Customer Reviews

Packaging Prototypes (Design Fundamentals) (v. 1)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a must have for anyone serious about design. All the illustrations that demonstrate how to cut and fold paper into containers, boxes, and packages were functional, attractive, and well designed. The fact that the book comes with a CD-ROM of Illustrator / Freehand templates is just awesome. This book will be an inspiration and you will find many imaginative & creative ideas here for your own projects. This book is essential for a designer's library and one of the best design books I've purchased in a long time...(since this book is out of print and very rare to find, if you can find it at any price it is well worth it)

Man I love this book! When I first found "Packaging Prototypes" in a local book store, I was dazzled by the many illustrations demonstrating how to cut and fold paper into containers that were functional, whimsical, and even beautiful. The fact that the book comes with a CD-ROM of Illustrator / Freehand templates is just TOO sweet. You'll find many imaginative, creative ideas here for your own projects. Essential. One of the best design books I've purchased in a while (and I've got many).

This book is excellent if you are looking for ways to send or sell smaller objects in other ways than a square box. The book contains examples and illustrations of how to make eyecatching packageing. It also includes a cd-rom with templates of the examples in the book.

"Packaging Prototypes" begins with a small introduction on the fundamentals of packaging design (a tiny bit of history, environmental considerations, a couple of famous brands/designs). On the following pages, you'll find several package designs (mostly paper/cardboard), some simple and practical, others fancy or sophisticated and a few very complex and intriguing. Each design has a small description of its possible applications and modifications, with brief directions of the materials to use, etc. The included CD-Rom has many of these designs, ready to use and modify. Obviously, this book can only serve two purposes: first, to inspire your creativity; second, to allow full-scale plagiarism of what are, for the most part, patented packages (patent information is discretely printed on the inner-margin of each page). With this in mind, this book should be of some use to people who want to create quick packages, hopefully, for non-commercial purposes, or to students researching different packaging designs. If you are looking for books with more in-depth information on packaging design, look elsewhere, this will not be a very useful book, as "Packaging Prototypes" features just that, prototypes. A bit of criticism is needed though, concerning the assembled photographs of some of the more complex package designs, which aren't always very clear. While a more artistic approach proves to be aesthetically pleasing, I do believe more technical and clear photographs would be of greater use to the reader.

Okay, I needed to make a package design for my Graphic Design Class. the first time I did it, WAS A NIGHTMARE. I wasted more paper doing dimensions and math.

Then AFTER I TURNED IN MY ASSIGNMENT I SPOTTED THIS BOOK! It has cool ways of designing stuff into packages other than using a plain old borring box. And here's teh best, the CD has a template to all the boxes and they are in Illustrator, so all you have to do is enlareg to the size you want in Illusttrator, design you box, print and construct.

The book also gives you helpful hints, such as how to paste the box together, so it will not fall apart!

IT APART OF MY GRAPHIC DESIGN LIBRARY!!

-Sharminar

I think this is one of the better "templates" included books. It is not entirely templates so in that sense, it is part book on packaging and part templates.
If you are looking for an intro book, this might work for you.

I recently checked this book out of my college library and was so excited to see it actually had patterns! I love that there is a key on each page to quickly describe what the pattern will need, for example, glue or not glued, waterproof paper, etc. Whether you're a graphic designer or simply interested in creative gift packaging, this book is worth checking out.

This book was such a waste. One of the french folds reads, "...to act as a visual catalyst in the creation and production of exciting and innovative packaging design."

There is NOTHING INNOVATIVE or EXCITING about this book. And as far as I am concerned the included cd is mearly cheating. No self respecting designer would stock this book on their shelf.

A REAL investment book, which contains all of the patterns in this book as well as hundreds more, would be "The Packaging Designer's Book of Patterns" by Roth & Wybenga.

How do I return the book if i hastily trashed the carton en route from the post office? or am i stranded with this piece of garbage forever.

The best packaging book I have ever found...