The thesis examined minimalism and visual abundance as two opposing stylistic approaches in packaging design. The purpose of the research was to determine how these two approaches affected perceptions of packaging and whether their characteristics differed across product categories. The research focused on cosmetic products and beverages, as packaging in both categories plays an important communicative and sales-related role, communicating in different ways.
In the theoretical part, the characteristics of minimalism and visual abundance were presented in the context of fine art, graphic design, and packaging design. In the experimental part, an analysis of selected existing packaging examples from the cosmetics and beverage industries was conducted. The analysis considered the colour palette, typography, quantity of visual elements, composition, hierarchy of information, decorativeness, and the overall impression of the packaging. Based on the findings, two fictional brands were created: Clearly for a cosmetic product and Energio for a canned beverage. Two packaging solutions were designed for each brand: a minimalist version and a visual-abundance version. The design solutions were created using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop and were later evaluated through a survey questionnaire.
The results showed that the minimalist packaging of the cosmetic product was more often perceived as clearer, more trustworthy, and of higher quality. In the case of the beverage, the packaging based on visual abundance was perceived as more noticeable, energetic, and more effective in communicating the flavour. It was concluded that the effectiveness of packaging does not depend solely on the number of visual elements used, but primarily on the relationship among the stylistic approach, product type, target audience, and brand message.
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