materials can be recycled, and the performance, quality, cost and environmental index of the product are included in the same design index, so that more pollution-free packaging products enter the market.

1. What is the ecological design of packaging?

The ecological design of packaging focuses on the ecological balance between man and nature. In every decision-making process of the packaging design, environmental benefits must be fully taken into consideration and the damage to the environment should be minimized. Ecological design is also called green design, environmental design, life cycle design, and so on. Although the name is different, its connotation is the same, the basic idea is to incorporate environmental factors and pollution prevention measures into the packaging product design at the packaging design stage. The environmental performance is taken as the design goal and starting point of the packaging product, and the packaging is striven to make the packaging. The impact of the product on the environment is minimized. For the ecological design of packaging, its core is: "Reduce", "Recycle", "Reuse (in use)", which not only reduces the consumption of packaging materials and energy, but also discharges harmful substances. , And to make packaging products can be easily recycled and recycled recycling or reuse. In addition to considering the performance, quality, and cost of packaged products, the economics, functionality, and aesthetics of the packaged product must also be considered. With a simple, long-lasting shape, the packaging product can extend its useful life as much as possible. Research on the use of environmentally friendly packaging materials (recyclable and recycled materials) shows that extending the lifespan of packaged products in the development of environmentally friendly packaging products is more important than other strategies, while at the same time encouraging sustainable development among consumers. Long-term consumer attitudes.

A direct influence on the ecological design of packaging is the book Designed for the Real World by the American design theorist Victor Papanek. The book focuses on the most pressing issues faced by the designer's human needs, emphasizing the designer's social and ethical values. Babanac believes that the greatest role of design is not to create commercial value, nor is it a competition in packaging and style, but an element of an appropriate process of social change. He emphasized that design should seriously consider the limited use of the Earth's resources and serve the protection of the Earth's environment. His design thinking to a certain degree has a utopian idealism. It is not easy to achieve a balance between life and resource consumption and the balance between short-term economic benefits and long-term environmental goals. This requires not only consumers to have a conscious awareness of environmental protection, but also need to be promoted by the government from a regulatory perspective.

2. "Simplistic" packaging ecological design thinking

Whether packaging product design can improve human living space and environment in the long-term sense can help maintain a global ecological balance and whether it can effectively control the excess production of products. "Small but excellent" will be the new thinking and philosophy of ecological packaging design. Ecological packaging design emphasizes minimizing the consumption of materials, paying attention to the principle of using recycled materials and reflecting the appearance of packaging. In the ecological package design, "less is the United States," and "less is more" has a new meaning. Starting from the 1980s, a genre of minimalism, which pursues the simplification of the modeling of products to the extreme, has become popular. The famous French designer Philippe Stark (1949-) is the representative of minimalism. Philip's design field involves a wide range of design styles is very simple, basically reduced the shape to the most simple but very elegant form, from the use of visual and material reflect the "less is more" principle.

According to statistics from the French environmental protection agency, France currently accounts for 1/3 of all household waste in various packaging materials. For the environmental protection department, dealing with such a large number of packaging wastes has become a heavy burden. However, in order to facilitate customers, businesses continue to introduce a variety of disposable packaging. At the same time, on the occasion of various festivals, it is also an idea to design exquisite packaging for various gifts to improve the "grade" of the gifts and to "give money" to the faces of the gift givers. In view of this, the French Environmental Protection Agency has published a "Green Guide to Holiday Shopping." The booklet states that even if it is not "luxury" disposable instant coffee, the required wrapping paper is equivalent to the same amount of bagged coffee. 8 times as much. Once it is replaced with "luxury packaging," the amount of packaging paper used may be more than 12-20 times that of normal packaging! The editor of the pamphlet, a famous environmental expert in France, is full of true feelings and humorous appeals. When consumers spend on holidays, they first think about environmental protection before they name them, make fun of fashion, or make things easier. Sometimes they make a small difference. “Pose” and cultivate habits, and naturally accumulate over time, can have a positive effect on environmental protection.

