A heavyweight on packaging

It’s finally here – the long awaited book with the answers to questions such as why an item of packaging looks and acts like it does. The authors, who represent a variety of university environments and areas of science, methods and traditions, began their collaboration in 2009. The project, “The (un)sustainable package”, was started with funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and the Swedish Research Council, with the aim being to produce the book that has now been published by Balkong Förlag.

The book analyses items of Swedish consumer packaging from the 1930s to today as well as the role of packaging in the development of a sustainable society. The authors focus on packaging design’s ever more difficult dilemma; delivering innovative solutions with high levels of attention value and simultaneously satisfying different consumer needs and demands for minimal environmental impact.

The authors of the book, who have on several occasions participated in events organised by Packbridge, are professor Annika Olsson from Lund University, who is on the Packbridge board and whose contribution focuses on the practical, financial and logistical aspects of packaging; ethnologist Magdalena Petersson McIntyre from the Centre for Consumer Science at Gothenburg University, who looks at gender issues; art historian Karin Wagner from Chalmers University of Technology, who deals with visual communication, and design historian Lasse Brunnström from the School of Design and Crafts at Gothenburg University, who addresses the design and cultural aspects.

The book is divided into three sections. It begins by looking at one of our most common yet most demanding packaging problems; milk packaging. The next section relates to pharmaceutical packaging, an area characterised by high safety requirements, and the final section of the book examines luxury packaging, whose main task is to convey an attitude and to seduce the consumer. The reader is presented with a number of possible explanations for the appearance of items of packaging.

The authors have invested a great deal of work in this book. At 512 pages, it can be genuinely described as a heavyweight. But don’t let that put you off; the layout is airy and clear, with many images. As of writing, the editorial team had only had time to get around 60 pages into the book, but thus far it certainly has a great deal to say and is definitely recommended.