How to design a pack

We decided to gather voices from our creative team to talk about our method. At best, we’ll share something meaningful with you. At worst, you’ll get to know the people behind Bellissimo a little better. We’re starting with Barbara Villanova, Partner and Art Director at the studio, and with one of the topics we’ve been working on the most in recent years: packaging.

How do you approach a packaging project?

Let me say this right away: there’s no fixed path in packaging design. Every project is different. Designing a package is pure instinct.

What do you mean by that?

An editorial project follows certain standards — you have a layout, a grid, a structure. With packaging, you’re working in a very small space where you have to tell a story. Very little space, and very little time. In just a few seconds, the customer has to understand what the product is, its quality, its positioning — and above all, it has to stand out and be different from everything else.

Over the years, Bellissimo has worked “on the shelf” with spirits, then food, and more recently on many projects with Lavazza. Is there a common thread?

The most important thing is that even the limited space of a pack still requires the construction of a full artwork — exactly like a magazine cover. That’s our approach. You could say the brand is the masthead, the cover image is the product, and everything else is graphic design, with a lot of care for content.

So it all circles back to Label. Years have passed, but your early editorial experience still seems to be a constant.

It was definitely a challenge to move from our early visual design work —more underground and tied to niche scenes— to a language aimed at a much broader audience. But I think that very heritage, that originality, is what allows Bellissimo-designed products to stand out on shelf, and why major brands trust us with important rebranding projects.

You mentioned positioning. How much does market segment influence the process?

As designers, the goal is to create something beautiful regardless of price point. Take the example of Bourbon coffee. Our philosophy is to design less: for us, “low cost” means more minimal, not lower quality. And it’s worth noting that the overall level of shelf graphics has clearly been growing.

Back to artworks... It’s always interesting to understand where your visual projects begin. There’s the brand and the product, of course — but it’s not just that. For the new key visual of Qualità Oro, inspiration came from the jewerly world.

Personally, I often find inspiration in architecture and design forms. But the starting point is always the content — in other words, the product itself. The foundation of any package design is always what’s inside.

Published: Dec 23, 2023