Inheritance and Transcendence of Packaging Design

The development of packaging design has been accompanied by the progress of human civilization and culture. In today's society, the application of new technologies and new materials has become an important feature of packaging design. Packaging design in the modern sense largely depends on the improvement of social productivity and the progress of science and technology. It can be said that the development of packaging design is in sync with the development of material civilization. When we quietly entered the 21st century, the era of knowledge economy has sprouted on the land of China, facing the rapid development of science and technology in the world today and the current situation of China's economic growth. More and more talented packaging designers emerged, and packaging designers shouldered the historic mission of creating wealth for social development.

A heritage and beyond

As a new form, the “knowledge economy” has become a global hot spot. Reviewing the era of industrialization, machinery and equipment and raw materials are important resources for economic development. In the age of knowledge economy, knowledge has become an important source of economic development. The design concept embodied should also be consistent with this era. Because of the efficient operation of commercial vision, the public's demand for visual information has been triggered. By occupying people's horizons, the commercial culture of packaging design occupies the commanding heights of the zeitgeist's spirit. In the process of effectively transforming public visual interest in packaging design, the practitioners of packaging design play an important role, and the professional skills of packaging statisticians make They became the new favorite of the public in this commercial game full of profit speculation.

Everyone knows that the visual image can cover almost everything that people know. The use of packaging and decoration art and packaging technology plays a pivotal role in the circulation of commodities. In the era of knowledge economy, under the strong discourse of commercial culture, the practitioners of packaging design must design works that are in tune with the times in order to be acceptable to consumers to adapt to and meet the requirements of the era of knowledge economy. From a cultural point of view, people, society, and nature constitute an organic system of the world. A people-centered living environment has been established. Design activities of any ethnic group are inseparable from specific social and cultural backgrounds, and they cannot be separated from the national spirit that was fostered in the social and cultural environment at that time. The nationality and cosmopolitan nature of packaging design art complement each other. Without the creation of various national design styles and national spirits, a global design culture cannot be formed.

At the same time, as China and the world’s culture have increased their exchanges, a large number of Western design concepts and works have entered our vision. Some short-sighted designers will be drowned out in the huge "West Wind" sound of the Chinese design community. They are just admiring the Western design schools and design masters. However, China's design style and design quality are ignored. It is impossible to study Chinese outstanding and traditional design works while absorbing the essence of Western design, and to learn and carry forward. This is harmful for us to cultivate contemporary packaging designers with a sense of national responsibility and Chinese temperament.

With the advancement of natural sciences and the development of humanities and culture, the philosophy and way of thinking of the “Chinese traditional view of nature” have some similarities with the signs displayed by modern science in terms of world outlook, which has increasingly attracted modern western scientists and philosophers. As well as the artist's interest, the natural and the way of thinking of the two eastern and western tendencies can be combined at a higher level. The conception and expansion of the concept of sustainable development on a global scale has brought about more realistic possibilities for the complementarity and confluence of Eastern and Western cultures.

Therefore, by merging the essence of Eastern and Western cultures and deepening the valuable treasures in Chinese culture and arts, in-depth study and innovation of Chinese ancient and folk art and design can make Chinese culture better packaged. This medium spreads to the world. Inheritance of the culture is vital to innovation. It is only by creating a new form on the basis of absorbing and drawing lessons that can be accepted by consumers in conjunction with the concept of the times. The core of package design in the era of knowledge-based economy is the attitude towards the traditional culture of the nation. Succession and transcendence are the ways to follow the trend.

Inheritance; requires a deep understanding of the national culture (including philosophy, literature, art, folklore, etc.). The so-called nationality of design is not simply to draw one or two Beijing opera masks on the poster and replace the packaging. porcelain. A high-rise building with a sloping roof and the style of the Palace of the Forbidden City’s Palace of Peace and Harmony were directly made into gorgeous culottes. These graphic illustrations and direct references to national styles are too shallow to understand the inheritance of ethnic cultures. The inheritance of the national culture should be based on the truth of its spirit through its form. The “inheritance” requires us to pay more attention to understanding and learning the traditional culture, turning it into a cultivation, and then naturally revealing in the works. Regarding the value orientation of traditional cultural issues, inheritance is the original, and transcendence is its direction. “Transcendence” is to affirm localization in design, but also to be worthy of the traditional barriers, learn more about the connotations of some exquisite designs from abroad, pay more attention to the international aesthetic fashion, and make more use of advanced technological means to rise from the form. Form a dialogue and exchange with the international community.

