14ENTREVISTA I INTERVIEW xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx Do you think it’s the sector where the most innovations in packaging design occur? It’s one of the most demanding, without a doubt. Food packaging has to simultaneously solve problems that in other sectors are independent: communicate in two seconds, stand out on a saturated shelf, comply with strict regulations, function in different formats and channels, and do so with cost constraints. This pressure generates innovation. But what interests me most is not formal innovation— the surprising packaging—but strategic innovation. Packaging that solves a business problem that no one had been able to articulate. That’s what we look for in every project. Through our knowledge of packaging, we are able to reduce our clients’ production costs by optimizing systems and processes. The food industry is experiencing a transformation driven by sustainability, health, and changes in consumption habits. How are these trends influencing packaging design? They are redefining the rules of the shelf. Today’s consumer reads packaging differently; they practically read it, whereas before, this was rarely done. They look for real information, not empty promises. Furthermore, we have much more information and knowledge about food, nutrition, processes... Transparency—regarding ingredients, origin, and impact—has gone from being a differentiator to a necessity. What’s changing our work the most isn’t aesthetics, but the questions we ask at the beginning of each project. Before, the question was how to differentiate ourselves visually. Now it’s what values this brand has that are credible, verifiable, and relevant to the consumer. Design comes later. Always. That’s partly why our slogan is Food Design Thinkers. Do you apply eco-design criteria? Is it more difficult to create sustainable packaging with tight budgets? For me, sustainability in packaging involves two distinct conversations that are often confused. The first is about materials: recyclable and reusable packaging, plastic reduction, renewable materials... We work very closely with specialized suppliers, and in many projects, we incorporate these solutions from the very beginning of the process, not as an add-on at the end. It has to be tied to the brand strategy, not just the packaging. The second, and often overlooked, aspect is the optimization of resources and production processes. In many projects, we’ve managed to significantly reduce costs for our clients simply by reviewing and grouping formats, weights, and printing processes. As an industrial engineer, I understand production systems in packaging plants and how to optimize resources through packaging. Wellengineered packaging is sustainable by definition; it doesn’t use more than necessary. Is it more difficult with tight budgets? It depends. Sometimes budget constraints force smarter decisions. The luxury of spending more does not always produce better results, nor more visibility or sales growth. Typography and color feature prominently in many of your designs. Do you consider yourselves positive disruptors? I don’t like the word “disruptors” applied to branding. It sounds like a trend, and what we do is the opposite: making decisions that stand the test of time. Isn’t there a business behind a brand? What we are, however, is consistent. Every typographic and color decision in our projects responds to a strategic argument before responding to an aesthetic criterion. What position does this brand occupy in its category? What does it need to communicate in the first second of contact with the consumer? What is the competition doing, and what space is left open? When these questions are well answered, typography and color are not design decisions. They are business decisions. Tell us about two of your projects. Two current projects where packaging is the main focus. PRIMO: from 8 scattered brands to the coherence of an umbrella brand. Primo Mendoza SL had been in the honey sector for over 100 years with a problem no one had been able to solve: eight active brands, more than 150 packaging options, and none bearing the company name. The result was confusion on the shelf and in negotiations, and a company with enormous value that the market couldn’t recognize. Our first decision was strategic, not visual: to propose an umbrella brand that would unify everything under a single name. The solution had been right in front of them for a century: the family name. PRIMO. The packaging work consisted of creating coherence among more than 150 products that had to function both individually and as a system. Each product was recognizable on its own, forming product families based on beekeeping specialties. All recognizable as PRIMO. This balance between unity and variety is one of the most complex challenges in mass-market packaging. NOKU: the brand that (almost) convinced Unilever. Noku is a mochi brand—the Japanese rice dessert—that we built from scratch six years ago and continue to work on today. Positioning, naming, identity, packaging,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Njg1MjYx