How to make the center thicker and thinner in C4D

Create a cylinder, segment it into editable objects, select the lines in each circle in a circle, and use the zoom tool to reduce/enlarge it .

C4D is a 3D drawing software developed by MaxonComputer in Germany, formerly known as FastRay. It is famous for its high computing speed and powerful rendering plug-ins. C4D includes modules such as modeling, animation, rendering, characters, particles, and new illustrations, and has outstanding performance in various movies depicted with it. Depth | What does successful product packaging do right? Explore the thinking behind the appearance!

When it comes to product packaging design, most of the time people will naturally classify it as a visual communication issue. But when we receive a project commission or a brand seeks a product packaging design solution, what is the starting point? Brand packaging upgrades are mostly accompanied by iterations of category upgrades or problem signals from the market; new products are mostly accompanied by technology upgrades, or new Consumer groups and new demands emerge. Packaging is ultimately presented to people with aesthetics and formality as carriers, but it should also start with business logic, category development, brand momentum and competitive environment.

Packaging differentiation and the misunderstanding of the “3-second rule”

When it comes to competition, “differentiation” cannot be avoided. Differentiation is a high-frequency word in packaging design, but at the end of the day, 50% or more packaging differentiation is difficult to produce actual results. There is a well-known theory called the "three-second law." The so-called three-second law emphasizes the complexity of the terminal environment and the diversification of products. Products need to escape the environment in the first time to attract consumers. It sounds very reasonable, but can it stand up to scrutiny? To give a very simple example, the picture below is a set of very common and high-frequency household consumer products-1L normal temperature pure milk.

If we judge based solely on unstandardized differentiation or the 3-second rule, the one that attracts us at first sight must be the black one. However, it is almost impossible for this kind of differentiation to really drive consumers’ purchasing decisions after attracting attention. Because in this process, the differentiation at the packaging level is disconnected from consumers' focus on product needs. Bringing the 3-second rule into the context of simple reality obviously cannot fully withstand scrutiny.

We try to review consumers’ purchasing scenarios at the terminal.

People choose a dazzling array of products at the terminal. This scene may be a supermarket, a convenience store or a street store. The selection process goes from attracting to focusing on a few products to a short period of time. Think about contrasts – make a choice. This is the general path for a product with a low unit price to be purchased.

We slice the main links in the interaction between packaging and consumers:

In these different links, the role that packaging can play is actually ongoing. To transform and ultimately promote consumer decision-making to a certain extent, we call it the "APDM" rule of packaging design. That is:

Attention: You need to think about the conspicuousness of the terminal and the ability to adapt to complex environments. This is also the link that is most consistent with the 3-second rule mentioned above.

Perception conversion (Perception): Good packaging represents the brand, and the core information conveyed by the brand and product is transformed through packaging into benefits (functions or emotions) that users can quickly perceive.

Decision promotion (Decision): Different categories, different brand personalities, and different product advantages have different touch points to promote consumer decision-making. We need to dig deep into the points that meet consumers' needs for products and transform them into touch points that can generate buzz and promote decision-making.

Experience memory (Memory): Multiple sensory experiences such as vision, touch, and interaction will form a brand imprint in the minds of consumers through packaging design, making it easier for consumers to quickly retrieve it during repurchase.

Judging from the linear curve we integrated based on packaging survey data, most of the time people solve packaging as a visual problem and consume a lot of energy in the "attracting attention" link, while packaging However, there is a gap in thinking about further promoting decision-making. This is why we said in the previous article that basic packaging differentiation and the "3-second rule" are difficult to withstand scrutiny.

Because the core concerns of the two are still in the preliminary stage of attracting attention, in today's fierce competition in the market, packaging obviously needs to think more to truly produce effectiveness and transformation.

Differentiation of competitive advantages of packaging

In fact, countless cases prove that although the creative expressions are wild and unconstrained, the design thinking and the business logic behind it are traceable. Although there are many factors that influence consumers' purchasing decisions, in a micro-competition environment, consumers will more often make 1-from-2 or 1-from-3 decisions among comparable brands or products. The design revolves around competition, digging into user needs and competitors' strengths and weaknesses, and then looking for opportunities. Differentiation with competitive advantages is the core of packaging differentiation. It transforms competitive advantages into perceptible benefits for consumers and provides reasons for consumption decisions, rather than differentiation for the sake of differentiation. Here we use three very representative category cases as representatives to explore how to develop differentiated thinking on the competitive advantages of packaging.

