Why Less is More With Minimalist Packaging
While the world is having ongoing waste management issues, it is essential to remember that the golden saying "less is more" applies to so many different factors in your life.
Today, it is important for brands to emphasize how much they care about the world around them and how much they care about the customer's time. Through simple methods of minimalist packaging, this can easily be achieved and bring added benefits along the way.
What Constitutes Minimalist Packaging?
What is often referred to as minimalism is when businesses put more priority on the design of the package rather than overt flashy visuals and added goods.
However, this also does not mean that companies are able to be lazy. If not enough effort is put into the package, then the company can come off as cold and uncaring.
Package designers need to find an excellent middle ground of simple and stylish designs that look great but do not come off as the company is begging for customers.
Benefits of Minimalist Packaging
More often than not, minimalist packaging tends to put consumers at ease and gives them a better impression of the quality of the product.
A good minimalistic designed package can convey the message or intent of the company without superfluous content. This works because there are fewer distracting factors to consider when studying the box.
Tips on Minimalistic Packaging Design
Typically, brands use a maximum of one or two colors to convey the tone or brand of the company. If companies feel the need to use more colors, keep it within similar shades of the original two colors to avoid clashing designs.
On top of that, choosing shorter words and logo fonts with simple-looking letters is preferable. This way, consumers don't have a hard time understanding the message.
Businesses can also play around with the size of the logo and design. Both large and small fonts have different benefits. Large-sized logos are great for drawing the attention of consumers from far away.
Smaller-designed logos give off a more mysterious feel, making people want to come and learn more about a company.
Advertising Benefits
This rise in these complex adverts has made people more appreciative of an advertisement's more straightforward design aspects. Easy-to-read designs are becoming more noticeable than over-the-top colorful extravaganzas.
These days, companies have started to advertise their products straight into people's faces. This has affected many potential consumers in wanting to avoid flashy advertisements altogether.
Additionally, consumers want more transparency about companies these days. It is effortless for people to spread bad news about businesses with the internet. Therefore, straightforward communication is vital for consumers to make the decision to purchase your goods or services.
Cut shipping costs
Since there are fewer items and packaging material in the boxes, the weight drastically goes down. In turn, this cuts the cost of shipping drastically, especially if being shipped to locations far overseas.
The company Plastics Europe states that the reasoning behind this is that lighter packages require less transportation energy and fewer trucks need to transport cargo. Which, in turn, cut shipping costs and decrease emissions into the environment.
Release products faster
With less emphasis on presentation, companies are able to ship products quicker without all the added stress of commercialization.
This also brings loads of other benefits, including;
- Customers are more likely to buy from the company again.
- Customers will spread the word of the company to other people after their quick and easy experience.
- There will be increased revenue and fewer instances of customers canceling orders.
Research done by Harvard Business School states that expensive online shipping fees have a negative effect on consumers. In total, it is estimated that 44% of shoppers abandon their online cart once they find out how expensive shipping is.
So cutting out the middleman and making that less costly for consumers will drive up revenue.
Simple is popular
With less shipping clutter inside the package, companies are able to focus more on attention-grabbing logos and design.
In a way, this also communicates to people that the company is confident in the quality of the product. It shows that the product does not need any other reason to be bought and it can stand alone.
Plastic Pollution
So much of your waste is being carelessly tossed in the ocean or floating onto other people's land, affecting marginalized communities.
The UN Environment Programme that the overabundance of plastic pollution states that this is a planetary emergency that effectively displaces many communities living near waste management sites.
On top of climate change and biodiversity loss, all of this is throwing our planet into an extreme state of emergency. By regulating single plastic uses and encouraging recycling, companies can fight back against these issues and show customers they care along the way.
Waste Effect on Marine Life
In a study conducted by the United Nations, about 80 percent of your waste is plastic. And with excess package shipping material being included in the mix, about 13 million metric tons of garbage get tossed into the ocean each year.
This, in turn, affects around 800 different species of marine life who get caught up in the waste and either suffocate or drown. Marine life can even digest the waste in the ocean, which comes back to us again as tiny particles in our seafood.
Best Ways to Reduce Packaging Waste
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency stated that about one-third of municipal waste from the United States comes from packaging industries. The types of items in question include:
- Cardboard Boxes
- Metal and glass containers
- Plastic containers
- Packing foam
The best way to combat all of this is for businesses to use recycled and reusable material. This will inevitably reduce the amount of waste that will go straight to landfills.
Another great idea is to source packaging materials from sustainable forests and farms. On top of that, biodegradable packaging, such as corn-based plastic, can be easily broken down in commercial composting facilities and are better for the environment.
Cardboard Baler
Cardboard waste makes up one of the biggest percentages of packaging waste. Therefore, a cardboard baler comes in handy because it can compress the cardboard by about 90% and reduce its storage space.
Cardboard Balers are also another great way to save businesses money. Since the balers compact the boxes, companies are able to get more of their money's worth from waste collection fees by fitting more in waste disposal bins, rather than having to pay for only moderately full garbage disposal bins that have no more space.
Waste management companies are even willing to collect full balers for a reduced cost or even for free in some cases.
Future of Minimalist Packaging
As many might be keen on denying it, the trend of minimalist packaging is only going to keep growing in popularity. Therefore, companies need to stay on top of trends like this if they want to remain in the hearts of socially conscious consumers.
Overall, the benefits of minimalist packaging design are getting harder and harder to argue against. Not only is it better for the environment, but it is becoming more widely appreciated by consumers. It is even becoming safe to say that not investing in minimalist packaging will only deter people from coming back to do business.
This is quickly becoming more than a trend, and if companies don't jump on the train now, they will only be left behind by the competition.
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