Packaging Design in the Digital Age

E-commerce is a high-impact, growing phenomenon, which interests almost all production sectors. Although the future of this sector is still clouded, it will definitely change consumption patterns, supply chains, competitiveness, and regulations. The design of packaging, products, services and systems for the e-commerce has to face pressing challenges resulting from different logistic requirements and new modes of interaction between sellers and customers. Moreover, the widespread interest in sustainable development is bringing new requirements of sustainability to the sector. The packaging represents a key design issue: its protective role is affected by the logistic evolution of e-businesses; its unboxing function is an important communication strategy; the quality and quantity of packages deeply impact on the sustainability of the system. However, the complexity of e-commerce requires Packaging Design to evolve from a product perspective to a systemic mindset, so as to unveil the potentials of packaging in a radically new context.
The book addresses this complex issue by proposing a dual approach to Packaging Design in the Digital Age: first, the authors offer a critical reading of the sector and its evolution trends, tackling the issue of packaging for e-commerce and the strategies that designers can put in place with a view to sustainable innovation.
Secondly, the book explores the main types of e-commerce system to identify the existing material and immaterial flows and the related problems, from which the authors set out future systemic visions towards sustainable development. Case studies of packaging and e-commerce systems complement the different chapters to offer practical examples of innovation.

Silvia Barbero, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Design at Politecnico di Torino, Department of Architecture and Design. She is a lecturer of Product Environmental Requirements and Systemic Design. In 2005, she co-founded the Observatory of Eco-Pack. Since 2018, she has been the president of the international Systemic Design Association. She is the scientific coordinator of many EU projects about sustainable development and Circular Economy. She has authored numerous books, peer-reviewed articles, and international proceedings.

Amina Pereno, PhD, is a research fellow in Design at Politecnico di Torino, and a lecturer of Product Environmental Requirements. She has been a Lagrange Project fellow at ISI Foundation and a visiting researcher at the Nordic Center for Sustainable Healthcare. She is member of the Observatory of Eco-Pack, and has taken part in many research projects on packaging and sustainability. She has authored many peer-reviewed publications about Systemic Design and sustainable packaging.