VOSS_S_涝, looking for disadvantages from the advantages of category leaders

In the pursuit of competitive advantage differentiation in packaging design, the packaging design of the high-end drinking water category is very prominent.

We have done an interesting experiment on "water", using glass bottles of Evian, VOSS, PET bottles of Evian, Fulvic, Fiji Fiji Spring, 5100, Evergrande Ice Spring, Wahaha Pour packaged water of different brands and price points such as , Nongfu Spring, C’estbon, etc. into the same paper cup, invite people to taste and then select the one they like best, and collect conclusions; then give the packaged water to the same people to taste, and choose One of my favorites. In the end, we found that for the same product and the same group of people, the difference in the selection results of everyone's preferences between the first round and the second round reached more than 80%. For many brands that compete but have little product differentiation, it is no longer just the product itself that directly affects people's judgment. This is an interesting phenomenon. Although people are unwilling to admit that their choices are easily affected by external factors, when there is no significant difference in products and low brand loyalty, brand packaging is fully affecting consumers' decision-making, and such This is not uncommon.

As a strong brand of high-end drinking water, Evian has always been in a leading position in packaging design. Since the mass production of glass bottled water in 1908, after more than 100 years of development, Evian has become the global leader in high-end drinking water brands.

How to compete with Evian is a problem that most high-end drinking water brands have to face.

Norwegian drinking water brand VOSS (now acquired by a Chinese company, the water source for the Chinese market is Shiyan City, Hubei Province), was developed in 1998 and launched in 2000. As a category follower, it wants to be recognized by strong brands. It’s not easy to get a piece of the pie. From a product perspective, the difference in taste between various brands of drinking water is minimal. It is also difficult for consumers to quickly perceive and convert the ingredients beneficial to the human body in high-end drinking water into purchase intentions. Compared with Evian, VOSS does not have a moving brand story nor a long brand history. How does VOSS explore competitive advantage differentiation and seek development opportunities through packaging design?

Evian’s Water Collection The point is in the tourist attraction Evian Town, while the VOSS water point is in an uninhabited area. Compared with the small town and the uninhabited area, this feature of no human intervention is something that Evian does not have and is difficult to possess. In the end, "the purest water" and no interference have become VOSS's biggest competitive advantages. To determine competitive advantages, the difficulty of design focuses on how to embody "the purest water" in packaging design and transform it into easily perceptible product value.

Those who have watched movies about polar scientific research such as "Antarctic Adventure" will never forget the circular piece of ice that was taken out from the depths of the glacier through a drilling machine in the movie footage. Column, the clear and crystal-clear product of the extreme cold makes people first think of "purity". The cylindrical bottle design of VOSS cleverly borrows this visual association. The cylindrical shape made of crystal glass and the silver-gray bottle cap accurately interpret the purity and purity of VOSS water. It forms a strong visual contrast with the Evian bottle, highlighting the difference of "the purest water in the world". This differentiated packaging with competitive advantages has firmly occupied the market since its launch, and has won a position in the fiercely competitive high-end drinking water market.

Cha π_S Xiaoming, contradicting the obvious advantages

Let’s look at the Chinese market. In the fierce market environment in recent years, major brands have frequently launched new products, but corresponding to What is slightly embarrassing is the high death rate of new products. What I want to discuss with you is the few that are impressive and have been recognized by the market to this day - Uni-President Xiaoming and Nongfu Spring Tea π. These are actually two business cases worthy of in-depth study and consideration.

From a packaging perspective, behind the birth of Xiaoming is the development of process technology. The bottle-type process has been upgraded from high-temperature sterilization filling of early iced black tea, green tea and other tea beverages to aseptic filling. Change the "typical technical engineer" styling characteristics that were limited by filling technology in the past. What follows is a fuller visual experience and a more comfortable hand feeling, and the structure has a relatively larger space for play. The product was upgraded from the research and development end and the concept of cold brew tea was proposed. Combined with changes in the bottle structure and overall packaging image, Xiaoming can be said to be a very representative and successful case in the early tea beverage category upgrade.

