If you’ve previously owned or purchased an iPhone there’s a good chance that the case that your the phone came in remains located in the storeroom or cabinet or on a shelf within your room.While you wouldn’t be able to do similar things with packing of other types and with the case of an iPhone it’s a different feeling and for some, it’s even a mystery. If you’re someone who feels guilty about the feeling of having to keep things in a box there’s no reason to feel alone. I’m guilty of this too.However this week while surfing Twitter I came across some tweets that attempted to explain the reason why we are like this when we have an unfinished box of phones that do nothing until the phone and accessories have been removed from it. In iPhone Packaging; In his series of tweets, in one Trung Phan, the journalist explained what was going on in the background to create the conditions that make us feel and behave as we are now.
Patents on iPhone packaging
Phan says that the time that Steve Jobs presented his first iPhone for the public in 2007, Jobs disclosed his company filed or granted more than 200 patents related to the phone, and one of those patents was related to the packaging the phone was sold in.In iPhone Packaging,
Hours spent making the design of the packaging
In a discussion with Steve Jobs Biographer Walter Isaacson, (highlighted by 9to5Mac) Apple’s Chief Design Officer at the time, Jony Ive, shared how both Jobs and Ive spent many hours thinking about how the gadgets were packaged.He stated, “Steve and I spend many hours working in the design of packaging. I am awestruck by the process of unpacking a product. It is a process of unpacking it to make the item feel unique. Packaging can be theater It can be a stage for the feeling of a story.”
Unboxing an experience
Lashinsky describes, “To fully grasp how deeply Apple executives are occupied with the smallest details, consider that for months, a packaging designer was huddled in the room, performing one of the most basic of tasks, which included opening boxes.”The book explains the fact that this is what can make it an extremely enjoyable and satisfying experience opening a box for a smartphone to the very first time (even even if the person doesn’t own the device). The space that gives the experience is usually packed with hundreds of prototype boxes designed by the Apple’s designer.
The positioning of earphones, chargers, documents and even the phone itself is meticulously set to give users a great experience that is not even realized until the phone is turned on. In iPhone Packaging. Tabs that are easy to peel make the experience more enjoyable. Lashinsky further describes how Apple can bring out the intense emotion “One after the other designer came up with and tried out an endless array of arrows, colors, and tapes to create a small tab that reveals to consumers how to remove the transparent, full-bleed sticker, which is attached to the front of the iPod box. Making it perfect was the primary goal of this designer.”
Multi-sensory experiences
Trung Phan refers to this as an immersive experience that includes multiple sensory elements, where buyers first look at the box and feels the touch when the box moves and then can hear the sound of air flowing out from it.And this could cause anyone to wonder if they’ve put so much time and effort into creating the packaging. The amount they’d have spent to for the product is awe-inspiring!
