How many times is the average college student asked “what is
your major?”
The answer: too many, far too many.
After telling someone what my major is, I'm almost always asked to explain it. That's a lot of explaining. Packaging was recently introduced as an undergraduate degree
and is not an option at many universities, being the main reason for its
incorrect preconceptions. Most people without knowledge of this
field assume that it relates to the handy-man work of boxing and shipping products, I can’t even begin to express how inaccurate that is.
This major is just about as broad as can be; because of this, the typical things that workers say/do/like/dislike can
vary accordingly. In order to justify the incorrect preconceptions and gain insight on workers’ interests, I took a look at “Packaging Technology:
Fundamentals, Materials and Processes” and created three character traits
most of these professionals might express in their work and what aspect of
packaging it relates to:
Efficient: Time-efficiency, cost-efficiency, and
purpose.
Packaging professionals that use these traits in their work are
typically found on the supply side of the packaging process. (supply side = technical/scientific/engineering/manufacturing)
Ex: Creating a package that can be produced quickly and inexpensively without too much trouble.
Unique: Appearance-based, attraction, relevance,
culturally involved.
Packaging professionals that use these traits in their
work are typically found on the design side of the packaging process. These types
of jobs focus on creating a model that grabs the consumer’s attention and triggers the consumer's emotions.
Ex: Tide Pods have a package that reflects the look of the
actual product, giving consumers an image reference to what they’re buying.
Awareness: Safety, protection, ethicalness.
Packaging
professionals that use these traits in their work typically want to create a
model that will protect the product at all costs. Of course the package needs protection from being broken, but it also needs to keep account of the product's ability
to exposure of certain levels of temperature, humidity, oxygen, and acidity. Many
packaging professionals find their best success when being over
analytical.
Sources Cited
Packaging
Technology: Fundamentals, Materials and Processes.
Cambridge: Woodhead Pub., 2012. Print.