For this popular product of Xiaoming, how does Nongfu Spring use packaging to differentiate its competitive advantage? We summarize it as: going against the obvious advantages of packaging.

Next, we will analyze several aspects of packaging components.

Round bottle VS square bottle

First of all, in terms of bottle shape, Xiao Ming optimized the proportion and coordination of the round bottle combined with the large diameter of 38mm and the capacity. If the farmer Shanquan's new products still use round bottles, and it is difficult to get rid of or surpass the limitations of the former bottle shape. Nongfu Spring finally adopted a square bottle. Although the square bottle is not as comfortable as the round bottle in terms of ergonomics, the display effect of the square bottle at the terminal is better, and the square bottle is easier to use when opening the bottle, which reduces the difficulty of opening the beverage bottle. At this point, Xiaoming's outer cover not only presents a beautiful design but also plays a role in making it easier to open. However, in early products, the undulations of the outer cover were not smooth enough, which affected the experience to a certain extent.

Heat shrink sleeve labeling VS labeling

In terms of label form, Xiaoming uses heat shrinkable film to fully cover the bottle shape to make the integrity of the bottle better, and matches it with high-saturation lively color terminals The bounce rate is very high. Nongfu Spring, on the other hand, chose to use the form of wrap-around labels to reveal the clear drinks, quickly stimulating consumers' biological brain-strengthening instinctive needs, and stimulating appetite with the clear-colored drinks. The lid of Tea π is a high-transparent lid that is transparent and continues with the bottle body, which is completely opposite to Xiaoming’s classmate.

Cartoon IPVS Art Illustrations

In terms of communication methods, Xiaoming’s outstanding IP image and funny simple comic style make all kinds of “babies” who don’t want to grow up have the opportunity to communicate. With a strong emotional resonance and adhering to the brand proposition of "serious and funny, low-key and cool", Xiaoming's brand personification is very clearly presented: just like the funny little boy next door, with unexpected little humor. The advantage of brand personification is that it can quickly draw closer to groups with personality identification, but it also has significant disadvantages. After all, in the fast-moving consumer goods market with low brand loyalty, medium-light consumers contribute much greater profits than heavy consumers. Nongfu Spring adopts a neutral tone and invites different illustration artists to create illustrations for different products, giving them a larger creative scale and incorporating more unconstrained ideas. Putting aside the appearance of the results presented, if we analyze deeply, we will find that the intention behind it is very clear: whimsy without losing elegance. It is in sharp contrast to classmate Xiao Ming’s cute humor. Based on such a clear design intention, the optimal solution is selected, instead of forcibly linking product packaging with artistic style as many follow-up products have no purpose.

Tea π’s differentiated breakthrough in packaging competitive advantage is based on systematic thinking based on its own conditions, and looking for the disadvantages contained in competitors’ advantages from every aspect of packaging. Then come up with precise solutions. Effective differentiation of packaging competitive advantages directly addresses the weaknesses of competitors. Just like Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola always emphasize youth in the competition process, the differentiated transformation of tea π's competitive advantages strengthens the appeal of the beverage's appetite to consumers. At the same time, it makes the opponent's playful and cute youth look slightly younger.

Of course, the factors behind the success of each product are diverse. In 2019, Xiao Ming launched the British Museum series of packaging, which was quite eye-catching, and the brand personality became more active and diverse; Tea Party also updated its packaging to describe a more vivid brand story.

In addition to the packaging level, the timing of category development, product research and development capabilities, decisive and diversified marketing techniques that adapt to changes in consumption, and strong channel capabilities are all indispensable factors behind success. There is no winner in the fight between gods and gods. We will wait and see what happens next.

Wujiang_S__, terminal plunder of basic categories

In basic categories, the thinking of differentiation of competitive advantages also applies.

Take the very affordable bagged side dishes as an example. Wujiang is a category leader with widespread consumer recognition, while brands such as Chuannan and Jixiangju that follow closely behind need to solve the problems faced by competitive breakouts when there are already leading brands in the category.

