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Tongue-in-cheek packaging advice

A sampler of some of the more amusing responses from our new More Packaging Lessons Learned survey and report appearing in our July issue.

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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.

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