See how a Course Works: Intro to Online Learning
Description
Our packaging design course will teach you what you need to know to create appealing designs that move products.
What makes a product stand out on a crowded shelf? What makes it attract the eye—excite, inform, and appeal, motivating customers to buy?
In this packaging design course, you'll learn the art and craft of package design from a seasoned pro. Working from detailed briefs, you'll experience how to design packages for a wide variety of projects, clients, and customers. Key course concepts will include seeing and designing in three dimensions, mass vs. prestige design, designing for target markets, playful design, product lines, and new product launches. Portfolio projects range from pizza store boxes to champagne and fragrance cartons.
A major emphasis of our packaging design course is on creativity and portfolio-quality work. Whether you're looking to branch out into package design or simply add some knockout pieces to your graphic design portfolio, this course will stretch your abilities.
Outline
LESSON 1 Seeing in 3D Package design requires you to see and design in a whole new way in three dimensions. In this lesson, you'll learn about foundation types of 3D packaging and important design principles for create effective packages, including product type, composition, visibility, consistency, shape, and audience. Store presentation concepts such as placement and counter animation are addressed. You will also be introduced to the production of 3D designs: printing, labeling, and the creation of mechanicals. For your first project, you'll design a pizza box and carry-out bag for a Brooklyn pizza joint.
LESSON 2 Mass vs. Prestige Target audiences are many and diverse, but a basic level, all product packaging is targeted for either mass or prestige audiences. Lesson Two explores the design, budgetary, and production choices of designing for mass or prestige audiences. Case studies from beauty and cosmetics industry illustrate how packaging designs communicate value or value-for-money, and exclusivity or accessibility. You'll take a field trip to identify some mass and prestige packaging as well as study counter animation. In the exercise, you'll redesign a no-frills mass package for a more exclusive audience.
LESSON 3 Tangible Visual Marketing Lesson Three discusses the role of target markets in creating packaging designs. You'll look at how demographics are collected and how to use and go beyond marketing data to target your package designs. Examples and case studies explore how very specific marketing briefs can translate into design choices. Finally, you will try your hand at designing for a specific audience creating a CD package for your favorite band.
LESSON 4 Playful Design A whimsical, fun, or simply unexpected design can attract consumer to your product package and make a memorable statement. In this lesson, you will learn how and when to infuse your package designs with playful, lively visuals. Case studies will open your eyes to some of the most fun packaging around. Then in this lesson's assignment, you'll design a playful toy packaging for kids and adults alike.
LESSON 5 Branding Product Lines Most products don't just stand alone. Typically, a package design is part of an entire product line which has established brand and a visual style all of its own. This lesson examines how product lines are branded, expanded, and kept consistent. You will study which components are variable so that each product in the line is unique. In the exercise, you'll work within the goals and constraints of a product line to introduce a new champagne package.
LESSON 6 Launching a New Product Design There is no greater thrill than seeing your package design creation available to the masses. But before your designs hit the shelves, you must pitch your hard work to the client. Lesson Six wraps up the course with a look at making powerful presentations, and the revisions you can expect to make along the way to a packaging design project. An industry case study explores an entire new product design from concept to launch. For your final project, you will design, present, and "launch" a perfume box and bottle design.
Additional Info
- Languages
- English
- Course Length
- 60.00 hours
- Duration of Access
Enrolled students have access to the class for six months. During this period, questions or assignments may be submitted at any time to the instructor. Each course lesson requires an average of 10 hours of study time.
- Instructor
Joss Parsey teaches our packaging design course. She likes to describe herself as a graphics nomad. In the past two decades she has traveled through the diverse world of graphics working full-time and freelance for a varied crowd. The work has gone from designing fabrics for Liz Claiborne, logos for various institutions or for individuals, marketing pieces for photographers or corporations and posters for publishing houses. She worked in-house at Adobe Illustrator and was the graphic communication leader at Smart Design working on projects for Copco, Serengetti Sunglasses and Kepner Tregoe. She worked behind the scenes at the Art Institute in Chicago coordinating Design and Architecture programs and makes a point of never specializing within a media to be labeled a certain type of designer. Diversity and timeless solutions are keys to her approach.
- Prerequisites/Audience
Courses are designed for adult learners interested in building skills and portfolio for a design career. To take the course, students simply require a computer (PC or Mac), an Internet connection (56 Kbps modem or faster), and any required software. For courses with software requirements, computers must meet software manufacturers' system requirements.
- Requirements/Materials Included
To take the packaging design course you'll need Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop and basic experience in graphic design and the software packages needed for this course.
- Certification
3 CEU's
Sessions College is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). Certificate programs are accredited by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools.
