It starts with design

Professional package design 1) _____ attention on the benefits of a product. Packaging for retail products should thus be informative, practical, but also aesthetically pleasing. Package design variables are 2) _____: colour, typography, pictures, shape, size, and material.

Colour is the most important tool for emotional expression of a package as it 3)_____ an image for the product. Сonsumers give meaning to the package colours in three different 4) _____: “the physiological, the cultural, and the associational”. The first one is universal and involuntary (e.g. the colour red speeding the pulse). The second one, cultural meaning for colours, has occurred over long periods of time in different societies (e.g. the colour black 5) _____ to elegance in Europe). The third one, associational meaning, is created through marketing efforts (e.g., the colour pink relates to the product with low calories). In addition, colour is a tool for brand identification and visual distinction. It is also an important 6) _____ for legibility of the texts and comprehension of the images placed on the package.

Typography is the basic tool for communication; it serves necessary and important information about the contents, such as ingredients, production and expiry dates. On this account, 7) _____ chosen typography is important for readability. It is also important that different styles of typography can change the perception of the package and the brand (e.g. solid strong typography usually represents reliability or durability).

Pictures and pictorials cover pictograms, symbols, and photographs on the packages. They 8) _____ information about, for example, instructions and safety warnings for consumers/users. They enhance incidental learning since they are more vivid stimuli than verbal explanations.

Shape of a package is usually the first element that the consumer 9) _____ in stores. It is an important factor while creating an image about the product and the brand. For example, an old-fashioned shape of a package can 10) _____ reliability and maturity to the consumer. In addition, the shape of a package affects the quality of experiential benefits, which means it affects how well the package is used. Shape is also an important 11) _____ for the retailers since they prefer easy to stack shapes for especially fast-moving consumer goods.

Size is also an important element when considering the visibility of a package and the information it displays. It also affects the 12) _____ of the contents. For example, large-sized cereal packages are usually perceived as bountiful and small packages make cereals seem heavy or solid. In addition, when size is considered as a structural element, it 13) _____ the portions which a consumer/user would typically use and thus it becomes related to convenience function.

Material is one of the most important elements of package design. Package designers make 14) _____ of a wide range of materials, including paper, cardboard, plastics, glass, wood, metals, and combinations of all.

During the design process all the factors outlined earlier must somehow be brought into 15) _____ in the form of a final package that can be passed on through the product development process for incorporation into a new product.

1. A. pays	B. devotes	C. focuses	D. attracts
2. A. main	B. mainly	C. most	D. majority
3. A. reflects	B. shows	C. passes	D. reports
4. A. aspects	B. ways	C. forms	D. methods
5. A. unites	B. separate	C. relates	D. attaches
6. A. result	B. factor	C. datail	D. characteristic
7. A. carefully	B. well	C. perfectly	D. attentive
8. A. give	B. provide	C. receive	D. send
9. A. sees	B. imagines	C. pays attention	D. notices
10. A. remind	B. hint	C. suggest	D. mean
11. A. problem	B. interest	C. business	D. concern
12. A. perception	B. feeling	C. sense	D. observation
13. A. demands	B. predicts	C. determines	D. supply
14. A. choice	B. available	C. account	D. use
15. A. combination	B. balance	C. mixture	D. alloy

Ex.6. Discuss these questions in pairs.

1. What main characteristics should a package have?

2. Is aesthetically pleasing packaging important? Why?

3. How do colours affect a consumer’s choice of a product?

4. Is colour a tool for brand identification? If yes, give your examples.

5. What information should be written on the package?

6. How can types influence our perception of this information?

7. What materials are usually used for this or that product (cosmetics, food, medicines, etc.)?

8. What do you usually pay attention to when you see a packaged product?

Ex.7. Read the text again. Then, working with a partner, retell it to each other in your own words.

Ex.8. Choose three design components (mark with a tick) which are the most important in your opinion? Why?

colour
typography
pictures
shape
size
material

Ex.9. Complete each sentence with a word from the list. Use each word once only.

benefits pleasing tool reflect relate effort perception concern

1. The statistics ______ a change in people's spending habits.

2. A free low-interest credit card can be a useful budgeting ______.

3. The discovery of oil brought many _____ to the town.

4. Researchers are trying to _____ low exam results and/to/with large class sizes.

5. The music was very ______to the ear.

6. He's jogging round the park every morning in an _____ to get fit for the football season.

7. We have no _____ here with this controversy.

8. Drugs can alter your _____ of reality.

Ex.10. Fill in the missing words from the box to build up the whole phrases.

aesthetically involuntary bountiful brand comprehension perception reliability

1……………harvest 2……………identification 3……………pleasing 4…………laughter 5.it is past my…………… 6……………trial 7.customer's…………… of a product

Ex.11. Read two texts about new design of packaging, then say if you like these products or not and explain why.

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