How Instagram Ruined Packaging: Function Versus Aesthetics In An Aesthetics Driven Game

This subject lies very close to my heart. I’ve decided I must take a stand. The packaging corn needs to stop. 

Packaging has become a reason to purchase a product in and of itself. Since the advent of social media, particularly the arrival of Instagram. We, in this society, seem to have become aesthetophiles. This is not a real word obviously, but I’m happy to report I Googled if it was in fact a real word whilst writing this article and Urban Dictionary has defined it – so assume we can expect a Merriam-Webster installment soon enough. 

Anyways, what that term encapsulates to me is that we now prioritize form over function. This is due to the need for everything to be Instagrammable. I mean, the amount of restaurants I see these days that lack in taste but never cease to pair everything with dry ice presentation is enough to prove my thesis. The emphasis we are increasingly placing on aesthetics is not necessarily a bad thing however, it does pose some problems with communication within branding. 

Branding does not only encapsulate the visual aspects of a brand, it also encapsulates the communication aspects. This extends to packaging. Packaging has a function, it tells us what the product is. Moreover, there is an important opportunity with packaging to highlight what about the product (and by extension a brand) separates it from its competitors. So yes, aesthetics are important, I mean this is Instagram’s world and we are just living in it. However, there are ways in which you can use your packaging to communicate what it is about your brand that commands people’s attention. 

Here are 3 tips to help you win the packaging game: 

Tip 1:

Be rebellious

Minimalism is in. Although Gen Z is fighting that desperately, the trend of minimal branding has been around for the last few years. A lot of well-established brands have been ditching elaborate logos for sleeker, san-serif versions. Although minimally styled branding assets serve communication ambitions such as attempting to modernize a brand, it can become indistinctive. In the case of packaging, following the minimal trend can backfire when your packaging fails to include important information about your product or it just fails to stand out. So don't be afraid to be a little rebellious with the packaging design even if you want to communicate high-end or innovative positioning for your brand. Sophisticated doesn’t always have to mean minimal.

Tip 2:

Be innovative

Packaging is an area of your branding in which you can be innovative. With the shift to more sustainability-minded consumption, brands that align with this value should use packaging as an area to display that. This is already a trend in packaging, and we have seen instances of brands greenwashing, and attaching the label of “sustainability” to things that aren’t actually sustainable. I do not recommend this obviously. If your brand can however truly create innovative ways to package its products that align with brand values which extend beyond the good of the company and reach social good, that is never a bad idea. 

Tip 3:

Be nostalgic

Nostalgia has been a point where brands have connected to their audience in recent years. We have become particularly nostalgic; trends such as Y2K and the resurgence of movies, clothing, and event technology from that era show that people appreciate a blast from the past. Tapping into nostalgia can be a fun way to emotionally connect with your audience.