When I first got the iPhone 12, there was a "wow" sound in the office. The curiosity about the new phone instantly attracted several editorial colleagues to watch. The right-angled edge design and feel of the iPhone 12 also made people excited. several different viewpoints.
However, people’s focus soon shifted from the iPhone 12 to the mobile phone packaging box. Although it was expected that the mobile phone box would be smaller and thinner after removing the charger, it was still unexpected that it was almost half thin. We didn't expect it.
The lightness and thinness do not affect the texture of the packaging box. The combination of the simple white canvas and product pictures on the front is still the same as usual. The whole unboxing process is also very simple and comfortable, which is also the case among many technology companies. It can be called the first echelon.
Packaging boxes, like mobile phones, are products that balance many aspects. We must pay attention to the quality of the packaging box and not be too cheap. After all, packaging can be said to be the face of the product, but it must not be too extravagant. Firstly, it is due to cost constraints, and secondly, users may complain about excessive packaging.
In terms of packaging, Apple has indeed spent a lot of thought and resources, even starting from the shipping box. Friends who have purchased products on Apple’s official website should be impressed.
Most of Apple’s shipping boxes adopt a special folding design of corrugated paper. The box alone can ensure that the packaging box is in a hollow state and will not damage the product due to bumps during transportation. At the same time, compared with traditional inflatable bubbles Pillow packaging and corrugated packaging also use less plastic.
Another detail is that this special folding design of corrugated paper will automatically push out the packaging box with a gentle push. Even the plastic film wrapping the packaging box has been adjusted now, so that it can be torn open in one go. plastic film.
Compared with ordinary sealed boxes and plastic films, it is much easier to disassemble. In the past, if traditional packaging did not have a knife, it would be troublesome to remove the sealing tape and plastic film, and you could not just bite them open.
Including iPhones, most of the packaging boxes used by Apple are of the top-and-floor type. After tearing off the plastic film and lifting it gently, you can feel the box and lid slowly separating.
This kind of finely setting the tolerance between the box lids, and then establishing the damping feeling of slow free fall, allows users to clearly feel it, in order to reduce the risk of breaking the product due to the box falling too fast. Probability, after all, most mobile phone back covers are now made of glass.
Due to Apple’s obvious preference for white, the product image on the front of the box cover contrasts with the white, and it does look a bit like a painting. This is also Apple’s consistent style, with minimalist white as the background, and the front display Products, and the product pictures are generally raised, so that visual and tactile displays can be intuitive and efficient.
At the same time, in order to improve the overall texture of the packaging box, Apple also made a special design for the packaging box. "Nikkei Design" once published an article introducing the reason why the corners of the iPhone packaging box can be The high degree of right-angled edges is due to the V-shaped cutting method common in high-end jewelry packaging boxes.
When the packaging box is spliced ??and folded, because the splicing edges are V-shaped, it can fit better. Unlike ordinary folding and splicing, there will be larger creases, and the edges of the box will also be creased. Appears rounded.
In addition, most of Apple’s packaging boxes are consistent in their internal packaging. The box lid, product body, accessories and instructions are placed in order from top to bottom, from Mac to AirPods Pro to iPhone. So true. For those who have bought an iPhone or Apple product, the same structure is obviously easier to grasp when unboxing.
There are many such details in Apple-style packaging. From the shipping box to the packaging box, it is not only the texture of the box itself, but Apple is also using more sophisticated design and product splicing tolerances to adjust the disassembly. With the box experience, unpacking the box itself has become more and more simple and easy, and it can be handled without the help of external objects.
An easier disassembly method will definitely help improve the user experience. After all, users are the most enthusiastic about products. The sooner they can touch the product, the better. It can be said that Apple has designed the unboxing process. pleasure.
Apple has been obsessed with packaging box design for a long time. "The Biography of Steve Jobs" mentioned that both Jobs and John Ive attached great importance to packaging design, and both of them were very involved in packaging. It took a lot of time.
Achieving Jobs' goal obviously required a lot of experiments. Alain Rossmann, a member of the Mac team, once recalled that they did 50 times for the color-printed packaging of the Macintosh.
The book "inside Apple" also mentions that Apple has a dedicated packaging design laboratory, and designers will even try hundreds of different packaging designs in order to find the right combination. High-quality packaging boxes obviously bring benefits to Apple's brand building, which also allows some second-hand Apple collectibles to increase in value based on whether the packaging is complete.
