Necessary Requirements

Packaging

There are certain elements on packaging of products in particular that are required to be present without necessarily looking the most attractive. I am talking about the bar code. However, I have noticed on the Lee Stafford range of hair care products that they use the bar code as part of the design of their packaging.

If you think about it, the bar code design does actually have some interesting potential and not many products use this to their advantage. The use of the bar code as part of the design is actually extremely simple in this example, with the barcode not being the usual black lines on white background but colour coded with the remainder of the package. This is a simple yet effective change with the ‘boring barcode’ already becoming a bit more interesting. Furthermore certain lines of the barcode are extended outside of the limiting white box across the rest of the bottle. Another simple yet noticeable change.

This could be extended further perhaps with the extended lines morphing into more elegant floral patterns for instance-an idea that could be particularly relevant to female hair care products. I am surprised that more packaging does not incorporate the bar code into their designs…if it has got to be there- it may as well be put to good design use!