A package design that’s easy for anyone to understand.
There are countless ways of handling and viewing a package.
Even if a package design seems fine at first glance it can often be difficult to distinguish for people with colorblindness, reading difficulties, vision impairments, or simply an inability to read the language of the product’s target market.
It is said that among the Japanese public in particular, 1 in 20 men and 1 in 500 women are colorblind.
Additionally, there are estimated to be 2 million people who have difficulty distinguishing colors due to aging or some form of visual impairment. That equates to 5 million people who have difficulty distinguishing colors in Japan alone, and that number is said to be increasing in recent years.
In recent years most displays have become reliant on color to convey meaning but this places a lot of unnecessary stress on people with difficulty distinguishing color.
A design which considers the reliable conveyance of information to people through means beyond just color is known as color universal design.
When we at Watanabe Gosando work on a package design, we create designs that consider the needs of many different viewers, including color universal design.
For example, consider the following box design for a beverage which is available in both “lightly sweetened” and “unsweetened” varieties.
It may seem fine at first, but…
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From a Universal Design perspective there are the following problems:
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As an example, you could consider the following changes which would be more easily distinguished by a wider range of people.
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At Watanabe Gosando we are constantly working to improve our understanding of universal design through regular creation of compliant packaging and in-house study sessions.
In addition, we utilize the collective knowledge, experience, and know-how accumulated over our years as a plate maker to design packages which accommodate a variety of viewers. Please feel free to contact us with all of your universal design compliant packaging needs.