Packaging

Member lesson

Substrates and materials

Lesson 11 of 20 in Packaging.

Beyond Paper: 50+ Modern Materials for Packaging Designers · Packaging Unboxd Podcast
Lesson

The material decides how the pack prints, how it protects the product, what it costs, how it feels and what happens to it afterwards. It is the first real decision and the one designers are least often asked about.

90gsmtext170gsmcover350gsmcardcoated · sits on topuncoated · soaks inweight is masscaliper is thicknessone does not tell you the otherproof on the stock you are printing on, or you haveproofed nothing
Paper caliper against weight, and the same ink on coated and uncoated stock.
A snack bag's corner is peeled into four fanned layers of printed film, glue, silver foil and inner film as a person fails to pull them apart, while a single-layer pouch drops into a sorting bin.
A snack bag peeled open turns out to be four stuck-together layers no bin can sort, while a one-layer pouch drops straight in. More layers protect better but recycle worse.
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Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “The standard carton material. Comes coated, uncoated and recycled.”

    • Folding boxboard
    • Dieline
    • Direct print
    • Flexible film
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Plastic laminate for pouches and wrappers. Light, cheap, hard to recycle.”

    • Direct print
    • Folding boxboard
    • Minimum type size
    • Flexible film
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A pack made of one polymer throughout, so it can actually be recycled.”

    • Structure
    • Applied label
    • Category expectation
    • Mono-material

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