6 Packaging Design Tips

"All roads lead to Rome". This famous proverb can also apply to the design and manufacturing process that leads to the best packaging. Below are 6 creative tips that help showcase various parts of this process.

1. Know Your Target Audience

Understanding and connecting with your target audience is, straightforwardly, an important role in marketing. The packaging must be clear to whom the packaging is addressed and intended for.

2. Share the Necessities

Essentially, the design packaging ensures the transfer of basic information about the product. This includes information such as the contents of the package, a possible ingredient list, perhaps a user manual and a barcode. Depending on the products, serval things are required to include on the packaging. For example, mandatory information such as "expiration date", should stand out clearly.

3. Type of Packaging

The product influences the choice of packaging material and the types of packaging. Packaging material can range from glass, plastic, cardboard, paper to even a combination of. This choice naturally impacts the possibilities for the design. Below we share a few examples of some captivating designs we’ve come across.

4. The Design

Once the type of packaging and packaging material has been decided, the design of the packaging usually follows. This may mean that the entire package would need to be designed or that only part of the package must be designed. In the latter case, think of designing stickers, labels or shrink film labelling that is sealed around the products.
Packaging of the product fulfils different roles. The packaging helps attract (positive) attention towards the consuming market. When the product is offered via a webshop, there are also other fundamental factors involved. It is important that the photo or image of the package communicates sufficiently the purpose of the product. When the item is delivered/ received, the consumer expects that the packaging is giving correct information. Packaging can confirm this by providing relevant knowledge of the product with the appropriate packaging design.
The design needs to match the organization's brand style. This applies to the logo, brand colours and fonts, but also to the photography style and design language. This consistency of brand identity ensures recognition and trust; important aspects when building the relationship with the customer.

5. Explore and Inform

In the complete packaging process, it is helpful to explore how like-brands manages its packaging. What type do they use? How do you want to stand out apart from the rest? Receiving feedback from your customers can also be beneficial: What do they find important about the packaging?
Consider several variants/models in the initial phase and investigate which of these is preferred by the consumer.

6. Quality of Print

A completed design is one thing, but the quality of the design is another. The 1 +1 = 3 principle applies in such a case. Not only does this concern the quality of the print itself, but also the quality of the material on which it is printed. We advise on choosing a quality printer. A printer that can correctly convert the design into the physical packaging or packaging component (stickers or labels).

We hope you find these tips helpful, especially with tip #6. If you have any questions relating to labels or stickers for your product, get in touch with our customer services. We'd be happy to help!