How to Design Custom Jewelry Packaging

Today's jewelry packaging design is mainly based on the shape and color use as marketing methods. Jewelry packaging is the external image and first impression left to consumers. So how to design a good jewelry package is extremely important.

Positioning of Custom Jewelry Packaging

Jewelry packaging is different from those of other commodities. Not only is the product itself noble, but its packaging design needs to highlight the brand culture. Jewelry packaging needs to satisfy people's psychological feelings, so the design positioning is usually elegant, gorgeous, expensive, and fashionable. Nowadays, some brands no longer pursues bright colors when designing jewelry packaging. Instead, the minimalist concept  is deemed by some as high-end, classic and timeless. They hold that minimal design will still make sense even after a few decade. 

Visual Appeals of Jewelry Packaging

Jewelry packaging is not only meant for protection of jewelry, but also needs to consider its aesthetics, so that customers can enjoy beauty in jewelry and its packaging, thereby promoting sales. The performance of the visual transmission of jewelry packaging is mainly the combination of text, graphics, colors and other elements, which brings beauty to customers.

To make the jewelry packaging more attractive, you need to start with the color. The color is generally common in the jewelry packaging. Single-color expression is mostly common, using the base color of the material as the main or only color tone, though multi-color expressions also exist. Color will bring different visual responses, and it is necessary to design from the consumer's psychology.

Choice of Jewelry Packaging Materials

Buyer and designers choose the preferred materials according to the brand positioning, design patterns, target markets & consumers, etc. Material must be determined before design work proceeds. And, vice versa, the design patterns affect the use of material. Usually, plastic, cardboard and wood are most common for main structures. Silk, high-grade paper, leather , PU among others or their combinations are used as auxiliary materials. Basically, there are 5 common types of material for jewelry packaging.  

1.  Low-to-mid-end plastic jewelry box

Most of the bulk jewelry boxes packaging on the market are made of plastic. Wrap with a layer of  leatherette paper outside. Such boxes are relatively cheap, generally used in silver jewelries.

2. Cardboard jewelry boxes

The greatest merit of paper & cardboard jewelry boxes may be being more eco-friendly. But they are not firm, nor good for long-term storage, and not necessarily cheaper, either.

3. Flocking jewelry boxes 

Flocking boxes are also made of plastic as the main structure, with surface flocking. They are lighter and look more beautiful. The plastic material is not so perceptible thanks to the velvet lining. Flocking boxes are relatively higher-grade than paper boxes. Also more commonly used for silver and gold jewelries.

4. PU jewelry boxes

Such boxes also use plastic molded structure, wrapped in paper or PU leather. This kind of packaging looks slightly more high-end while the cost is not too high. It is often used by some mid-end customers.

5. Wooden material. 

Solid wood jewelry box belongs to relatively high-end jewelry packaging, generally with solid wood as the main material, paint treatment, many companies use this solid wood jewelry boxes. Minimum quantities required are small, but the production cycle is long and it's much more expensive.

Jewelry packaging's focus has shifted from mere storage and protection in the past to the current integrated role of protection, storage and marketing. Not only the combination of simple shape, text, color matching, but also creates an brand image that impresses, maintain s the credibility and continuity of the brand.

PacZone employs unlimited creativity to create a series of custom jewelry packaging that belongs to your brand..

What do plastic recycle numbers mean? ♲

Plastic is very common in daily life and can be said to be everywhere. Generally, there's a triangle symbol at the bottom of plastic products. This triangle symbol is a plastic recycling symbol, ranging from 1 to 7. Each number represents a different raw plastic material for manufacturing. Therefore, the use varies. That is to say, there are 7 types of plastic in terms of recycling. The following is a brief introduction to the meaning of the 7 types of plastics.

#1 Recycle number "01"-PET (polyethylene terephthalate)

Mineral water bottles and carbonated beverage bottles are made of this material. Beverage bottles cannot be recycled for hot water. This material is heat-resistant to 70°C and is only suitable for warm or frozen drinks. High-temperature liquids or heating are easy to deform, and substances harmful to the human body are dissolved.

#2 Recycle number "02"- HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)

Plastic containers for cleaning products, bath products, and plastic bags currently used in supermarkets and shopping malls are mostly made of this material, which can withstand a high temperature of 110 ℃, indicating that plastic bags for food can be used to hold food.