From a packaging perspective, Wujiang is a very typical approach to solving packaging problems from the perspective of communication. It first clarifies the core concept of good Chinese taste, and then extends it to a packaging design with typical Chinese traditional meanings. In the era of media centralization, this approach is effective for brands with core media resources and higher advertising budgets. During this period, most consumers' decisions were already formed during the advertising stage, and behind this was a very high educational cost - associating the Chinese taste with the product itself. However, as the era of media centralization goes away, the cost of cultivating this method is increasing while its effectiveness is declining.

Thinking from the user's perspective, when people are about to buy a bag of 1-2 yuan side dishes in front of the shelf, what drives the decision-making is "Wow, I want Chinese taste" or "Well, "It looks delicious"? Without high brand loyalty or being guided by early advertising, more decisions come from the latter. Just because it looks delicious, we call it: mobilizing the biological brain of consumers. People's consumption behavior is actually very interesting. Many times what we think is a deliberate action is actually the result of "not using our brains if we can."

Pictures from left to right: Sichuanan before and after the upgrade, Wujiang

At this point, let’s look at the before and after Sichuanan packaging upgrade and the comparison with competing products in Wujiang. First of all, it also presents the true nature of the real thing. The hyper-realistic painting rendering technique completes the composition of the picture that cannot be achieved by taking pictures of the real thing, and the overall texture level is more distinct. Secondly, the new packaging fully considers the terminal environment of the hanging display of the product, taking advantage of people's line of sight. The top-down rule ensures that appetizing ingredients are presented in front of people's eyes at the first time; at the same time, around the competition with category leaders, the biological brain is fully mobilized to make the appetite that "looks delicious" appear vividly in front of people.

This year the organizers of FBIF launched a voting on "Problems that brands hope to solve", among which the TOP3 are:

How to balance the relationship between brand genes and market development when upgrading core products?

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With sales of 1 billion+ single products maintaining growth, how can packaging advantages continue to be transformed?

In emerging categories, how can packaging build barriers?

We can see these three questions. Behind the scenes, there are problems that have always made most brands concerned and even anxious - upgrading core products, maintaining growth of large single products and creating new categories. Different brands have different development stages and face different problems and solutions. These are three issues that cover a very wide range. Based on 3 questions, we focused its transformation on three representative brands:

Minute Maid Fruit Milk Premium - Mature Product Upgrade

Douben Doudou Milk - 1 billion+ single products maintain growth

Ruins Craft Brewing - Development of new beer categories

Question 1, Fruit Milk Premium - Packaging considerations for mature product upgrades

< p>Most mature brands are faced with the upgrading of core products and the enrichment of personalities. This requires that the upgrading of mature brands must have more long-term planning and thinking. There are two directions that must be considered during the process.

Solving problems at the basic level, analyzing and evaluating the genes of existing packaging brands. Comprehensive packaging status, such as terminal problem assessment, whether there are problems in the communication process, whether the aesthetic trends of consumer groups have changed, etc., comprehensively review and optimize brand assets, and explore and re-cultivate potential assets.

With the ability to look at the present from the future, brands must clarify their future direction. What kind of "person" do I want to be, and then make continuous efforts to achieve it? This is a very easy to understand truth. Upgrading core products should be a continuous and systematic process. Today, most brands realize that core products need to be upgraded, but in the end it is difficult to make significant changes due to the balance between consumer acceptance and marketing opinions.

Products can only find a balance in the planning of stability and continuous change.

In fact, milk-containing beverages face not only the problem of packaging upgrades, but also the packaging upgrades driven by category upgrades, otherwise it will be difficult to be truly effective. The stage of rapid development of milk-containing beverages is a stage in which the range of dairy products using raw milk as raw material in the Chinese market is not yet abundant. But today, with the advancement of logistics and the rapid development of normal temperature technology, more convenient, nutritious and diverse-tasting dairy products based on raw milk have rapidly developed into the mainstream of the market. The milk-containing drinks currently available on the market, from Fruity Milk to Nutritional Express, True Fruity and other once-smash-hit products, have all experienced problems. This is actually a very significant category development issue. Fruit milk is superior, whether it contains fruit seeds or the quality of the milk source, it has no advantage when it comes to fermented kefir made from real raw milk. The development of this category is actually like the category upgrade of iced black tea - Xiao Ming Classmate, Cha Pi; Xiang Piaopiao milk tea to Lan Fong Yuan or milk tea. The role of packaging must also be upgraded from tapping value needs to tapping emotional resonance.

