Gift packaging design culture

"Courtesy" refers to courtesy, courtesy, respect or expression of respect. “Gifts” are items that people give in order to express their respects, celebrations, and other feelings. They are an important medium for people to connect with emotions and pay homage to them, and are always associated with the good feelings of human beings. People donate gifts. At first, they only stay on simple gifts. With the development of society and the progress of civilization, the simple gifts themselves cannot fully include the content of “gifts,” and excellent packaging can add value to gifts. Added values ​​include "spiritual added value" and "material added value."

From the point of view of spiritual added value, gift wrapping is the only curtain between the gift and the recipient, as if it can send out a visual sound, as if pouring out their hearts to the recipient. That is the heartfelt voice of the gift—the connotation and characteristics of the gift, and the voice of the gift giver—expressing the meaning and affection of the gift giving. It can also stimulate the emotion of the giftee and cause him to respond psychologically. This is much more unexpected than the unpackaged gift at a glance.

From the actual added value, packaging can be preserved after the gift is used. The exquisite craftsmanship can be used as decoration to beautify life; it can be used to hold items or for other purposes. The material properties of the packaging allow the friendship of the gifts to continue and long-term effects on our lives.

Gift packaging from the material, structure, decoration and production process are more elegant than other packaging, pay more attention to the aesthetic packaging, taste and cultural connotation. This may be due to people's sincerity and attention to "courtesy."

The Chinese nation has been a world-famous state of ceremonies since ancient times, and thousands of years of ancient civilization have brewed a long-standing gift packaging culture. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were beautifully decorated sales packages. By the Tang and Ming and Qing Dynasties, the gift packaging process was even more exquisite. In the packaging of utensils, there is no country that uses silk fabrics as a material widely used in China. This is determined by our country’s specific historical culture.

The world is a huge family system. Colorful countries and national cultures have very different signs and connotations. In the long river of history, this unique feature and connotation with strong national and national colors has given rise to distinctive features. Etiquette, etiquette and customs, in a variety of ways in the dance, music, murals, costumes, gifts and so on. Gift packaging is also an artistic expression of the cultural connotations and folklore of all ethnic groups in various countries. It expresses itself in various ways in different countries and regions, and is in various forms.

In the gift packaging of celebrations, weddings, reunions and other traditional customs, we can strongly feel the huge differences in the color, pattern, structure, and decorative style of the East and West gift packaging caused by the differences in the national cultural connotation.

Chinese people admire red color and are quite fond of yellow, orange and other warm colors. In the traditional Chinese concept, red represents celebration and symbolizes warmth, vitality, joy, and enthusiasm. Bright yellow was once a special color for Chinese emperors. In the eyes of the Chinese people, yellow has the meaning of authority, glory, wisdom, and nobleness. Orange symbolizes the meaning of yang, vitality, active happiness and so on. Therefore, during the wedding and the Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival and other traditional festivals, the Chinese people mainly use warm colors such as red, yellow, or orange tones to express the festive atmosphere of joy and warmth. In some southern European countries, yellow and light red mean tacky. In Pakistan, yellow is more hated by nationalists because brahmins wear yellow robes.

Blue means trust, conservation, and idealism in the traditional American concept. Europeans share the same view. In addition, white represents pure, bright, happy, and white in their minds. Therefore, the wedding gift packages presented by Americans are mostly pure, elegant, noble blue or white, to express the blessing of the bride and groom's loyal love.

In the arid Middle East, blue is considered a color from heaven. Therefore, blue and white Chinese porcelain are particularly popular in the Middle East. In Belgium, blue is the color of people's taboo. In Egypt, some people regard blue as a devil.

It can be seen that due to differences in traditional culture, folk customs, and differences in people's sentiments, there is a huge difference in the perception and understanding of color among various nations.

The prominent feature of the Chinese people in gift packaging is the use of auspicious patterns. In traditional Chinese New Year gifts such as the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, we can often see patterns such as “Fei Yue Yue” and “Four Happiness People”; in gift packages for blessings and birthdays, we can often use the meaning of “Turtle Pine Crane” to “longevity.” It symbolizes "long time" with "Heaven and Earth", "More than" with "Fish", and "Rich" with "Peony". Traditional Chinese motifs are rich and colorful. They are usually based on natural imagery or traditional stories. They use metaphorical artistic expressions such as morality, symbolism, falsification, and analogy to express people’s pursuit and hope for a better life. It focuses on auspicious meanings. The connotation is different from the general decorative pattern.

The decorative patterns preferred by each nation have unique style trends due to the differences in regional culture and ethnic temperament. The people of the Nordic countries with a cold climate tend to appreciate the bluish, cold-gray, mostly plant-based, commensurate and symmetrical symmetry patterns; while the hard-tempered, rigorous Germanic people tend to prefer stable colors. Concise lines and patterns; French people advocating aristocratic temperament have a soft spot for the multi-curve, detailed Rococo-style patterns; in Zimbabwe, the people of the Tribes believe that the contrast is strong black, white, red, etc. The color consists of a multi-straight, angular geometric pattern with strong visual perception.

With the development of modernization, all ethnic groups around the world have become more and more closely connected. Rich and varied cultures have influenced and infiltrated each other, and global development has been integrated. This has brought a broader design space to gift packaging. In the style of packaging design, we emphasize a natural, intimate, rustic, healthy and environmentally friendly aesthetic sense. Instead of blindly pursuing over-packaging of luxury and luxury, designers have shown a variety of styles, including commercialization of the city, court etiquette, literary elegance, fashion popularity, and folklore.

In addition to quality assurance, modern social merchandise sales rely heavily on product packaging, and gift packaging is even more so. In the face of colorful world packaging culture, we can only be invincible by establishing our own unique packaging personality. China’s culture is extensive and profound. China’s long history and culture have written on the artistic soul of Huaxia people. Huaxia art has a complete system and rich connotations. It is difficult to find a unique design culture language with a Chinese character that can be accepted by the world. It is difficult. quite big. This requires designers to try to read as much information as possible in Chinese culture and to innovate on the basis of drawing on foreign excellent culture. This is not a problem that can be solved in the short term. It requires our designers to innovate in practice.

We must find a unique design language with a Chinese personality, make excellent gift wraps with a Chinese personality, allow them to permeate the lives of Chinese people and integrate into the world's environment, and bring Chinese traditions to the people of the world. Culture, Chinese people's enthusiasm and friendship, and Chinese people's desire to love peace.

Source: Journal of Shijiazhuang Vocational and Technical College