The relationship between "stylization" and innovation

Many visual arts practitioners have found that in the era of the proliferation of visual information, “stylish” works can well identify the memory for the public, which is in line with the requirements of “effective recognition” and advertising effects in commercial vision operations. Like any commodity that has a full range of formalities, it must have signs and trademarks that indicate its provenance, and the “stylization” of works plays a role in certain trademarks. The personal “style” that many visual arts practitioners emphasize is based on This kind of "visual squatting" has taken hold of the public's visual taste and visual habits from a commercial perspective. The urgency of the "visual peddling" psychology and the development of "style" are often vague and impetuous. The works themselves are not important. The important thing is to make “style” a topic, a strong visual message, a sound that can be hyped by commercial propaganda and propaganda, and then the “style” develops to the middle limit, the author himself Ask the scene to say, even the "style" also exit. This “direct sales” of visual merchandising will eventually lead to the complete commercialization of visual arts, which will result in the loss of its heterogeneity and original spirit.

The history of “stylized” has a long history. In fact, most successful visual art masters have formed their own unique “style”, but this style is not a preset goal, but is a visual experience and cultural infiltration site for many years. Formed, such as Picasso's Cubism, is also formed after years of various periods and absorbing the achievements of the older generation and a large number of artistic practices, but after all, the masters who founded the temple are a minority. In most cases, “style” is a kind of The rediscovery of existing elements and the development of techniques have led to new ways of application. For example, designers are reluctant to use the language of ink to break the plane.

The personal “style” formed by the artist and the designer is understandable. However, once out of the public's curiosity, the “style” created by the artist is only a kind of visual pollution, especially those who are eye-catching and historical metaphors. The "style" borrowed from cultural symbols is a kind of irresponsible behavior that takes "culture" as "background" and loses the basic artistic conscience.

Create a packaging design system with Chinese characteristics

The characteristics of the era of packaging design and nationality are not in contradiction. "Modernization" does not mean "Westernization." "Nationality" does not mean "limitation."

Looking at the course of development of packaging design around the world is related to the cultural and economic background of each country. The packaging design in the UK pays more attention to the inheritance of the Victorian consumer culture of the United Kingdom. The German packaging design is influenced by its rigorous philosophical way of thinking and is full of the traditional features of rational design. The French packaging design presents a unique blend of design and artistic spirit. The Japanese packaging design faced the rapid development of the economy, merging a large number of traditional Japanese visual factors, but also reflects the sense of the times. A group of excellent packaging designers emerged. From the perspective of the development of packaging design in Japan, there are more places worth learning from in the Eastern culture.

Japan's packaging design took more than 30 years to complete the development of the West nearly a century. The unique Japanese style is formed because they are more aware of the importance of promoting the culture and traditions of the nation while absorbing foreign cultures. They have found a suit for the development of domestic packaging design between traditional and modern, eastern and western countries. the way. Therefore, the design of Japan not only has strong characteristics of the times, but also contains profound Oriental cultural spirit. DOLCN.com

The concept of packaging design changes with the changes of people's lives. The rapid development of commodity economy will inevitably impact people's design concepts. On the contrary, advancement of design will also lead the prosperity of commodity economy, such as apparel design, automobile modeling design and even construction. Designs, etc., all play a positive role in the development of society. This requires packaging designers to firmly grasp the pulse of the times, go deep into the life to find design inspiration, establish design ideas, and design ideals, rather than behind closed doors, thinking hard in the bucket room. At present, the current domestic design situation, many designers only pursue the design form of grandstanding, I do not know what to do, even many designers to achieve fame and fortune, keen to participate in major events, take a certain award, and lose their lives The truth understands that without life, there is no design art and this truth will always have meaning.

Paying attention to living, digesting and absorbing the essence of Chinese and foreign excellent cultures and developing self-generated competitiveness to resist Western countries’ cultural and economic aggression is an historical responsibility that our current designers cannot shirk.

The times are improving and the society is developing. The sense of responsibility and urgency in this era forced every designer to think about facing traditional inheritance and borrowing from foreign cultures and facing innovation in a vast space. Entering the 21st century, China's packaging design field is entering a new historical stage, requires more rational thinking, and has a stronger sense of national responsibility. It will prompt Chinese people to create and perfect a new national design system.

Author: Peng Jianxiang (Hengyang Normal University Department of Fine Arts)