The Art of Package Design

MULTI-LANGUAGE PACKAGING
guage design.
You can use your design to support a multi-language message.
Different colors or tones can be used to identify languages.
Certain features can be called out with icons instead of text.
Another reason to keep your messaging simple is the length
of translated text. Most languages use 25% to 30% more space
than English. Korean and Japanese will use less.
If your package contains more than one language then you
will need translation. Use a company with professional translation
services. They should have translators that are native to each
language and preferably live in those regions. As we mentioned,
the same language can be different in different regions, such as
Spanish in Europe vs. Latin America, Portuguese in Portugal
vs. Brazil, French in France vs. Canada. Expressions and words
can be different. For example, when translating “markers” into
Spanish, some regions will use “marcador” and some will use
“rotulador”. So use a translator that is a native speaker in the
language and region you are targeting. Ideally a translator creating
French text for Quebec will live in the region, and not, for
example, in Kansas!
Don’t simply give the translator a Microsoft Word document
to translate. Let them see the final English box in its entirety
so they can understand the context and meaning of what they
are translating. Sometimes, when we receive a translation we
may have trouble fitting it into the space needed. A short English
phrase may become a long multi-word sentence in another
language. So we send it back to the translator showing where
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