Packaging keeps the things we value organized and protected. Whether it’s a pack of M&M’s, your favourite cookies, or a bottle of beer, without packaging, we will all be disorganized and with no way to keep things preserved. So, what is product packaging?

Product packaging refers to the process of designing the exterior of a product. Traditionally, product packages are designed with the product in mind. Now, product packaging is designed with the customer in mind because of increasing competition and brands trying to outsmart their competitor. Many products have attractive designs to win the customer. After all, it’s the first impression of your product and company. So, why not put a little effort into its design?

In this blog post, we will be looking at the principles of product packaging designs, so make sure you read till the end.

Guide to Product Packaging Design

Like any good design, product packaging tells a story. In this guide, we will explain how to design your product packaging in a way that shares your brand story.

1. Crucial Questions of Product Design

Every design project starts with important questions about the target audience. Product packaging design isn’t any different. Before you open photoshop and start sketching your product packaging design, you should have answers to these three questions.

Who is your target audience?

Knowing your target audience is important because you want your design to resonate with them. For instance, if your target audience is children below 8 years, you need to incorporate attractive colours and cartoon graphics.

If you are designing a package for a skincare product, you should focus on incorporating “white colour.” In the same way, different target audience requires different colour, fonts, and package design. So make sure you have your customer persona in mind.

What is your product?

This is not a trick question. Every good product packaging design starts with knowing about the product. Knowing the dimension, material, and ingredients of the product help in designing a suitable package. These specifications will help you determine if you need to add more soft material to protect your product from being damaged or if your product is something large with odd dimensions.

How will people buy your product?

This question is related to product placement. Where will you place your product? In the supermarket? In retail stores? Or sell online?

You will need to think differently for each placement option because the market dynamics differ with each. For instance, if you are selling online, you need to secure your product. However, if you sell on shelves at a supermarket, you need your product packaging design to stand out against competitors.

2. Brand Requirements

If you are a third-party product packaging designing company like piratepackaging.co.uk, you need to understand the brand you are working for. You can’t incorporate the colours of your choice without knowing brand requirements. Here is a list of all things you should ask your client before designing product packaging.

• Colours: Brands have unique colours that are exclusive to their target audience. You will need to incorporate these colours in your product packaging design. So, make sure you ask for CMYK values or PMS colours, not RGB.

• Fonts: Fonts leave a unique impression on the reader, and brands have exclusive fonts. Make sure you have proper fonts or any specific usage instructions from the brand you are working for.

• Logo: All brands have a logo. Make sure you ask for the “vector file” and not PNG or JPG.

3. Content That Goes on the Packaging

Content that goes on product packaging is straightforward, but you need to sort it out before designing. You have to mention some information on the product packaging for legal reasons. So, make sure you have that info with you. Here are a few things that all brands put on their product packaging.

• Product information

• Ingredients

• Bar code

• Imagery

• Product details

4. Style Research

Doing a little style research will help you find inspiration for your project. You can pick instances of designs from things around you. For instance, you like the fonts on a sandwich store, the colour of your shirt and the print on the curtains of your house. Use all of these inspirations, and you will come up with something of your own.

Another thing to keep in mind when designing product packaging is that you are designing for your customers. You might like something shabby, but if your target audience has different preferences, you should stick to what they like.

Once you have a design in mind, you’ll need to figure the material it will be printed on. Some colours aren’t printed well on certain materials, so you will need to ask your client where they will print your designs.

In the end, you can come up with a budget to share with your client.

Conclusion

Designing a product package is not easy. You will need tons of information from the client, plus you also need to know a thing or two about the logistics involved in transporting the product.

In some cases, clients don’t share the materials they will be using, so you will need to come up with that on your own. Moreover, you will need to add all the content shared by the client and make multiple design options. Having options adds to the process of designing a product package.

In the end, a professionally designed product packaging sells better than others. So, give packaging its due consideration!