Packaging Design from the 1940s to the 1990s

Soap Packaging / UK / Mid-1890s

The changes brought about by World War I have shaken the world into a new era. Women are more involved in the business world, the gradual disappearance of domestic servants, and the increase in leisure time. These social changes have stimulated the emergence of new packaging design concepts. After the 1930s, Europe and the United States have specialized design teams in enterprises. Design has become an inseparable and important part of social production activities. Due to industrialized production, resulting in a substantial drop in product prices, design is no longer a matter for a few elites to enjoy. Design has entered every household and has become an integral part of people's daily lives. People have increasingly obvious requirements for the design style, which is one of the important characteristics of the consumer society after its formation.

In the 1950s, self-selected stores quickly replaced traditional grocery stores. By 1965, 95% of daily merchandise trade became self-selected. This process is slower in the UK and later in Europe. The arrival of the era of self-selection requires a new set of packaging designs to adapt. Since the 30's, there have been a number of well-designed trends. For example, because customers are now identifying products for themselves, the focus of packaging design falls on the rapid identification of this feature. Brands that have been established must emphasize and embody the most easily identifiable features of them - emphasis on familiar colors, Themes and center fonts make the products more eye-catching.

When all this was at its climax, television commercials were born. The popularity of television grew rapidly in the 1950s, and television was like a family, which had a strong impact on all walks of life. The emergence of this new form of home entertainment provides the conditions for the production and development of fast foods and convenience foods, thereby also giving people more time for leisure and watching TV. The higher the television ratings, the greater the impact of television advertising.

In 1935, the adhesive label invented by Avery of the United States, with the development of self-selected shopping malls, has a greater use. Since the sticker can be directly transferred from a continuously rotating reel wheel, it is easy to accurately paste. On each bottle, it can also be easily affixed to the surface of different materials and irregular objects. It has the advantages of being time-saving and not requiring drying, and has brought a revolution to the packaging industry.

In the early 40s, a new type of packaging first appeared in the United States - spray cans. The principle of spray cans is to use pressure to push the liquid out of the valve. The liquid can be evenly sprayed. The direction and dose can be controlled. So complicated packaging is expensive. , but this factor was offset by the savings and convenience brought by using it. In the Pacific War, Americans used sprayers in their palms, and in the 1950s, sprayers were heavily used in homes such as air fresheners, insecticides, and hair sprays.

The familiar glass bottles are being replaced by plastic bottles and wax trays. The waxed milk carton was used in the 30s. In the 1950s, the Swedish company developed a new carton that was both delicate and simple and shaped like a pyramid. This triangular milk package has a stable and novel appearance. Easy to use and very popular, the 70s became almost a popular container, not only for milk, but also for soft drinks and juices, eventually replacing heavy, fragile glass bottles. The person who drinks beer is most concerned about the opening method of the bottle. In the United States in 1962, a new opening method - the pull ring was born, this revolution in the packaging industry has contributed to the overall consumer's canned beer. accept.

Polyethylene developed by ICI in the 1930s was difficult to use in the packaging industry because of its high price. Later, as the cost decreased, polyethylene was widely used in the packaging industry in the 1960s, especially for plastic bottles of various shapes and specifications. Most of the carbonated drinks after the 1970s used this kind of bottle. This new material can be used to make plastic films, package frozen foods, replace waxed paper and package bread, etc. In the 1970s, polyethylene bags almost replaced paper bags.

After the end of World War II, internationalist design became the main style of design in continental Europe and the United States. It was popular in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. With the maturity of the self-selected market, the design is more pursuing conciseness and eye-catching, and the internationalist design is characterized by simple forms, anti-decorativeness, emphasis on functionality, systematization, and rationalization. The packaging design of this period was simple, bright, highly functional, and unhumanized. This style has adapted to the rapid development of the economy. For the increasingly frequent international business community, it is easy to match, so that it will not change. It is the best design method in the international economic development.

