Packaging information architecture

The information architecture of a pack decides not which messages to include, but in what order the eye should meet them: what catches the eye, what builds trust, what answers the questions — and all of it without the mandatory content competing with the brand's own message. Dozens of messages fight for space on a pack, and each matters in its own way — without order they simply compete with each other instead of working together.

On the shelf you have about three seconds. Three different conversations happen in them: recognition (what is this), persuasion (why this one) and verification (ingredients, weight, best-before date). Get the order wrong and the shopper fails at the first and never reaches the third.

The hardest are categories with a lot of mandatory information — on craft beer, regulation takes up a good part of the label. The job then isn't to hide it, but to give it its proper place so it doesn't steal attention from what sells.

Related terms: Packaging design, SKU design system, Typography.