Packaging Design of OTC Drugs (1)

(Abstract) In combination with the packaging design of children's OTC (over-the-counter drug) drugs, the current status of OTC drug packaging design in China was analyzed, and the design ideas and design steps of OTC drug packaging were discussed. The article points out that in the design of OTC drug packaging, it is necessary to focus on the design concept, consumer groups and consumption positioning.
Keywords: OTC drugs; packaging design

With the promotion of OTC drugs, drug manufacturers are increasingly focusing on the packaging design of drugs. When consumers purchase OTC drugs, they can consider comprehensively according to factors such as drug efficacy, appearance of the product, and whether it is convenient to carry. There is a large choice for consumers. Compared to RX (prescription drug) packaging, OTC drug packaging has been given more sales features, so OTC drug packaging design should pay more attention to drug development. However, by investigating the pharmaceutical markets in Shanghai and Jiangsu, the author believes that China's OTC drug packaging design lags behind that of similar foreign products, and OTC drugs are often used for packaging with little ulterior motives. This article combines the design practice of a kind of Pediatric Clearing Oral Liquid Packaging in Shandong Pharmaceutical Company, analyzes the characteristics of OTC drug packaging design, market positioning, packaging structure, packaging and decorating to the use of pharmaceutical crystals, promotion and other aspects. At the same time, on the author's design practice, the design procedure of OTC drug packaging was discussed.

1 OTC drug packaging design ideas
The main sales environment for OTC drugs is pharmacy or supermarket shelves, and it is a direct-to-consumer product. There are two issues that should be considered when designing a package. One is the use of OTC drugs, and the other is to fully consider the requirements of drug manufacturers. In the design, the structure of the inner and outer packaging of the medicine (even designing a special safety structure) and the visual decoration effect of the packaging surface should be determined around the consumers. Combining the characteristics of drugs, the choice of internal and external packaging materials is considered, and the structural feasibility of packaging is considered in conjunction with the processing technology. The interior and exterior packaging should be uniformly designed and reliable. The decoration design and text labels should conform to the relevant national laws and regulations.

2 OTC drug packaging design steps
Based on the above-mentioned design concepts, according to the requirements of customers, the form and characteristics of the drugs, and the special properties of the packaging materials, the following steps can be used to carry out the design.
2.1 Preliminary investigation
Pre-design surveys include market research and relevant regulations and design specifications. Understand the requirements of different performance drugs for packaging materials and packaging, taboos for children's drug packaging, and issues that should be noted. The user's opinions and suggestions on typical pharmaceutical packaging should be classified and analyzed for common packaging and design information of similar drugs.
Drugs are special products related to the national economy and the people's livelihood. Their packaging designs must comply with relevant national laws and regulations and local laws and regulations. For example, for packaging materials, packaging materials and containers that require direct contact with pharmaceuticals must meet the requirements of pharmaceuticals, meet the standards for the protection of human health and safety, and be examined and approved by the drug regulatory authority when approving drugs. Pharmaceutical manufacturers must not use unapproved direct contact with packaging materials and containers. The opponent's surface decoration design requires that the same company, the same specifications of the same drug, its packaging, label format and color must be the same, can not use different labels. In this way, the basic design principles can be determined in conjunction with market research.
2.2 Analysis of product features and packaging requirements
Drugs as a special commodity, its quality is directly related to the health of the human body, and its packaging must be unique in ensuring the effectiveness and safe use of drugs. OTC crystal packaging is close to the general consumer crystal, so it requires a scientific and reasonable packaging structure, easy to use; outsourcing with a larger design to play in space; packaging on the display of pharmaceutical ingredients, methods of use, contraindications, toxic side effects, storage conditions, The commercial and medical information displayed in terms of shelf life, drug lot number, etc. need to be clear, detailed, accurate, and strictly in line with the national medical and health regulations. Also pay attention to adjust the font, spacing, color and other aspects of the packaging to achieve user-friendly.
Based on the above design requirements, care should be taken in the design of pharmaceutical packaging:
a . The packaging of OTC drugs combined with some of the characteristics of sales packaging, the design focus should be on the internal and external packaging structure and exterior packaging design. Especially for the characteristics of the children and their parents who are using the objects, more effort should be devoted to the design, structure and decoration of the packaging.
b . In view of the safety of drug use, in line with the "people-oriented" principle (especially for children), CRP, TEP and anti-counterfeiting packaging are designed.
c . The use of OTC drugs does not require the guidance of doctors, and the literature makes strict regulations on the textual content of drug packaging. Therefore, the text on the box should be fully specified.
2.3 Planning, screening, and modifying design plans
The customer's opinions, regulatory requirements, and the designer's own perception of the product from different perspectives are taken as the yardsticks for designing the design, and a number of proposals that meet the design requirements are proposed, and finally the selection and modification are made. The final determination of the plan requires further coordination and communication with the customer, expounding the design concept, and repeatedly modifying the product design in an effort to achieve mutual satisfaction.
2.4 Internal and external structural design of the product
According to the customer's specific design requirements, combined with the packaging material processing characteristics of the inner packaging design. The product is a Chinese medicine decoction and its color is dark brown. In order to reduce the visual discomfort, translucent PE is selected as the inner packaging material. Due to the limitation of processing technology, special-shaped bottles are difficult to be produced by high-speed mechanization. Therefore, the idea of ​​bottle-shaped structure design cannot be limited to attracting children. The adaptability of production lines and the safe packaging of children's medicines should also be considered. Bottle body molding using extrusion blow molding method. The raw materials must be colored and the color is milky white. The raw materials need to be added with UV absorbers, antioxidants, and zinc oxide to improve their weather resistance. The structure of the bottle cap is selected with the form of a burglarproof ring, and its structure is designed as a composite form. The inner lid is provided with a colored cap-shaped ornament, which can arouse children's interest. Bottle inner lid and decorative lid materials are made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene (PP) and molded by injection molding. Bottle holders are vacuum-formed with PVC or PE.

In order to reduce costs and increase production efficiency, the box type of the outer package adopts a tubular folding carton that is easy to realize automatic production, has less material consumption and is simple in appearance. (To be continued)