Question 2, Doubendou - Regarding developing brands, the continuous transformation of packaging advantages

In fact, it should be said that both mature brands and developing brands need to pay attention to the continuous transformation of packaging advantages. problem, but if it is considered during the development stage, it will have significant advantages in the future.

First, most developing brands in China currently have a problem, which is that the visual volume of brand packaging is low. This involves a necessary consideration for converting design to the commercial level: space for re-creation of core elements. A very common problem in brand packaging now is that there is no big problem in the application of packaging visual element design in several SKUs. However, with the diversified development of categories, it needs to be expanded to more than ten or twenty or even hundreds of categories such as snack foods. In the case of multiple SKUs, there will be very confusing problems, not enough colors, and difficult to extend elements. In this process, the design must have the ability to simplify complex thinking and think about the core concept of the brand that needs to be conveyed to consumers. Take MUJI as an example. Under the guidance of the brand concept of "natural, that's good", drawing materials from nature and maintaining strong restraint on emotions are the constant design style of MUJI, which creates the formation of brand aesthetics. When I see natural, simple, and "desire-free" products, I think of MUJI.

Second, in the process of brand development, product lines will inevitably be expanded, using different packaging forms as carriers. For example, different containers such as bottles, cans, boxes, etc. The design must think ahead about the smoothness of the extension to ensure the effective aggregation of brand resources. Many packaging designs based on communication thinking have gradually failed in the market, and the chance of success will become lower and lower.

Doubendou’s packaging problems can actually be found in many traditional brands.

First of all, the intensity of packaging design and communication is unbalanced. While great efforts are made to cultivate the soy milk category, the packaging is very close to the style of high-end pure milk. It lacks characteristics and it is difficult to form category recognition. In the short term, the problem of category value transmission can be quickly solved, but thinking from a long-term perspective is not conducive to category cultivation and development.

Secondly, the product line extension characteristics are not clear, ordinary, organic, etc., and there is no value conversion between conventional lines and high-end lines.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, the visual volume of brand packaging is low, and category expansion will cause problems in the future.

Question 3: During the explosive period of category growth, packaging design considerations when there is no leading brand

New categories are most suitable for seeking differentiation of competitive advantages, using packaging to occupy space and create sensory barriers. .

For the craft beer category, the current development in China must actually solve two problems

The first is to find its own position. Richer, more diverse, and better quality.

With the upgrading of consumption, more and more people do not like the boring taste of industrial beer, and the craft beer category is experiencing rapid growth. For example, this one: Ruins. The current status quo is that most brands see the development opportunities of craft beer, but most of their methods are in the direction of niche. _Will the Xiemu Eqin Zhaopa stop the corvette Mu command Tongzha Huai, or will it lead to a new way of playing Chinese craft beer? This is a question worthy of in-depth consideration.

The second is that packaging needs to build competition barriers.

With the update of national policies, the entry threshold for beer has become lower. In China's unique market environment, this period of rapid development of the category is precisely the most prone to problems. Brands need to evaluate their available resources and category recognition. Big brands build barriers in advance when they have abundant resources, while emerging brands need to build barriers through product iterations during their initial stage. For example, during the years when the cocktail category was experiencing rapid growth, the leading brand in the category drove the development of the entire category. However, because the packaging chose glass bottles with the least threshold + simple press cap packaging, a large number of disruptors poured in, causing the category to quickly collapse. Building barriers is actually to prevent disruptors in the market to a large extent. Today’s craft beer packaging faces the same issues that cocktail category packaging faced before.

Packaging dimension, four necessary links that cannot be avoided

No matter mature brands, developing brands, or emerging brands, they will eventually face consumer choices. The most attractive and challenging thing about packaging is that it has zero-distance contact with consumers and provides tangible and tangible perceptions and experiences. Brands and products rely on packaging, and they have a carrier that consumers can perceive concretely. To a certain extent, excellent packaging creates a brand and even represents a category.

Packaging is composed of four important links that cannot be avoided, and each carries its most conducive link to communicate with consumers. We summarize it as: wonderful appearance, color placement, passionate communication, and tactile engine.