#3 Recycle number "03"- PVC (polyvinyl chloride)

PVC may be infamous for its harm. The toxic substances easily released by such plastic products mainly come from two sources. One is the single molecule vinyl chloride that has not been completely polymerized in the production process, and the other is the harmful substances in the plasticizer added. These two toxic substances are easily released in presence of high temperatures and fats, and cause cancer when entering the human body with food. At present, containers of PVC has been less used for food packaging. If it is in use, never let it heat up.

#4 Recycle number "04"- LDPE (low density polyethylene)

Packaging materials like plastic wrap, plastic film, etc. are all made of this plastic. It does not have strong heat resistance. Generally, the qualified PE cling film will incur a certain degree of hot melting when the temperature exceeds 110 ℃, leaving some plastic agents that the human body cannot decompose.

#5 Recycle number "05"- PP (polypropylene)

Microwaveable meal boxes are made of this material and are resistant to high temperatures of 130°C. PP is the only plastic box that can go in a microwave oven and can be reused after careful cleaning. When it comes to reusable food contact, PP is highly recommended. 

But PP has its disadvantages, too:

 - High thermal expansion coefficient which limits its high temperature applications. 

 - Susceptible to UV degradation  

 - Poor resistance to chlorinated solvents and aromatics.

 - It is known to be difficult to paint as it has poor bonding properties.

 - High flammability.

#6 Recycle number "06"-PS (polystyrene)

This is the material used to make bowl-shaped instant noodle boxes and foamed snack boxes. It is both heat-resistant and cold-resistant, but cannot be placed in microwave ovens to avoid releasing chemicals under high temperature. Besides, it has high transparency and is relatively fragile.

#7 Recycle number "07"- PC and other categories

PC is a material that is widely used, especially for the manufacture of baby nursing bottles, water bottles, compact discs, etc. However, as it contains BPA (bisphenol A), it has been highly controversial. [BPA is a chemical that proves harmful to human health en environments. People with higher levels of exposure have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, according to some studies.] Experts pointed out that in theory, as long as bisphenol A is 100% converted into a plastic structure in the process of making, the product will be completely free of BPA, let alone releasing. However, if a small amount of BPA is not converted into a plastic structure of PC, it may be released and enter food or drink. Therefore, pay special attention when using this plastic container. After all, no one would risk his own health.

It must be noted that, #7 does not represent PC alone. All "OTHER" plastics that are not listed from #1 to #6 are categorized as #07. 

Cosmetic Packaging Molds Design - Plastic Injection

-- A small cosmetic bottle cap is so complicated to design

Cosmetic packaging produces a rich feeling for consumers, highlights the visual impact, and guarantees the function of the product. Cosmetic packaging can be combined with text, graphics, colors, shapes and a variety of personalized elements to present a variety of styles to meet the modern people's love for beauty and personalized pursuit, simplicity, freshness and elegance. Cosmetic packaging carries multiple meanings in today's packaging market. It can be seen that cosmetic packaging plays an important role in the display and sales process. Diversification, personalization, and refinement are the main development trends of cosmetic packaging in the future.

Fig.1 75ml Moisturizing Gel Cap Design Artwork

Basic appearance requirements of cosmetic packaging:

1. Plastic parts. They must be consistent with the sealed samples. No burrs or sharp edges are allowed. Those defects may cause human injury or affect the functions, or overall appearance.

2. Material requirements. Consistent with the sealed sample, no material replacement is allowed.

3. Flow marks (welding marks). Within one arm's distance from the eyes, not visually obvious.

4. Gap. In comparison with the samples, the gap between the cap and the bottle should not exceed 1mm.

5. Breakout. The breakout should be within the limits, and there should be no obvious scratching feeling when touched by hand.

6. Damage: The container is broken (damaged), or cannot be filled with content inside, compromised function and overall appearance. There should be no depressions, bruises, strains, scrapes, scratches, minor cracks, etc., within one arm's distance from the eyes, it should not be obvious to the eye, it should not affect the product logo, and it should be within the limits.

7. Hygiene: The contact surface is contaminated with foreign substances, impurities, hair, oil, stains, dust and other pollutants (mildew, blood stains, insect pests, etc.).

