Packaging design performs a number of simple tasks: it enables distribution and storage; it packages a product in an efficient and effective format; it tells consumers what the product is and helps them understand how to use it. Yet this belies the huge number of factors that effect the ultimate packaging solution. What is Packaging Design? explores the myriad issues that determine a client's brief, and influence the designer's approach. What is Packaging Design? deconstructs the component parts of packaging design. It discusses how each component -- such as structure, information layout and hierarchy, photography and illustration, and finishes -- are used in isolation and in relation to each other. It also demonstrates the rich and varied approaches to packaging design, and how designers are constantly seizing new technological solutions to clients' needs. Packaging design is practiced by an eclectic group of designers. Some are part of very large consultancies operating globally, while others work individually, for specific markets, countries, or from within an in-house design team. This book concludes with an analysis of a diverse group of designers who demonstrate how stimulating and creative packaging design can be -- thinking outside the box.