Gift wrapping adds a lovely personal touch to the art of gift-giving, signaling to a special friend or loved one that you put your heart and soul into every step of the process. The wrapping of gifts adds value to the present—the better the wrapping, the better it attracts. The neatly wrapped gifts raise the expectation of the gift inside. Over the years, there has been an epic revolution in the industry of packaging. Gifts wrapped in paper, cloth, and ribbons but now seen in colorful varieties and stylish luxury boxes.
Hy-Sill Manufacturing, the first American gift wrap manufacturer, was founded in 1903 by Eli Hyman and Morris Silverman. Wrapping presents wasn’t as simple back then as it is now. Because the self-adhesive tape wasn’t produced until 1930, early gift wrappers had to rely on the string and sealing wax to keep wrapped parcels intact.
One of the essential Indian fests of the year, Diwali celebrates a togetherness of joy and love, marked by the victory of good over evil. But this is mostly forgotten. Indians now gravitate towards their roots and celebrate the festival with loved ones by exchanging gifts. Gift-giving to friends and relatives or dear ones on their birthdays, marriage, and other functions have become a significant trend, as in many cultures.
Gifting trends during Diwali bring a drastic change in the packaging system. Everybody has to do premium packaging to attract the customer. As the holiday approaches, the market will be decked in festive hues. Edible products, a staple of Indian festivals, are trending. Sweets packaging, chocolate packaging, dry fruit packaging, and many more will be in fancier combinations of luxury boxes.
The gift boxes of sweets and foods must resemble the packs of high-end articles like gold and diamond jewelry, fashionable gear, opulent writing equipment, even electronic products, and cables. There must be doors and windows that close magnetically – the possibility of an unboxing experience.
Mixing metaphors and packaging materials and formats
The variety of sweets and chocolate brands increasingly mix flavors. At first, known for sweets but Haldiram’s is now famous for its own branded chocolates, bread, and cakes. New metaphors of sweets emerge from Haldiram, such as Chocolate Aam Papad Burfi and Moong Barfi in contemporary and elegant packs. As it crosses boundaries, Haldiram’s has a unique packaging style that combines the traditional cane baskets with the new boxes, jars, and tins inboxes.
photo IFB
Similar to the variety of flavors and textures, the packaging mixes metaphors of design, materials, and formats – paper, board, mono cartons, corrugated cartons, luxury boxes, tins, glass, and plastic jars and baskets of wood and cane, and plastic films. Everything must be visible through a window of either flexible film or plastic.
Shops and outlets combine flavors, products, and formats where each gift pack resembles a house with several layers or floors to enhance the luxury quotient of the present. Haldiram’s, Bikanervala, Brijwasi, and other outlets are making their premium gifts with boxes in boxes – lightweight boxes, metal packaging, zip-lock packaging, corrugated carton packaging, and many more.
The see-through element is vital for selecting the gift and for its consumption – and, hopefully, its re-use. The box sometimes looks like a jewelry box or a house with a massive picture window. Or a jewelry case with clear boxes and compartments for the arrangement of each delicacy. All that is left are the ribbons, the chunnis with gold and silver, and the branded paper carry bag for the last few steps of complete ostentation.