Graphic printing requirements for cosmetic packaging:

1. Hot Stamping/printing adhesion: Use 3M-810 tape for 1 minute, and then tear it off at a 45°～90° angle quickly. There should be no obvious fall-off or bottom exposure. The font should be clearly visible.

2. Electroplating/spraying adhesion: Use a utility knife to draw 4 to 6 squares with a length of about 0.2 cm on the electroplating/spraying area (scratch the plating/spraying coating), use 3M-810 tape After being stuck to the grid for 1 minute, it is torn off quickly at an angle of 45° to 90°, and it must not fall off.

3. Color difference: The color should conform to the standard sample, and should be uniform, and should not exceed the range of color limit.

4. Surface treatment: electroplating, spraying dotted or linear exposed bottom, pitting, etc., should be within limits.

5. Decoration: The requirements are clear, please note that the content of the manuscript must not be wrong, do not conform to the requirements, and there should be no ghosting of printed text or patterns, uneven edges or jagged edges, missing dots, color dots, etc., which must not affect the overall product appearance and The pattern should be within the limits (color points should not appear on the logo and within 0.5cm near it).

Technical Specifications of the Plastic Cap

Directional deviation: should be <1.5mm. The maximum external dimensions of the 75ML bottle cap products are 23.90±0.25 mm x 26.00±0.20 mm. The average thickness of the plastic parts is 1.65mm. The material of the plastic parts is PP, the shrinkage is 1.015, and the unit weight of the plastic parts is 3.80 grams. 

The technical requirements of plastic parts are that there should be no defects such as burrs, flow lines, pores, warpage, silver lines, cold materials, spray lines, air bubbles and so on. No mold release agent should be used in the molding of plastic parts. The outer cover should be straight, smooth, free from breakage, cracks, and burrs. The color of the outer cover should be uniform. The threaded structure of the outer cover should be intact. The fit of the cap and the bottle should be tight, without slipping or loosening.

Plastic Injection Mold Design

The plastic part is a round bottle cap type plastic part. There is a sealing column with a diameter of 2.15 in the inner center and a taper of 10 on the head. There is a circle of bones near the column to cooperate with the bottle. The bone position plays a strengthening role. There are many shallow grooves evenly distributed on the edge of the cover, which play a role in preventing rotation when the thread is removed. The plastic part has 4.5 internal threads, and the tooth shape is a non-isosceles triangle, see detail D in Figure 1. After analysis, this thread must be fully automatic rotary thread removal, not strong. The production volume of cosmetic packaging materials is huge, so these cosmetic bottle cap molds are multi-cavity molds, generally from 4 to 124 cavities. The number of specific cavities depends on the structure, accuracy, mold structure, presence or absence of the slider core-pulling mechanism, the presence and absence of multiple sub-types and forced demoulding, and the presence or absence of threading mechanisms. It is also related to the production capacity of the injection molding machine, whether it is hot runner molding, or whether it is fully automatic production. The 75ML moisturizing exposed cover mold adopts a mold cavity arrangement of 1 out of 8. The ranking method is 4 per row, and two rows are arranged in a straight line. The way of arranging the mold mainly needs to consider the design of the pouring system and the design of the unthreading mechanism.

Fig.2 Upper part diagram of the 75ML bottle cap mold

Due to the special structure of multi-cavity molds for cosmetic packaging materials, non-standard mold embryos are often required. When designing the mold, try to complete the mold function by adding templates on the basis of the standard mold base as much as possible. The non-standard mold embryo is 2330, and the moving mold adds two layers of templates to design and place the gear mechanism. The gate of the plastic part is a horn gate, which is a variation of the latent gate. The gate position is at the bottom of the edge of the bottle cap. The advantage of the horn gate is that the gate trace is small and does not affect the appearance of the plastic part. It can be automatically cut off when it is ejected, and the automatic separation of the plastic part and the runner condensate is realized, which is convenient for automatic injection molding.

