Producing The Perfect Packaging

When you walk into a store, what convinces you to buy a new product?

Is it the catchy signage or is it the promise of what’s inside the packaging?

Often it’s actually the packaging that convinces people to buy a product when they really need to choose between brands.

If you look at any upmarket product, it’s often packaged in a way that looks minimalist, modern and simple, which signals to customers that they’re investing in a product rather than just buying something full of color off the shelf.

Packaging functions very differently for different products.

When you are the person who is selling a product that you’ve created, you want it to look great and you want to make sure that people pick up the product off the shelf and buy it.

Whether you are planning the packaging for a box, a bottle or a jar, you need to make sure that people are going to see it and that it’s going to look great.

Some of the questions you’re going to ask yourself to get it right include what is in-mold labeling? What colors should I use on this labeling? What will people think when they look at it? The most important thing to consider, though, is what you WANT people to think when they look at your product.

It has to be eye-catching, and it has to be obvious what the product is and what it does without it being vague. 

Image Source: Pexels

As you design your package, you have to get serious about it so that you can convince your audience to buy the product within.

So, with this in mind, here are some of the things to contemplate when designing your next packaging. 

1. The layers. You have to understand that packaging has layers to it. You have to decide how many layers it has to protect it. You don’t want the product to be damaged in any way, through shipping and any issues being dropped in manufacturing processes. Consider the package that holds the product, the next layer to protect the packaging and then the outer box. You can keep it simple and make sure your packaging is recyclable, too!
2. Different packaging types. It can be hard to decide between using a case or a bottle, but you have to be sure of the type of packaging you want to use before you get any production going. Keep a list of the attributes that you want your packaging to have, and then design around this. Do you want robust or delicate? Strong or fragile (but pretty!)? The type of packaging that you choose really matters. You wouldn’t put shoes in a jar, right? 
3. The design process. Once you know the type of packaging that you want to use, focus on the color options and use the color palettes available. Many companies choose to match their packaging colors to the colors of their brands, and it’s a good way of doing things if you want to make sure that people recognize your company brand.
4. Check it out and test it. You should ideally have a focus group of individuals who can test your new packaging for you. In this assessment stage, you need samples of your packaging with the product in it so that people can test and get a feel for it. You want them to know that the package is doing its job. While you’re in this testing phase, line up your packaging along with your competitors. So if you’re selling shoes, check the box you’ve created vs the companies who are in your immediate competition. Once you do this, you can get a good feel for it.
5. Ask for feedback. The most important part of the packaging process is getting feedback from people. Sometimes, you won’t agree with the feedback that you get from your customers and others, because it won’t always align with what you wanted. However, it’s in this feedback that you will learn what your audience really wants. When you listen to your audience, you are showing them that you care about what they have to say about your business. It’s important to involve your client base in 

The best packaging designs are the ones that are on trend and representative of the product inside.

The process has to be meticulous, so be the kind of business owner who actually cares about the product and how the entire package is received.

You’ll see how much your packaging matters when you do!