What is Packaging Design? (Essential Design Handbook) [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ Giles Calver (Author) "Packaging emerged in the 19th century as new technologies enabled manufacturers and growers to supply their products to stores in pre-packaged formats..." (more)
Key Phrases: structural packaging, packaging design, surface graphics, Lippa Pearce, Lewis Moberly, Turner Duckworth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This compact-format sourcebook is highly visual, packed with top international packaging designers' contemporary work, with essays on the surrounding issues.

What Is Packaging? lays the foundations and professional guidelines for best practice when designing contemporary packaging. It opens with several short essays which define good packaging design and the issues faced by designers in this field. Design basics such as format, layout and typography are explored within the context of packaging design, taking into account genre-specific elements such as product information, branding, marketing and legislation.

About the Author

Giles Calver co-founder, design strategist and Managing Director of Lippa Pearce Design. Giles has worked for Ogilvy & Mather Direct and DMB&B Direct before forming Lippa Pearce. Giles currently works with a broad range of clients developing brand and communication strategies. He lives and works in London, UK.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: RotoVision; illustrated edition edition (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2880466180
• ISBN-13: 978-2880466183
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #808,334 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A lovely book, January 18, 2007

By	0cm (LX, Portugal) - See all my reviews

This is a relatively thick, small-sized book that's a joy to hold in your hands. It's compact, the bright hard-cover is silky and the inner layout is clear and glossy. The book is so easy to handle that I'd take it with me everywhere if I had a good reason to do so! It's a joy to hold, to read and to look at.

The book is divided into small chapters, covering most topics related to the universe of packaging design: market considerations, legislation, structural design and packaging types, surface graphics, typography and more. But each chapter is but a mere synopsis; this is not a book that expands much on these key topics, and it ends up not being very useful if you're trying to learn the specifics of each topic. The book also doesn't cover specific packaging materials at all, like other packaging books do. This is a great introduction to packaging design, but that's all. It's also a wonderful source of eye-candy, as each chapter features full page reproductions of original and innovative packages. Each image is commented and generally mentions the designer of each package, but there is no note on the materials, which leaves you wondering in a lot of cases. The last portion of the book is devoted to (very) brief case studies, which, once again, are mostly for show. But that said, it's a great show! Most of the featured packaging designs are truly original and beautiful.

"What is packaging design?" focuses mostly on theory and not on practical aspects, and that's simultaneously its strength and its downfall. In the end, you will know what packaging design is, but you won't know much about the process behind packaging design. If you're looking for the latter, try a different book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars eye candy!, February 24, 2004

By A Customer

Well organized and concise with lots of photos of good packaging design. A great book to turn to for inspiration.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, September 27, 2008

By	Stephanie A. Gilbert (Maumee, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: What is Packaging Design? (Essential Design Handbooks) (Paperback)

This book is very informative for 3D design and packaging design. Very good information for the beginning designer. I would definately recommend it to anyone looking to expand their knowledge of product and packaging design.