Fig.3 Lower part diagram of the multi-cavity cap mold

For multi-cavity molds of cosmetic packaging materials, due to the large production volume, there are often requirements for injection molding cycles. In the case of a thread-releasing mechanism, the injection cycle of 10 ~ 15S is a common requirement. If the hot runner system is used for injection molding, the injection cycle may be shortened. The water transport circuits of the front and rear molds must be designed sufficiently, and the water transport must surround the circumference of each cavity insert to meet reasonable requirements. Another key link of the multi-cavity mold is the machining accuracy. The concentricity of the holes of each template must be within 0.015 in order to maintain the concentricity of the plastic parts. When the concentricity is out of tolerance, the front and rear molds are eccentric, and the wall thickness of the plastic parts will be uneven. After assembly, the bottle cap and the bottle body will have a large gap, and the phenomenon of scraping will occur, which will seriously affect the quality of the product. The dimensional tolerance of the insert in each hole is also within 0.015, making it interchangeable. The processing of the thread core of the movable mold should be noted that the design of the fixture to grind the screw teeth to the size can have high surface roughness requirements, to avoid manual polishing to deform the thread and cause the demoulding rotation to be uneven.

Fig.4 Cosmetic packaging mold design artwork

The mold adopts hydraulic motor thread removal mechanism to realize automatic thread removal. The hydraulic motor model is BM-R100. The hydraulic motor drives gear C (key 26) through the large gear 21 on it, and then drives the adjacent four gears A (key 13). Gear A then drives two gears B through the gear B drives another 4 gears A. The entire design is compact and the transmission efficiency is high. After the parting surface is opened, the plastic part is separated from the fixed mold, and the hydraulic motor drives the gear mechanism to rotate, which finally drives the rotating core 12 to rotate. At the same time, the push plate is springed up by 17mm under the action of the spring 8, limited by the plug screw 7 . The anti-rotation rings A and B on the push plate push the plastic parts out of the movable mold core.

Fig.5 Plastic injection molding design

To facilitate the processing of horn runners, the rotation stop ring is divided into A and B semicircles. A dynamic inner mold 34 and a dynamic inner mold insert 35 are designed at the bone position inside the plastic part, and a thimble is added inside to play a good exhaust effect, and a cooling circuit is designed. Rotor core material adopts DC53, heat treatment HRC56-58, rotor core and movable inner mold 34 only contact at both ends, in order to seal at the top, the bottom is contacted by self-lubricating bearings, and the middle is all evacuation section, which can avoid burning in motion dead. All moving parts and their mounting holes must guarantee machining accuracy.

The merit of the horn gate is that the gate trace is small and does not affect the appearance of the plastic part. It can be automatically cut off when it is ejected, and the automatic separation of the plastic part and the flow channel condensate is realized, which is convenient for automatic injection molding. Attention should be paid to the processing of the thread core of the movable mold. Designing the fixture to grind the screw teeth to the size can have high surface roughness requirements, avoiding manual polishing to make the thread.

Watch Storage Ideas - Plastic Boxes

Watches mean much more than timepieces, oftentimes they imply the class and identity of the wearers. Thus watches are significant must-haves to many people. Some people even possess more than one watch. Hence, arise the issue of watch storage.

At the very beginning, wooden boxes might be the only choice for watch storage. Later on, materials like leather, cotton, plastic and paper etc. become alternatives to watch lovers. 

Purposes of Watch Storage

Before we can dive into the topic, let's make clear the basic purposes and and main functions of watch storage. (1) Protection from damaging. Needless to say, safety is always the foremost of all. (2) Dust prevention. Watches are precision instruments, but dust may compromise them. Thus when in long storage, they must be kept from dust. (3) Easy to locate. Everyone may have the experience of losing the whereabouts of things, you don't expect this happens to your lovable watches. A good storage box will help a lot to this end. (4) Displaying. We can see through the boxes and display them somewhere even when we put them in storage. (5) Damp-proof. To some, this is also a necessary measure to take on their watches.

Plastic Watch Storage ideas

This article is going to focus on plastic watch storage ideas. And all of the below mentioned are for single watch storage only.

1. Classic watch storage box with flocking

2. Stylish Display Watch Box with Clear Cover

3. Luxury Watch Box for Men

4. Airtight Waterproof Watch Storage Boxes

5. Puzzle-style Personalized Watch Storage Boxes of Bright Colors

6. Lightning-shaped Long Watch Band Case

There's a long list, will update later. Do you like them, or do you have other good watch storage ideas? Please leave your comments.