Speaking of consumer product companies, many experience a disconnect between their design agency's design intent and the resulting print output. Basically, many prepress providers find that files need to be totally re-engineered after the design stage in order to be suitable for print production. One of the issues that comes into play is that of transparency.

"The latest versions of DTP software, including Adobe Illustrator CS2, allow designers to use transparency freely. However, many legacy workflows require that transparent elements be flattened before output, which severely limits the ability to trap, modify or re-use the design in the future. Artwork Systems' workflow products, including ArtPro, Nexus and Odystar Packaging, are fully compatible with transparency, and allow transparency to be preserved throughout all stages of prepress to protect the integrity of the design." says Rottenborn, Artwork Systems.  

"If plates are written with digital data, you need a way to proof that data, which means that digital proofing systems must also be integrated. The most significant advancement in this area is soft proofing on monitors. With today's technology, remote proofing has moved from vision to reality. Web-based tools like Kodak InSite software paired with the Kodak MatchPrint Virtual proofing solution, allows narrow web printers to connect their customers into the production workflow to collaborate on projects, and review and approve content and color. Many people and departments can review the same file simultaneously, and high-end monitors and software are now available for critical color evaluation. Soft proofing reduces turnaround times, improves content/placement communications, reduces the costs associated with outputting and shipping hard copy proofs, and improves time to market for new package creation."

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The dangers of counterfeiting drive the need for package and brand security. Three speakers during an afternoon anti-counterfeiting session Wednesday at CMM presented on the importance of product security and possible ways for its implementation among capable converting facilities. Throughout the 1-hour discussion, a desparate need for package security became apparent to save a company's brand while also ensuring safety to consumers.

Jim Reiman, director of sales for Sun Chemical Security, said once anti-counterfeiting technology is applied to a package or label, the most important thing for brand owners to consider is a stategy and who will authenticate. "Articulating a high-level strategy and defining the problem is important," said Reiman. "Clearly articulating requirements with metrics and an internal agreement among company employees for proper implementation is a must. You have to question whether consumers, customs, investigators or retail will authenticate."

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Subway is introducing a new salad bowl and lid that will help reduce the company’s carbon footprint. Vernon, Calif.-based PWP Industries designed and manufactures the bowl.

“Subway came to us and wanted a more sustainable and cost-effective package,” said Cherish Changala, product manager for PWP Industries, in an e-mail. “We came up with various versions, and they selected the nine-inch salad bowl.”

PWP approached the Subway salad bowl redesign in two phases, both aimed at improving the environmental profile of the bowl. Materials were changed from rarely recycled oriented polystyrene, or OPS, to polyethylene terephthalate, or PETE, the most recycled plastic, which consists of post-consumer resin from recycled soda and water bottles. Also, the packaging itself was redesigned, reducing the amount of plastic used for a dramatically different look for the bowl.

The redesign added swirls to the lid, reducing surface area, and the diameter of the bowl went from 10 inches to 9 inches, maintaining a 32-ounce volume.

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If healthy sales and happy consumers are true measures of success, the operators of Arthur's Fresh Co. Ltd. should be toasting each other morning, noon and night with the nutritious beverages made at their Toronto processing plant.

Since the spring of 2008 when the duo got serious about reducing the greenhouse gases Arthur's is responsible for, they have trimmed the weight of their beverage bottles by 10 per cent, cut annual use of packaging by 23,000 kilograms, switched their power source to 100-per-cent renewable energy and migrated 40 per cent of the long distance transportation of raw materials away from tractor trailers to rail and bulk carriers, which are much more friendly to the environment.

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Of the 1,600 people surveyed for the report, 75 percent said it was at least somewhat important that packaging be recyclable, while 51 percent felt it was at least somewhat important that it be compostable, meaning it breaks down with the presence of oxygen and water.

While brands have used recycled paper for years to contain cereal, pasta and other products, companies are increasingly taking additional steps to help the environment, such as reducing the weight or amount of packaging.