The emphasis on packaging design is also reflected in consistency. In addition to the deconstruction of product packaging mentioned above, Apple’s obsession with white minimalism has also reached an extreme. According to 9To5Mac, it even Third-party products sold in the Apple Store are required to use white packaging boxes, otherwise they cannot be sold.
In addition, there are requirements such as the position of the trademark logo, product images from a unified angle, simplified fonts, and high-quality packaging materials.
Although Apple Stores will adopt different store formats depending on the region they are located in, the emphasis on minimalism, emphasis on display, and even the unified style of the products in the store promote the consistency of the experience.
When it comes to the changes in Apple’s packaging over the years, we still have to go back to the iPhone. As Apple’s flagship product, its changes are the most obvious and representative. The most intuitive change for users is that there are fewer and fewer plastic products in the packaging box.
If you have been an iPhone user for many years, you should have an impression of the plastic earphone box, mobile phone holder, and plastic fixing film for the charging cable in the Apple packaging box. They have either been removed or replaced with paper. The form of quality packaging, although starting from iPhone 12, there are no headphones in the box.
The charging cable has also been changed to use a paper buckle design, and it is very tight. Basically, it cannot be reassembled after being disassembled. Therefore, some people regard the buckle shape in the packaging box as an anti-counterfeiting design. However, It is still not recommended that you use this method. Try to use the serial number query provided by Apple’s official website.
Apple’s consistent reason for removing plastic products is for environmental protection. This trend is becoming more and more common in packaging design. More and more technology shopping companies have begun to make a fuss about packaging. Xiaomi has done so in 2020. At the beginning of the year, a new packaging design method "one carton" was launched.
Xiaomi claims that this packaging design only requires a piece of cardboard or corrugated paper to be folded, without supplementary materials, or even glue to assemble.
From a purpose perspective, companies such as Apple and Xiaomi initially changed packaging materials and designs to promote environmental protection, but the actual results are often beyond expectations. Compared with the previous transparent plastic boxes, paper boxes It feels purer and has better texture. Xiaomi's carton packaging method also saves a lot of costs. It is said that compared with traditional packaging, the cost has dropped by 40%.
The insistence on the consistency of product packaging and the extensive application of environmentally friendly materials not only improve the quality of packaging, but also strengthen the image of the product and even the brand through a consistent experience. After all, technology companies want to create consistency. Strong and reliable brand image.
For the retail industry, packaging is an unavoidable and very important area. It can even determine whether a brand can survive. The most typical application scenarios are supermarket shelves and convenience store shelves. As important entrances to offline retail, they are one of the largest channels for consumers to access products.
However, it is difficult for consumers to recognize all the products and brands in the supermarket. There will always be new brands and new products, so those who recommend products to consumers need to rely on product packaging. Packaging is more than just a tool for storing products.
They are all potato chips. On supermarket shelves, you may choose products with brightly colored and lively packaging. The more delicious the pictures of potato chips on the packaging look, the more attractive they are.
For consumer electronics, appearance is also extremely important. Although the iPhone or MacBook packaging boxes do not have bright and lively colors, the minimalist vision composed of white background, large fonts, product appearance pictures, etc. Just what electronics need.
Regardless of whether it is a mobile phone or a computer, ease of use, efficiency, and consistency are important parts of the user experience, and minimalist packaging can just give people a similar feeling.
Dieline, one of the most visited packaging design websites in the world, mentioned in the recently released 2021 annual trend report that bold and sans-serif fonts will still be popular trends, while Google, Spotify Tech companies like these favor sans-serif fonts because they instill a sensory experience of consistency and trust.
It is not unreasonable for technology companies to prefer minimalism. In addition to Apple, many mobile phone companies also use similar white packaging with bold large fonts and product pictures as the main elements of product packaging. This is also a side effect. It proves that minimalist packaging can promote the sales of electronic products.
More importantly, Apple uses packaging design to simplify the entire unboxing process. The box cover, product, manual and accessories are opened in sequence from top to bottom. This progressive unboxing experience is actually Guide users to unbox.
When discussed in the product field, this is often called good usability design.
The simple and fast unboxing experience is actually a kind of brand output. As Steve Jobs said, he hopes to use packaging to set the tone for iPad and iPhone, that is, to create a simple and easy-to-use experience in the hearts of users. Product image and even brand image.
Through minimalist packaging design, simplified unboxing steps, and progressive experience, Apple has designed the pleasure of unboxing, while also contributing to the creation of a "simple and easy-to-use" product image.