Let's Talk Trends: Minimalistic Packaging Design
- Gianna Mariani
- Nov 29, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 11, 2020
Packaging is one of the most outward-facing aspects of a product, helping draw a busy consumer's eye as they peruse their options. How are brands standing out? It's quite simple...no, really, they are using minimalism!
In years past we have seen trends of busy, cluttered packaging that would be overwhelming for the consumer as they walked through the store. Too many patterns, too many colors, too many words. It seems that in recent years package designers have come to realize that in many cases flashy packaging is not needed to catch the eye - high contrast, structured text and/or logos, an identifiable color and a streamlined design is.
Minimalism has been rising extremely past in the past few years, pioneered in part by the beauty industry and organic CPGs. The inkling that these two have helped make minimalism more mainstream in packaging is due to the image they are trying to portray. Beauty companies have seen a shift towards clean, sustainable and cruelty-free products in recent times. By making the packaging simple they are able to show consumers that they are "clean", and can be trusted. Similarly, organic foods such as seeds, fruits and vegetables have become more and more marketed as "back to basics". Sticking with a simple design also conveys a more natural, easy going message and scores points for trust.
Take, for instance, the packaging of this RXBAR. It gets across its message extremely quickly, leaving no room to wonder what is happening on the package. This sleek design captures a consumer's eye, and they likely also appreciate the honestly of the packaging. By not overstimulating the eye, it is much easier to understand what is being communicated and want to grab this product as opposed to a busier one.
In addition to standing out amongst all of the over-designed packaging on the market, brands alike are realizing that minimalistic packaging can be better for the environment. Rather than using many different resources to make one package, companies can use less materials and resources and potentially come up with less waste in the end. This can in turn lead to a more efficient sourcing process that can speed up the supply chain overall, since less flashy elements are being added. Not only does minimalistic packaging have the aesthetic appeal, it also has the sustainable benefit and can help expedite a company's supply chain.
Minimalistic packaging is not something that has never been tried before. However, it is seeing a swift comeback as designers and marketers realize that in order to compete they may actually need to take away rather than adding. As the saying goes, less is more.
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