Custom package design tips
What to collect before design starts, the four-step design process, choosing packaging and a printer, and five tips for a pack that sells.
- First published
- April 7, 2022
- Topic
- Packaging design
Packaging design is the creation of the graphics as well as the physical object, or container, of the product that a consumer purchases. Thoughtful custom package design is an important factor for any company interested in successfully selling their products. Great custom packaging design is the first impression your customers see and it can increase brand awareness, influence the purchasing decision, and differentiate your product from the competition.
Today, consumers demand convenience and they expect the items they receive to come in attractive, easy to use packaging. Effective product packaging design can be the warm and welcoming front door that entices your customers to come in and purchase your products.
Getting started with package design
When you are in the market for custom contract packaging services, you’ll need an experienced, knowledgeable custom packaging design company that will work with you to create a step-by-step plan to design the most appealing packages for your products. It’s important to know if the company is a full-service design-to-distribution contract packaging company with the equipment and expertise to meet your needs.
Your business goals, exact specifications, and project scope must be taken into account to get started with custom package design. Determining any special requirements and fulfillment needs is important as well.
Information to collect
Answer these before design starts. The same questions appear in our intake checklist.
General notes
Where are you selling the product?
Are your products going to be sold in a convenience store, drug store, grocery store, online, or somewhere else? It’s important to design product packaging that will work in the place where the product will be sold.
It’s also important to consider how the packaging will look online, whether that’s on a social media channel or website. If you’re going to sell the product on multiple channels, it’s important to look at the packaging on all of those channels.
Who is your target audience?
It’s important to produce an audience profile: age, income level, man, woman, child, and more. What motivates them, who is your ideal customer? Establish your primary and secondary target audiences in order to ensure the package design appeals to them.
What are your brand requirements?
Your brand should be front and center in your product package design. The taglines, graphics, colors, and fonts must match your other branding elements in order to present a consistent message.
What goes into the design
The design of your package is one of the most important features and it should differentiate your product from the competition. Your logo, the text used, and your imagery should all work in tandem to present your product in the best possible light.
It’s also important, depending on the product, to include barcodes, nutritional info, expiration dates, and other information when necessary.
The package design process
Ideation is the first step. At MGA, custom packaging orders follow a process similar to our standard contract packaging, in four stages; see how we work.
Step 1: Ideation
Establish the goals of your custom packaged product, from the primary idea and motivations behind it, to the overall fulfillment scope.
Step 2: Plan development
Discuss the goals and formalize a plan. You’ll select your printing type and design, choose your type of packaging, and discuss any final steps.
Step 3: Production
Your packaging moves into production.
Step 4: Review
Once production is complete, you’ll work with your packaging design company to review and ensure that all of your design parameters have been met.
Packaging and print
Choosing the right packaging
Is your product going to come in a box, bag, bottle, tube, or packet? You can choose from many types of packaging, including blister packaging, clamshell packaging, cartoning, and many more materials that are available. You’ll also consider whether to boldly stand out from the competition or remain relatively conservative with your packaging design.
Select a printer
Choosing a printer is done after the package design is complete. You’ll need to make sure your budget and all of the costs associated with printing are clear and understood. The printer will also have some requirements when it comes to items such as the design files.
Package design tips
Lead with what matters most
It’s very important to highlight the most important aspect of your product. Is it clear, direct, and obvious? Your potential customer must clearly understand what your product is as well as what it does.
Be honest about what it does
Your product package design must honestly represent what the product does, because you don’t want to lose the trust of your customer.
Mock it up in 3D
Once the package design plan is set, a mockup can be created to see what it would look like in 3D.
Picture it in the aisle
Envision the product on the shelf, in the aisle. Does it stand out next to the competitors?
Ask people outside the project
Get important feedback from all the stakeholders as well as non-biased others in order to ensure your package design meets your needs and helps sell your products.
Product packaging designed to sell
An experienced company with talented specialists can be a great partner to ensure your product packaging is designed to maximize sales while meeting all of your custom needs. There’s much more that goes into packaging design than simple corrugated boxes. Having a knowledgeable company that has proven success is key, and it can mean the difference between success and failure for any company that sells products.
How we can help
At MGA Innovation, we have 60 years of experience with custom contract package design as part of our distribution contract packaging services. We have a team of experts that will work with you and come up with a packaging design process that will meet your specific needs and requirements. We will help your business reach new heights with our product package design services. At MGA, we offer a variety of packaging options that are highly customizable to suit your company’s exact needs while also fitting within your budget.
Once the design is approved, the pack can run in our 200,000 sq ft plant in Gurnee, Illinois: cartoning, overwrapping, shrink wrapping, kitting and display builds happen under one roof, against one inventory record.
Contact us today and we’ll let you know how we can help.
Tell us about the pack
Attach whatever you have: a dieline, artwork, a mockup or a photo of a previous run. A named estimator replies.