Study On The Relationship Between Packaging Styles Of Goods And Cultures Of Different Countries

In the commodity society nowadays, diversified packages of goods are really a feast for eyes. Different packages adopt different designs and presentations, as well as dissimilar visual communication manners, to show distinct styles. Package of goods is not only a kind of commercial behavior, but also a product and carrier of culture, just as literary works, films and TV programs are. This thesis is to study the relationship between packaging styles of goods and their underlying cultures through analyses, comparisons and summaries on the packaging (Design) styles of goods in China, Japan and France, plus an inductive conclusion of the cultural characteristics of these three countries.Comparison serves as a basic study method in the thesis. On the premise of deduction, packaging design products are examples for induction, combining inferential proofs and demonstrations.The full text consists of three parts besides the introduction and the conclusion. The second chapter introduces the involved professional theoretical knowledge, including the concept, origin and development, classifications and functions of packages, as well as concept and visual communication elements for packaging design.The stress of this thesis lays on Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. In the third chapter, the concepts of packaging design culture and packaging style are introduced to explain that packaging reflects comprehensive cultural characteristics, and that package of goods is a carrier of culture that is objectivated. Packaging design culture, as a subsystem of culture, possesses outstanding nationality. Packaging style is mainly influenced by such non-material elements as national culture. Packages of liquor, cigarettes, cosmetics and tea are selected as study objects to conduct impersonal analyses and comparisons on the presentations and characteristics of packaging designs of the four kinds of commodities in these three countries in terms of model, color, character and pattern.Chapter 4 provides comparisons and summaries on the packaging design styles in China, Japan and France, to generate a conclusion about the cultural characteristics of the three countries, and then to explain the relationship between packaging styles and their underlying cultures. The packaging styles in China are balanced but forceful, in Japan gentle and delicate, while the packaging designs show nobleness and romance to the extreme. The differences in packaging style originate from the diversification of cultures of various countries. Different cultures of different nations and countries lay effects on the soul of packaging design culture -conceptual level; while in the material level, they indicate the difference of packaging styles. Most of the styles reflected by the packages in China, Japan and France may be located certain sources in their own cultures. Packaging style and culture is interrelated via medium - human beings, between which there is an internal, close and indivisible relationship, characterized as harmonious and consistent. This can be proved not only in the three countries studied in this thesis but also in other countries.Study on packages, a carrier of culture, is a brand new way to get to know cultures of other countries. To set up a relationship between packaging styles and cultures of various countries is fairly significant and also helpful for us to build up correct design views. With the advance of life quality and civilization level, cultural value is taking more proportions in commodity value. To exploit such cultural value is the very responsibility of designers.