From the course: Print Production: Packaging

About this course

From the course: Print Production: Packaging

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About this course

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Hello, I'm Claudia McCue, an together we're going to explore the basics of designing for packaging. You know when you think about it, packaging is where engineering meets design. So as you prepare to design a packaging project, you have to consider more than just the graphics. You also have to think in three-dimensions. Now think about all the types of packaging you encounter every day. From that carton of creamer in your fridge, that toothpaste tube that you squeeze as you're hurrying to get ready to go to work. You use electronics that came in packages. You prepare food with ingredients in little bottles, or jars, or boxes, maybe you even microwave an entire meal that came in a single package. And in truth, much of what we buy depends on the appeal of a package to attract our attention. But the visual appeal is just part of it, because packages have to protect, as well as present. And they have to be designed to work in the manufacturing process that they're part of. You have to determine the appropriate material for a package, as well as the size and configuration and how its going to work for the consumer whose the last one in the line. We are going to take an overview of some of the types of packaging available. But then we are going to concentrate on folding cartons. Because you can design for folding cartons using tools you already use every day for print design Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. Now, keep in mind this course is not going to turn you into a packaging engineer, because packaging is a manufacturing process, and that means it requires knowledge of things like converting. Which is folding, and trimming, and glueing, and turning a flat piece into a folding carton, for example, or creating a tube out of some sort of plastic, or creating a can out of metal. that means that a packaging engineer has to understand packaging equipment,. He has to understand materials handling. What sort of package is appropriate for particular kind of product. Maybe in order to keep food fresh, or perhaps to protect a toxic substance from getting into other products. And he also has to understand something called fulfillment, and that's getting that product into a package, getting that package into a collection that can then be shipped. But what this course will do is help you start to understand packaging concepts. You're going to learn about some of the possibilities from bottles, to boxes, to cans, to tubes, to jars. We're going to concentrate on folding cartons because those are the easiest components to learn. You're going to understand the print requirements for folding cartons, and that's because it's a three-dimensional process. And then I'm going to teach you how you can prepare your folding cartons for print. So come on, let's go into the third dimension, and let's start thinking about designing for packaging.

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