In the 1960s and 1970s, in many homes in the United States and Europe, not only did color television sets exist, but many families also had refrigerators, freezers, and washing machines. There was a complete set of food machinery in the kitchen. Time tedious housework has been reduced or replaced by machinery. Fast detergents, polishes, and cleaning agents make utensils and appliances quickly washed and polished. Convenient foods can be immediately cooked in microwave ovens. Cars also go into families and cars are increasingly used for shopping in supermarkets. In the supermarket, the ever-expanding variety of products makes shopping more convenient. Western society has generally entered a stage of advanced development. Products are unprecedentedly rich, and disposable items have increased. In the past, things that were considered expensive have become disposable waste. The widespread use of polyethylene materials has made products cheaper and more common. Barcodes began to appear on the packaging. Barcodes were first used in the United States in the early 1970s. It speeded up the collection of payments in supermarkets and helped retailers maintain effective control over inventory.

Since the 1960s, people have paid more and more attention to the ingredients in foods, and have continued to legislate to require manufacturers to indicate the ingredients and ratios of raw materials on the packaging. From the nutritional point of view, manufacturers should also label proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. And cellulose content, and indicate the calorie data. Those women who are eager to be trendy and embarrassed, always pay attention to their own waistline, they like low-sweet drinks and diet foods, calorie calculations and weight loss plans are closely linked. After 1980s, such descriptions were overwhelming, such as "low sugar", "low salt", "no artificial coloring" and so on. With the advent of the second phase of healthy food, that is, the appearance of low-calorie foods, low-alcohol and low-tar cigarettes, there has also been a change in packaging design. There has been a low-key design style, often in white or The weak color is Beijing, with a striped effect, alternating and gradient color stripes, so that the soft background creates a deep impression that is unforgettable.

A large number of consumer goods prompted people to pay attention to the sale of goods, and there was a huge market demand for packaging design. People's design requirements were changing with each passing day. The style of internationalism design was obsolete and obsolete. Designers began to look for decoration, change, and prosperity. Human form. In the 1980s, the Americans led a Renaissance in packaging design. The change in modern design was more intense than ever. New design styles emerged in an endless stream, but they were basically adjustments, additions, improvements, and developments to previous designs.

Since the 1960s, people have begun to propose recyclable topics that have a great impact on the packaging industry. Glass bottles are recyclable, and bottles that have been rarely used in the past have been reactivated. Paper and cartons (in the past In the past few years, it has been squeezed out of plastic. It can be recycled. With the development of the economy, the issue of rubbish has increasingly plagued people. It has become a major public hazard and the anti-spam campaign has continued to intensify. In the 1980s, people paid more attention to social issues. Environmental issues have also become a focus of attention. Further public-welfare phrases are attached to packaging.

Entering the 1990s, the high-tech era, the microelectronics era, and the era of environmental protection have come along. It is bound to leave an imprint of this era in the packaging design business. It embodies exquisite and compact design. The design is more concise, crisp, simple but rich, and it is a popular new style in the microelectronics era. Packaging design pays more attention to the performance of corporate image and services for enterprise products. Since products of the same company are becoming more and more unified, rationalism is adopted in design. This has become a very prominent trend in the 1990s.

Environmental protection has received extraordinary attention from human beings. People generally recognize the importance of the environment in which their development depends. Under the wave of environmental protection, the concept of advocating natural, primitive, and healthy is deeply rooted in people's minds. Under the domination of this idea, packaging design is not only limited to the ability to accommodate and protect, but also the ideal and practical packaging of “lightweight” and “small size”. The need for promotion and cost rationalization, and began to promote the new concept of "green packaging", so that products and packaging materials towards the "no pollution" direction. Therefore, environmental awareness design that not only saves natural resources but also does not damage the ecological environment has become a new orientation for packaging design in the 1990s.

Packaging and design in the past 150 years have been accompanied by the development of industrial mass production technologies and are the result of commercial activities, trade competition, and cultural development.




Author: Liang Mei Source: Art Channel