Take the mature route with new technology

While I don’t want to dismiss the benefits of new developments such as chameleon film or augmented reality outlined in your recent feature (Packing a Punch, DW 12 August), why is it designers are so reluctant to draw upon more mature technology such as animated visual effects, commonly known as VFX?

Perhaps more education is needed to raise awareness that its incorporation could simultaneously reduce their carbon footprint, improve cost-effectiveness and allow for greater consumer interaction?

The benefits of using VFX throughout the design process are numerous. As the effects are created using CAD data prior to production, amendments to the design require minimal effort and accumulate no material waste in failed prototypes.

Furthermore, the flexibility of VFX technology enables the models to be transferred across multiple media channels and marketing assets, and in the process reduces energy consumption and ensures brand consistency.

From a consumer perspective, companies can, for example, create virtual customisers so that people can dynamically engage with their products before production has even begun.

Surely, in order to yield more efficient and innovative design practice, technology like this needs to be exploited more by contemporary packaging designers, in conjunction with the latest ’fashionable’ processes?

Danny Morris, Account director, Speedshape UK, by e-mail