Our second annual online survey of "Packaging lessons learned" drew dozens and dozens of helpful, insightful pieces of advice. But we also heard from respondents who shared a different kind of wisdom. I personally got a kick out of some of them and maybe you will, too:
* We have probably had many eureka moments over the years, but I cannot
identify one.
* I subscribe to the work principles to "keep it simple stupid," and
"less is more", learned from others not using these two principles!
* Marketing will change the package until you tell them they no longer
can (known as MISS - Marketing Induced Stress Syndrome).
* Not everyone
holds the correct title—most work below their credentials. I know this
sounds negative, but the reality is that keeping this in the back of my
mind helps me understand why people act as they do.
* High quality, low price, and fast turnaround never meet. You can pick
any two of these but if you try to obtain all three, you will fail.
* I learned that there are many ways to solve a problem, but only one
best way. The trick is that you never know if you're using the best
solution, so keep looking.
* A package redesign takes longer than your
management will be willing to schedule for you.
* One important lesson
I have learned is to make sure you have the correct size of the
contents before making the package.
* Eureka moments are rare and in
fact may be an illusion. Most eureka moments come as a result of
fatigue after a lot of hard work.
* Assume nothing, check once, twice, thrice!
* And this is always one of my favorites: Plan for the unexpected.
* Here is one that as an editor I greatly appreciate: There is no such
thing as proofreading too many times.
