Page 64 - Packaging News magazine November-December 2022

DESIGN
Passion for
packaging
design
Packaging design agency Mela Creative celebrates three decades in business this year and gives Colleen Bate a glimpse at its past, present and future successes.
REFLECTING ON THE company’s 30-year journey, Mela Creative’s founders Emanuel and Rosanna Mazzucco
recognise how their passion for pack- aging design has illuminated the business’s evolving path.
The company started from humble beginnings when the young Emanuel Mazzucco became sole trader of Mela Graphic Design in Pyrmont. Within four years the graphic design business had evolved to a partnership named RJA Mela, relocating to Camperdown, and almost 10 years later, rebranded as Mela Creative, the family-owned packaging design agency it is today, which is made up of a team of four.
“In 2018 we created a fresh new look for our brand which coincided with a move to our current studio in Alexandria,” says Rosanna, who moved over to the business in 2000. “Since the beginning, creative thinking and a pas- sion for design have been at our core. We live by the ethos that creativity grows organically from an idea or seed, which inspired our brand name. Our name, Mela, is Italian for apple and our logo represents the seeds at its core,” she explains.
Helping brands become category leaders is one of Mela Creative’s achieve- ments and Rosanna attributes this to the company’s practice of gaining in- depth knowledge about the category of the brand, and to find an attractive, interesting, and unique way for the brand to gain strong on-shelf presence.
With their long and extensive experi- ence in packaging, the Mazzuccos are at the forefront of the latest trends, so it
was logical for them to create an eBook entitled 7 ways to improve your pack- aging design and make your product fly off the shelf, which as the name suggests highlight the factors that con- stitute good packaging design.
“We sat down and worked out the seven things that constitute good packag- ing design, and of the seven, I believe that colour is the biggest thing that stands out on the shelf – it’s been documented that 93 per cent of consumers shop on colour and are attracted to a product that is visually attractive on the shelves. If you don’t get your colour right, it just won’t work. You’ve got to have colour that defines your brand and distinguishes it from other products. The easier you make it for the consumer to see the prod- uct, the less inclined they will be to move onto the next,” Rosanna says.
As sustainability has become a key factor in packaging design, Mela
Mela Creative is noticing
a trend towards flexible packaging, with the need for pouch packs for food and other industries growing steadily.”
Above: (l-r) Mela Creative’s design lead Belle Makarasen, directors Emanuel and Rosanna Mazzucco, and designer Chia Goh.
Left: The e-book highlights the factors that constitute good packaging design.
Creative is noticing a trend towards flexible packaging, with the need for pouch packs for food and other indus- tries growing steadily.
“Packaging not only protects the product but must also be sustainable, and sometimes it works while other times it doesn’t. Since there are so many companies on the sustainability bandwagon these days, we are seeing a lot of experimentation with slightly different forms of packaging in the industry. New packaging methods are emerging, which involve a lot of trial and error before being introduced to the market,” says Rosanna, pointing out that Mela Creative tries to choose paper and card from recycled stock, and sustainable inks as often as possible.
“This is not always within our control, as we sometimes deal with customers who manufacture their products over- seas and have their own production line.”
64 ❙ NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2022
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