When designing product packaging, you begin to realize that form is as important as content. No matter how brilliant your product may be, a dull package will have sales floundering as your product gets passed over for prettier, shinier things. You have to design product packaging that gets you noticed and communicates the true value of your merchandise to consumers. A successful packaging redesign can rejuvenate your brand or it can have a profoundly negative impact on sales if you get it wrong.
Research is Key
David Shephard from Jib Strategic outlines the importance of research in packing design: “Packaging is an art form and is usually heavily researched through focus groups before they ever see the light of day. They key to successful packaging is to get the target group right. Positioning is key. Knowing the likes and dislikes of the intended audience is a must. Research, research, research.”
Standing out from the crowd
When designing your packaging, it’s important to consider the competition. If your product is going to be on a shelf with your competitor’s products, how will you make it stand out? Bright, eye-catching colors can help while clean smooth lines can convey quality and exclusivity. Innovation can also be a way to make your products pop.
Festina watches are packaged in a bag of water. This packaging, designed by Scholtz and Friends demonstrates Festina’s waterproof functionality while providing a fun way of keeping your watches safe during transit.
Fresh from the oven, Thelma’s cookies got a great product design idea from Saturday Mfg. It’s fun and quirky design definitely sets them apart.
J. Walter Thompson is responsible for this fun Smirnoff peelable (peel label?) bottle. This ingenious packaging emulates the peeling of a lime while providing a fun pastime for consumers.
Sustainability
This is an increasingly popular approach to packaging. Customers are really concerned about the effect the packaging they produce will have on the environment, but they don’t want to make changes that will affect their consumer experience. Frito-Lays produces Sun Chips and they switched to a biodegradable bag made entirely of plant matter. However, the bags were really noisy and, 18 months later, they had so many consumer complaints and such a drop in sales that they opted to switch back to the original packaging.
Using recyclable packaging is good, but biodegradable is better. This is a paper bottle by 360 soda created by Johan de Broyer. The bottle is resealable so the consumer experience isn’t affected in any way, but they do get to feel good about the packaging!
Functionality
Functional packaging adds another dimension and is more attractive to the consumer. Something as simple as a bag that can be reused, or a bottle that helps you to use the product more effectively can make all the difference.
This creative Butter Better package design has a lid that doubles as a butter knife.
With this incredible FYS (Finish YourSelf) puzzle chair, the packaging is the product!
South Korean designer, Yena Lee, creates these butterfly teabags with tags that attach to the edge of your cup.
Authenticity
Quality and style is conveyed with a simplicity of design. The authenticity of organic products are usually shown with earthy tones and natural-fiber packaging.
These striking boxes from Jib Strategic show Sarafino olive oil as authentic by using earthy tons and a simple, clean design.
Class and sophistication is usually conveyed with clean, sleek lines and minimalist text. The idea here is that the product speaks for itself. This Colier Sparkling wine has a great texture on the bottle too.
Shape
The ergonomic shaping of bottles and boxes can augment sales. The importance of shape should not be underestimated and it’s good to think out of the box here. Budweiser’s new can shape is designed to reflect its iconic logo.
The key to product packaging success is innovation and testing. Test your packaging choices on a wide range of consumers to ensure that you have the winning formula.
