No matter if you’re packing handmade candles, sending baked treats, or shipping tech items, your packaging plays a big role in representing your brand.
The best part? You don’t need to be a designer or spend a lot of money to create packaging that looks good and works well. These days, brands are focusing on making packaging that is not only strong for shipping but also attractive and exciting for customers to open.
Suppose you are making an online purchase and getting your parcel. It brings excitement and a smile to your face while opening it. As you open the parcel, you see bubble wrap, making you more curious to see the product. After unwrapping the bubble wrap, you finally see the packaging. Wow! It's custom-designed packaging. It feels like your paid amount is invested in the right place. After unboxing the cute customized packaging, you see your product and are impressed by the brand’s effort and professionalism.
As a business, you must imagine the same scenario in your mind before you ship a product. If you are a business that thinks you will make your brand stand out in the market with simple packaging. That’s not true. As you might know:
What is seen is sold.
And what do you think about how you can make your product stand out?
Attractive products sell more.
It is very necessary to customize designs for product packaging. People are usually attracted by the outer presentation of a product. The attractive presentation boosts your sales, and custom-designed boxes make the unboxing experience unforgettable for your customers.
In this blog, we are going to learn ‘How to Design Custom Packaging?’ We will follow the step-by-step guide that describes the process of your packaging design.
Packaging design is defined as creating the outer layer or wrapper that holds your product. The design affects its shape, style, and protection. It makes the unboxing experience unforgettable for customers.
Imagine there are two boxes on the store shelves, one is plain and the second one is fully designed with colors and artwork. People are usually attracted by the second one. What do you think, why are they selecting well-sized or custom-designed? It is because of the artwork and designs that grab the attention.
You know the phenomenon
“A book is judged by its cover.”
This same goes for packaging. If you are running a business, the customer is first impressed by the outer presentation of your product, and then comes to the product.
Customers always see the outer presentation, and if the product has attractive packaging, it creates an impression on the customer's mind. Product packaging design is also to keep your product safe while shipping or on store shelves. At the end, the customer got their brand new product because of the packaging design.
Must consider these things for good product packaging design, from start to end. Here’s how it can be done in six basic steps.
A good businessman should always have primary knowledge about his product. He understands clearly the concept regarding the products, such as:
What product is he selling?
What material is it made of?
What keeps it safe?
What is its size?
How big or small is it?
Does this product have specific storage requirements, like being kept cool or dry?
And then you should think of its packaging. Does it need to fit their product?
How does customized packaging help boost sales?
If you have all of these answers, you may know your product. It's a sincere suggestion that you should first know your product before thinking of its packaging.
Do you have an idea of what your product is? You should know the people who use your product. You should have an idea of whether the target audience is men, women, or both. Is it used by adults, children, or older people?
Once you know the targeted audience, you can easily work on the packaging according to their likes and preferences. Keep in mind, this is the Gen Z era, and they are always attracted by colorful and playful graphics with glossy finishes. Also consider eco-conscious people, and use packaging designs that should be environmentally friendly.
It's quite simple: If you use the unique designs, attractive colors and eco-friendly material, insist people to choose your product.
The custom designs and finishes enhance the outlook of your product. And the eco-conscious people always select the recyclable packaging material. So attractive designs, colors, printing, premium finishes, and eco-friendly materials grab the attention of audience to buy your products instead of others.
The business owner should know about the platform where the product has to be displayed, whether it is a supermarket, a small shop, a big mall, or an online website.
Different products need different packaging according to thier specific requirements. In an online business, packaging must be strong enough for shipping to protect the product.
The same goes for physical stores or malls where the product packaging is designed colorfully to grab the attention of the customers. Because on store shelves, products have to compete with many other products. The same products but amazing packaging styles make you stand out in the market.
Example: As a ceramic mug needs foam and a snug box, and bakery cookies need sealed pouches and insulated mailers to stay fresh
“Visual appeal drives sales.”
If you are launching your product in the market, you should have an idea about the competition for your product. Go to the market and analyze the market how they displays their products and what type packaging they are using. Keep their colors, shapes, and materials in mind. It helps a lot while designing your custom packaging and to grow your business in the competitive market.
The last step is to test your packaging. You can give away your product in your customized packaging to random people and check its material during the delivery process. Is it strong enough to protect your product or not?
Share it on social media, and take reviews from random users. Instead of asking like or not, ask basic questions like “According to the composed design, what do you think is in the box?”
That's how people became more curious about the product while looking at its packaging. So, you can easily analyze if it is able to stand out in the market or not.
If you are modern and bold, you will always prefer stylish choices that match your identity. The types of packaging that are FDA approved and FSC certified are described below:
Eco-conscious people always prefer eco-friendly and recyclable packaging. A ratio of 58% in the world avoids shopper packaging because it pollutes the environment. So it is essential to think about the environment before designing your product packaging. Always consider biodegradable materials for the custom design of product packaging.
Sustainable packaging is mostly used all over the USA. While designing your custom box packaging, you must remember the preferences of customers. In today's world, people are always attracted to environmentally friendly packaging designs. You can use cardboard, kraft paper, paperboard, corrugated cardboard, rigid cardstock, and many other materials while designing the packaging of your product.
Plastic packaging is not friendly to the environment, but many retailer use it to save their budget. 141 million tonnes of plastic packaging are produced in one year. They are easy to use but contaminate seas and waterways. The biggest disadvantage of plastic is that it will never decompose, but paper packaging decomposes by itself.
