Commercial Printing: A Spectacular DVD Package Design

Seeing a sample of quality design and commercial printing can be a moving experience. I know this is just custom printing, and I shouldn’t get carried away, but I recently saw a video box at my fiancee’s mother’s house that was simply in a class by itself. I thought it might be of interest to you from both a design and a production standpoint.

A Description of the Video Case

My fiancee’s mother is 99, and one of the things my fiancee and I like to do is find movies for her in thrift stores. Her mother loves watching videos. We recently found a DVD for To Kill a Mockingbird with Gregory Peck that had a beautiful, classy CD case.

The first thing you notice when you pick up this DVD case is its heft. It’s heavy and well crafted, and this gives a sense of dignity and seriousness to the box. The interior presentation is a triptych, with the left and center panels covered with two thick, transparent plastic disc holders, thermoformed with recessed wells to hold the two DVDs. Even the four wells around each DVD, included so the viewer can easily grasp and lift out the discs, are sturdy. There is nothing flimsy about this case.

The CDs are nicely but simply printed, presumably via custom screen printing, since the ink is thick and has a bit of texture. The three-color treatment is subtle but effective. The main text is black over a white background with a pattern of lighter, gray type that seems to have been taken directly from the print book version of To Kill a Mockingbird.

On the rightmost panel is a sleeve that wraps around vertically. It is open on two sides (left and right), and it is attached to the base art. The sleeve contains an envelope in which 4-color promotions for other videos have been inserted. These have been printed on thick cover stock, continuing the overall air of opulence reflected by the entire DVD package. Moreover, the designer included die cut thumb tabs to allow the viewer to reach in and easily grasp and remove the envelope.

Under the two plastic DVD holders is a full-bleed, sepia-toned montage of images from the movie. This provides a dated look to the package, which is appropriate given the subject matter. At the exterior margins (the perimeter of the box), this photo montage covers the turned-edges of the fabric on the three exterior panels of the DVD package, giving a rough feel to the overall box presentation. But interestingly enough, the product designer has used extra-heavy binder’s boards under the turned edge cover fabric. When all panels are folded up, the DVD box has heft. It feels good in the hand, since it weighs about as much as a case-bound book. This seems particularly fitting, since the movie includes trial scenes, and the overall packaging of this DVD case has the feel of a law book.

Finally, there is a tip-on page attached to the back panel. It contains supplementary promotional information printed on a thick, gloss coated sheet (probably 100# text), affixed to the main box with fugitive glue.

What You Can Learn from This Case Study

1. 1. More than anything, this DVD package exudes quality, seriousness, and durability. So I would encourage you to consider the relationship between form and function in whatever you design, be it a print book, a brochure, or a product package. If the subject matter has an air of gravitas, make sure this is reflected in both the creative design and the materials from which the printed case is made. Subconsciously, the feel of a product tells the reader or viewer as much as the creative print design.

1. 1. This goes double for any promotional product. The To Kill a Mockingbird DVD case is essentially an advertisement. How it looks and how it feels will either sell the DVD or not. If it feels flimsy, it probably won’t pique the viewer’s interest as much, and a sale will have been lost. In your own promotional custom printing work, keep the sales goal in mind. Make sure the printed package reflects the quality of the item it contains.

1. 1. A DVD box has to be durable. Presumably, the viewer will want to keep the DVDs for years. Using binder’s boards that will not warp and plastic DVD holders that will not crack or chip makes good business sense.

1. 1. To Kill a Mockingbird was a print book before it was a movie. Therefore, it makes good design sense to have text on the cover art for the DVD discs themselves. In your own package design work (or any design work for that matter), find ways to tie the design into the meaning/tone/purpose of the printed piece. Consider color, typefaces, paper surfaces, and paper coatings. Each of these will either reinforce or detract from the meaning or purpose of the product. Make sure the tone of the subject matter and the design presentation are congruent.

1. 1. Product packaging is an advertisement. If it is well done, it will sell the next set of discs as well as the first. Keep this in mind when you’re designing anything. The look and feel of marketing materials either supports or detracts from the “brand.”

1. 1. Use appropriate printing technology. In the case of To Kill a Mockingbird, the custom screen printing on the DVD discs themselves gives an air of opulence to the product because of the thick, tactile ink. Other approaches to decorating the discs might have used thinner ink, which would have detracted from the overall effect. Keep this in mind when you design anything. Think about the difference between an inkjet printed garment, for instance, and one that has been decorated with thick, custom screen printing ink. The ink sits up on the surface of the product. You can feel it when you run your hand across the t-shirt or hat. Even a print book with a soft-touch cover coating that feels good to the reader’s hand will make an impression.

1. 1. People like to participate in a design. The tip-on advertisement on the back of the DVD case can be peeled off and repositioned because of the fugitive glue. Most people like this sort of thing.

1. 1. Be opulent where appropriate, but make sure you also understand the overall cost plus your budget. Clearly this product package was expensive to produce compared to a simple plastic case. But it will last through many viewings, and each time it will make a favorable impression. You have to ask yourself whether it’s worth it. In many cases the answer will be yes. In some cases, no.

1. Complex print jobs like the To Kill a Mockingbird DVD case cannot be printed by all vendors. Make sure your print vendor has the right equipment and knowledge to successfully execute the specialty binding work, die cutting, or coating work. Ask your commercial printing supplier for product samples to make sure you’re satisfied with his skill and to ensure the success of your custom printing project.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2018 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Packaging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.