Applying graphic design principles on tea packaging

The aesthetic aspect of product packaging is a well-known factor in attracting consumers’ attention. One of the most common ways in achieving the aesthetic appearance of the packaging is applying graphic design principles. The purpose of the study was to explore how people perceive the attractiveness of tea packaging with different levels of graphic design principles applied. The graphic design principles applied on the packaging were: contrast, dominance, alignment, symmetry, consistency and colour harmony. The manipulation of these principles resulted in three different packaging samples that were tested: aesthetic packaging, partially-aesthetic packaging and non-aesthetic packaging. The participants’ tasks were to rate the attractiveness of each of the packaging samples and to select the one which they would like to buy. The statistical analysis showed that the results of both tests (rating and choice task) were consistent, indicating that the aesthetic packaging was appreciated the most, followed by the partially-aesthetic packaging and the non-aesthetic packaging. These results were the same even when taking into account whether the beauty of the packaging was important to the participants or not. The findings support the idea of using graphic design principles in packaging design whenever applicable.