Mylar bags and pouches are strong and lightweight. They are designed to keep products fresh and safe from moisture, air, and light. They are widely used for food and wellness products because they lock in flavor and extend shelf life. They also help brands to look more professional and attractive with custom printing designs.
Metal packaging is used for liquid products, for example, beverages and oils. If you want to store cookies? You can store them in metal jars and boxes. They provide protection to the products from air & light and also maintain their taste.
Glass packaging is used for food and wine. It is less durable and can be easily damaged. These materials are not so eco-friendly and biodegradable.
At MyBoxPrinting, we provide customized packaging made of eco-friendly materials. We mostly work on paper materials such as cardboard, paperboard, cardstock, etc. We can also provide glass jars and tin boxes on the demand of customers.
Effective packaging is important because it protects the products and creates a strong first impression.
As you know, “The first impression is the last impression.”
Good packaging keeps items safe during storage and shipping, also attracting customers with its design and information. It helps to build your brand identity and makes the product easier to handle. The custom design packaging makes the unboxing experience memorable. It also increases the trust of customers in your brand and encourages repeat purchases.
Here are some tips to design your product packaging to stand out in the market.
When it comes to the design of the product packaging, try to keep it simple, as less is always more. Modern packaging uses bright colors, clean designs to make products look stylish and attractive for shoppers who follow trends. Simple and minimal graphics attract people because overly complicated finshes make packaging complicated.
You should compose the packaging and make it easy to open. So that customers do not require extra effort to open it. In today's lazy world, people always prefer less struggle to open a package.
To impress customers, you have to use high-quality and eco-friendly materials that not only attract customers but also help to save the planet. Remember, your customized packaging gives an idea about the quality of the product inside.
Finishes like embossing, debossing, gloss, matte, UV spot, and lamination enhance your brand presentation and make you prominent among competitors. Adding inserts in a box that protects your products can impress customers. By adding CMYK or Pantone color codes, fonts, and logos to your packaging, you can grab the attention of the audience.
Written copy, imagery, and required marks on your product design attract customers. They look very unique and enhance your brand presentation. You can include your brand story, name of the product, description of the product, print-ready images, barcode, and nutritional information. These things give your packaging a professional look and give other companies tough competition.
Before designing your packaging, make sure all important content is ready. This includes product text, images, and any required information like barcodes or legal marks. Good packaging should be clear, attractive, and meet all industry rules.
Some steps impress customers and leave no choice to go anywhere except your brand. Firstly, deal with them nicely. Secondly, before starting the design process, your business must save the written copy of the agreement, which clearly defines the terms and conditions.
There should be an image of the design attached to the written copy. That’s how your brand can build trust with the customers and leave your strong impression on their minds.
Cost planning is a very essential step in the designing of packaging of product. It can be classified into two types:
One-time cost is the cost you pay at the start of designing. It will be buying stamps, printing plates, and creating designs. You pay for them at once.
It is the calculated cost per piece of product. It includes materials, labor, tape, and stuff inside.
After composing the designs, the next step is the production of packaging. Now it's time to bring your idea into real life. Here are the steps to create custom-designed packaging:
The layers of packaging are three, which are classified on the basis of their functionalities. They are defined below:
Customers first see the outer layer of the boxes and imagine the quality of the product inside. The outer packaging keeps your product safe while shipping. It plays a very important role in creating the first impression of your product in the customer's mind.
It is inside an outer layer of the boxes that prevents damage. It also preserves the freshness of the product. You can also add inserts like tissues, crinkles, and custom dividers inside the packaging that protect your product from scratch and damage.
It is what most people think before they see the packaging. It can be a toy box in a bottle with a label, a tag on the garment, etc.
These layers all told the story of the brand and delivered it to your customers. At MyBoxPrinting, we provide all sorts of layer packaging. Whatever you need, you can customize it by your own choice.
Printing always comes after the process of designing. It is not so expensive as it totally depends on the printing technique and packaging material. You can choose digital printing, offset printing, and color image printing options. These printing techniques enhance your brand presentation.
To create the information architecture, you should recall the question: who will use the products? Now we are explaining the hope to use it.
This answer is important to those who are new buyers and don't know how the product works. The product should include a short review or testimonial and benefits. This approach keeps your presentation clear and professional.
After setting your product on the store shelves and getting the feedback of customers, try to improve things if something is not satisfactory.
In this blog, we have defined the steps of “how to custom-design packaging.” Business owners think and draw a sketch for their product and find answers to these questions: What is the product? Who will use it? What is the size? What material keeps it safe?
If they got an answer, then they came to customize the packaging design at MyBoxPrinting, firstly selected the material that is eco-friendly and keeps their product safe. Secondly, think about the design and draw the design on Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Canva, and Pacdora. After this, you chose the size and then the finishing materials you want to use on the outer layer of the packaging. While designing your packaging, keep in mind it should be simple, as people neglect messy presentation.
After the completion of all these important steps, assign the design and information to our production team. Our expert designers compile those designs that make your customers' moment memorable.
You just have to type your idea in the AI tool, and it will give you the design of your desire.
Custom packaging gives your business a professional and polished look. It presents your brand identity and protects your product. It creates a more memorable customer experience for small and large businesses.
Custom packaging makes your product stand out and keeps your products safe while shipping. Custom packaging also creates a positive first impression on customers.
You can use free tools like Canva, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Pacdora to compose your packaging designs for free.
The software tools that are best for designing packaging are Canva, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Pacdora.
