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Design in the Wild : Seagate FreeAgent Packaging
Generally, the packaging for computer hardware isn’t something to get excited about. In fact, it’s usually just the stuff standing between you and the thing you are excited about.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, once you’ve parted with your money you’re on your own. The brightly coloured exterior soon abandons you, leaving you in the care of squeaky polystyrene and a badly photocopied warranty sheet.
If you’re anything like me, by the time you’ve hacked your way through vacuum-formed plastic that would foil a professional safe-cracker, you’re seriously annoyed, and possibly sporting some nasty lacerations.
Apple is the obvious exception to this life of misery. Their packaging succeeds in adding even more perceived value to an already beautiful product, with the sort of well considered construction and usability that Jonathan Ive himself would be proud of.
Yesterday, I finally came across an excellent piece of computer hardware packaging that doesn’t originate in the House of Jobs.
The packaging of Seagate’s external hard drive, the FreeAgent, is an event in itself. Everything, from the clean graphics to the humourous, personable copywriting works brilliantly, and clearly owes a large debt of gratitude to the boys from Cupertino.
The FreeAgent’s packaging isn’t just a well-executed rip-off though. Whereas Apple’s packaging is deliberately reverential, encouraging the sort of idol-worship that mystifies non-Mac users, Seagate instead chooses to humanise their product right from the outset with gently humourous copywriting.
The reason this works so well is that – as with Apple – it’s not just some clever words slapped onto the same old product. The writing style appears borne out of the FreeAgent’s easy set-up procedure, something that the instructions play on by including a time-estimate (in seconds) for each stage of the process.
Times may also vary if you’re so excited you go and get your camera.
Even the disclaimer for these timings is executed with wit and charm, as you are informed that “times may vary depending on how excited you are.”
The thing about great packaging like this, is that it predisposes me to look favourably upon the product itself, simply because I’ve had a good time unveiling it.
For the investment of a few thousand pounds in decent packaging design and copywriting, and a few additional pennies per product, Seagate have ensured that their customers greet the FreeAgent with open arms, rather than open wounds.
There can be few greater returns on investment.