Kraft, which has a goal to cut packaging by 150 million pounds by 2011, shrank the amount of plastic used in each Kraft salad dressing bottle by 19 percent last year, a change that will save more than 3 million pounds annually, said Roger Zellner, Kraft’s director of sustainability for research, development and quality. Their Oscar Mayer Deli Creations cut cardboard use 30 percent per package this year.

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The full service trend is hitting design agencies that are shifting to a broader approach of creativity. Thierry de Baschamakoff, founder of the Aesthete agency tells Premium Beauty News that designers have to adapt themselves to the new economic context.

Thierry de Baschmakoff - Yes, there are more and more design agencies offering a full range of services. Actually, there is no alternative. Most of the agencies that did not opt for diversification do no longer exist.

What are the advantages of full service design?

Thierry de Baschmakoff - There are obvious advantages for brand owners. The first one is time saving. Working with a single agency help to avoid wasting time with briefs, brand and product understanding, … As far as we are concerned, we work in 3D from the very beginning of a design study, meaning that once the customer has selected the shape, we can immediately start working on the communication, the 3D animations, or the POS material.

The other advantage, is money saving. Of course, working with a single supplier is less expensive than splitting a budget between several companies.

Eventually, full service design also helps to maintain the consistency of a project. It’s a kind of art direction.

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“Vacuum packaging could not provide us a satisfying solution,” explains Fernando de la Vega, a partner and senior manager of FSV. “It could destroy the aesthetic appearance and texture of our products and further slow down the production pace.”

Implementing Hercules, Hefestus’ fastest packaging system, at FSV significantly extended shelf life for all the company’s products, dramatically decreasing returns. The production line works consecutively with balanced-plans production while providing maximum operative effectiveness.
“Our challenge was to improve product quality by extending shelf life, and to drastically cut production costs,” says Oded Shtemer, CEO of Hefestus, Israel. “The new Hercules packaging system is by far the best return on investment of its type in the market today. It can cut human resources costs and increase packaging pace exponentially. It also helps food manufacturers develop quality products and adjust them to the new economic challenges in the market place.”

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Authors of the report note that much of the increased activity in green packaging has been driven by Wal-Mart, which unveiled its Packaging Scorecard in November 2006. The scorecard was implemented in February 2008 and is used by Wal-Mart to evaluate the packaging used by suppliers in terms of its eco-friendliness, including factors that reduce waste as well as packaging and
transportation costs.

Furthermore, the fastest gains are anticipated for biodegradable plastic packaging and plastic recycled content packaging. Growth for biodegradable plastic packaging will be driven by price competitiveness with conventional resins, rapidly expanding capacity and lower pricing volatility than petroleum-based plastic packaging materials.

The report highlights that the largest markets for green packaging are food, consumer products and beverages, which together represented two thirds of total green packaging demand in 2008. However, the fastest growing markets through 2013 will be the foodservice and shipping markets.

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Confectionery giant Mars' Easter eggs have "tonnes less packaging" according to the company's latest advertising campaign promoting its work in the area.

This week, an advert appeared in free newspaper Metro that claimed Mars had reduced the amount of packaging in its medium-sized Easter eggs by 39%.

Mars is a member of Wrap's Seasonal Confectionery Working Group (SCWG), which was formed to reduce carton weight on medium eggs by 25% in 2009.

The company has reduced carton weight across its ranges by 42%, saving 200 tonnes of cardboard per annum and reduced its plastic insert weight by 35%, saving 69 tonnes of plastic pa.

It has also moved all remaining ranges of eggs, excluding Galaxy Premium Egg, to 100% recycled cardboard.

"There is no place where the delightful spirit and imagination of Japanese design is more apparent than in the corner supermarket, or 'suuppa,' as it is called locally." Delight and childlike whimsy, defining elements in Japanese packaging design, inspired a design director from Brandimage in Brussels to collect packaged products during business trips to Japan.

This collection, vast in scope, yet focused through the lens of a designer's interest in cultural contrast, comprises the content of this traveling exhibition.

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