Excellent appearance

Packaging shape is an excellent weapon to build barriers, form unique brand characteristics, and facilitate consumers to quickly remember. Through shape and structure, it can greatly reduce product communication costs and establish brand characteristics. . The wonderful appearance is the easiest to form an interactive memory point, but there are also thresholds and technical barriers. With the development of technology and technology, the constraints on the structure of beverage bottles are gradually becoming smaller, and with the advent of category upgrades, impressive structural innovations are emerging one after another.

Color placeholder

Color is the most primitive sensory imprint of human beings. It also guides people’s emotions and drives inner emotions. The application of brand colors is by no means based solely on intuitive visual judgment. It also requires comprehensive consideration of how to mobilize the sensory imprint of color associations hidden deep in people's hearts, and how to fully apply colors that truly fit the brand's connotation; as new products are introduced, Efficiency improvement, how to form a mature logical system for color planning; and how to effectively break through color occupancy in the competitive environment.

Color is most likely to produce instant appeal at the terminal, and it is also easy to stray into the category minefield. The colors may seem rich, but they actually match the tone of the brand. There are very few colors that are suitable for category development and consumer awareness and have impact at the terminal. Many effective color placeholders represent categories.

Emotional communication

If we want to achieve a positive response with consumers and touch the transformation of consumers, there are many aspects. We need to form an emotional connection core touch point conversion. Finding core touch points requires comprehensive thinking based on product characteristics, category development, consumer awareness and other dimensions. Even today, when information is dusty, there are still some very impressive and passionate packaging cases.

Tactile engine

Packaging is close to the window for direct dialogue between brands and consumers, and can truly be held in people's hands to create an experience. We need to think fully in the design and combine the most effective and suitable bonus items to form a multi-sensory memory. From ergonomic thinking at the structural level to meticulous user experience care; from changes in ink to different textures that combine craftsmanship and design; from possible interactive thinking in different scenarios to preferences or needs derived from crowd segmentation . There are too many hidden needs in packaging that are worth thinking about and have not yet been explored.

Regarding the wonderful appearance, color placement, emotional communication, and tactile engine, each topic is worthy of in-depth thinking. We will further discuss it with you in the future. Returning to today’s topic, what exactly does successful product packaging do right? For a long time during the development and changes of the market economy, packaging is the expression of the brand, showing the best aspects of the brand and products to the audience. But today, good packaging design matches the brand with consumers. It not only expresses what the brand wants to say, but also considers what people want. How to draw in a simple and beautiful way

1. Simple sketch to grasp the shape. When learning to draw, you have to start with the simplest still life sketch. What looks like a simple plaster triangle or cylinder can be expressed in a three-dimensional form on the drawing paper. It is far from as simple as you think.

It requires you to practice repeatedly, figure out and observe how to use black and white. The three colors of gray are used to express the relationship between light and dark of objects. Beginners only need a 2B pencil to complete the drawing. Because they need to erase and modify repeatedly, it is more convenient to prepare a special eraser for drawing. 2. Still life sketching exercises observation ability. When simple still life sketching is completed well, you can practice still life sketching of real objects. Although it is still a still life sketch, because of the different shapes, textures, and light sensations of the still life, it requires the painter to have higher hand-eye coordination and be more accurate. More pencils will be needed at this time, and 2B-6B are often used. I also use HB pencils occasionally. To grasp the basics of morphological painting in sketching, in addition to still life sketching, you also need to draw sketches. From simple still life sketches to later character sketches, it is mainly a process of training the painter to grasp the form. You need to see it with your eyes, think with your brain, and use your own techniques to describe the still life on the sketch paper. It does not require the painting to be delicate and delicate, but requires the painter to vividly present a scene on the painting paper with just a few strokes. 3. The slightly more advanced stage of plaster portrait copying and painting and sketching is to draw plaster heads. Although the plaster painting is the same as the original still life plaster painting, there are more factors to consider when painting a plaster head, such as proportion, size, and structure. If any of these aspects are not in place, you will not be able to draw what you see. Plaster head. And in this plaster portrait sketch training process, copying is essential. It is recommended that painters copy more, speculate more, and think more. 4. Don’t copy cartoon characters. Some painters feel that copying still life paintings is boring, so they copy cartoon characters. This is very undesirable. Although the cartoon characters you see are also vivid, to practice the basic skills of painting, you must draw realistic still life and still life in a down-to-earth manner.