3. Take the road of "sustainable development" and establish an ecological packaging design concept

We humans experienced three stages from fear of nature, conquering nature, and being close to nature. Major changes have taken place in human life. People's living conditions and environment have been greatly improved in many aspects, but the relationship between man and nature has also been greatly damaged. Taking the road of "sustainable development" shows that whether human beings can live on the earth for a long time has become a serious problem facing the world. In the packaging design community, people of insight have long proposed the principle of “appropriate design and healthy design” to reorient packaging design behavior, prevent packaging design from damaging the ecological environment, prevent society from becoming too material, and prevent the burial of traditional culture and human nature. The loss of human feelings and so on, so that humans no longer worry about their own healthy survival. This is what Peter, president of the International Federation of Industrial Design Associations said: "Design as an important factor in human development, in addition to being a dead end for human self-destruction, may also be a shortcut for humans to reach a better world."

The concept of establishing an ecological packaging design is to let designers realize that packaging ecological design is a new type of weapon for modern enterprises to participate in market competition. The packaging design has changed from the monotonous mechanization of the past to humanized design. It strives to simplify the design, reduce the waste and consumption of space and materials, and enable the products to be used continuously. Packaging product design requires not only the designer's rationality, but also the integration of new science and new technologies. Ecological packaging is the conscience and responsibility of modern designers. In the concept of ecological packaging design, we should express the unity of modernity and tradition, the harmonization of design and production, the understanding of production and consumption, the harmony of life and ecology, use and disposal. After the recovery and regeneration process, it includes the entire life cycle of the packaged product. Designers should always remind themselves that your packaging design will not give people the pressure to reduce the environment? Can you protect natural resources? Whether the people really need products, etc., and as a packaging design goal. The one-off goods sold on the market in large quantities are desirable from the perspective of packaging design, because it brings convenience to people's lives and also brings benefits to enterprises.

4. The development trend of "ecological package design"

A few years ago, the company talked about the performance and function of the product. Now it will be added: This is an eco-friendly product. The word "ecology" has become a trump card for companies to develop products and guide consumer trends. Into the mall, environmental protection phrases such as “keeping fresh and not forgetting environmental protection and protecting the global environment” appear frequently in the packaging and promotion of goods. The combination of “green wind” and modern people’s inner needs has made ecological products a new trend in the consumer sector.

Designers are the creators of style and product quality. Packaging products have an indirect impact on environmental protection. This is mainly reflected in the product life cycle and material selection. From some perspectives, "ecological package design" cannot be seen as a manifestation of style. Successful packaging products come from the designer's high awareness of environmental issues and the use of relevant experience and knowledge in the design and development process. At present, there are several themes and trends in the design of ecological packaging art in the world: 1) Use of natural materials, to be embodied and applied in packaging products and materials in unprocessed form; 2). The nostalgic and concise style incorporates the “high tech” factors to make consumers feel that the packaging products are amiable and warm; 3). Emphasize the economical and practical energy-saving features of using packaging materials, abandon the useless functions and the style of pure decoration, and create Out of the image of the vivid packaging style, return to the classic simplicity; 4). Multi-purpose packaging product design, through the use of changes can increase product use, use as little as possible to use other materials to extend life, use "additional intelligence" or Detachable components, etc.; 5). Development trends such as combination design and cycle design; the theme and development trend of the above packaging products will make the future packaging a flowing art, a green, intelligent and humane ecological product. Really become our human friend.

Third, the conclusion

The requirement of sustainable social development indicates that "packaged ecological design" will remain one of the hot spots in 21st century art design. In order to reduce environmental problems, designers must improve the environmental performance of packaging products and have a good understanding of environmental issues and their impact. This requires designers to learn and recognize science and technology more than ever before. Innovative imagination. Designers, as communicators or advocates of the ecological packaging design movement, should also increase the discussion and research on ecological packaging design so that all people living in the sun can feel and experience the inevitability of ecological packaging design. importance.