The Ultimate Guide to Product Packaging Design for Beginners ( In 2022)

Packaging design is an integral part of your brand story. It tells the consumer about your product, what it does, and how to use it. It can help to attract new customers and increase sales, but it can also confuse or even repel potential buyers. Packaging can be seen as the first interaction customers have with a product, so it’s important to get it right!

What Is Product Packaging Design?

Product packaging design is the art of designing a package for a product. 

The packaging should be attractive but also functional and easy to use. 

It should protect the product from damage during transportation and storage, as well as provide information about what’s inside the package.

Designing a product’s packaging includes making the product’s exterior. 

This includes decisions made on the type of material and form, as well as the graphics, colors, and typefaces used on the packaging, boxes, cans, bottles, and other types of containers.

The goal of product packaging design is to create an attractive, informative, and functional package for your product. 

It should be able to communicate what your product is and why it’s worth buying, as well as promote its features, benefits, and value propositions.

It helps consumers identify your product from others on the shelf and makes it stand out from competitors’ offerings.

Finally, your product design should be environmentally friendly.

Information Gathered Prior to Packaging Design

1. Which Product Is It?

This query will assist you in determining whether there are any technical requirements that must be met for your product packaging. 

For instance, a sensitive product will need packaging that is more secure. 

On the other hand, something that is enormous or has unusual proportions can need a custom packing solution rather than a pre-made box.

2. Who Is Making The Purchases?

Are men, women, or both supposed to use the product? 

Is it intended for kids or adults? Is it intended for those who care about the environment? 

Before beginning the design process, it’s critical to identify the ideal consumer for a product so that you can create packaging that would appeal to them. 

Larger text may be required for products aimed at older individuals. On the other hand, products aimed at wealthy customers should take luxurious materials into consideration.

3. How Are Consumers Purchasing The Goods?

Are they buying it at a grocery store, shopping mall, or online?

If the product is going to be sold online and shipped, you’ll need to think about packaging differently than if it needs to stand out from the competition on a big-box store shelf. 

Products that will be sold online should generally not have a lot of additional space because this could make the product rattle or the package bend. 

Additionally, those that will be displayed on a boutique(small store) shelf must attract a customer with other attractive things in beautiful packaging.

4. Understand Your Brand’s Standards

A product may stand alone on occasion or maybe a representative of another, more well-known brand. If your product packaging reflects a creatively specific brand aesthetic, make sure you have the following data before you begin:

• Colors: Include those colors if you already have CMYK or Pantone Matching Values (PMS) values since they are designed exclusively for printing. If not, a hex code is acceptable as well.
• Fonts: Verify that you have the appropriate fonts and any necessary usage instructions (like kerning or weight).
• Logos: Make sure you have a vector file accessible if a logo needs to be placed on the package.

5. Designing Packaging Content

Content will be quite specific to your particular product. You’ll want to make sure you have it all figured out before you begin design.

• Drafting content: This might range from the title of your goods to a description to words that tempt customers to buy.
• Design Images: Do you want pictures on your packaging? Before beginning the design process, you must have those prepared.
• Necessary Markings: You may be required to include a barcode, nutrition facts, affiliation marks, etc. depending on your product or sector.
• Identify the temporary content that you require: There is additional information that needs to be included on various batches of some products, such as meals or cosmetics (expiration dates or batch numbers). Given that it will change frequently, you definitely don’t want to print this information directly on your package, but you should make sure to leave room for a sticker or stamp that can be applied at a later time.

6. Likes and Dislikes of Brand Styles

Before you begin the design process, it is a good idea to do some style studies. 

Start gathering packaging that you find appealing. When you’re at the store, take pictures. Make a board on Pinterest.

Keep in mind that inspiration for fashion isn’t necessarily a one-to-one relationship. 

Perhaps you adore a particular shirt’s color, your aunt’s drapes’ pattern, or the font used on sandwich shop signs. 

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that you’re curating design ideas for that ideal client and not necessarily for yourself. 

7. Determine Budget

Budgets for packaging design are divided into two groups:

1. One-time expenses: These include paying for the initial design work, buying a stamp, and setting up the print plate (for large, offset print runs.) These are upfront costs that are often only paid once (unless you change your design).
2. Expenses per item: These include costs of labor and supplies. Each box will have a set price, as will the tape you use to close it and the tissue paper you use to fill it. Additionally, you have to either do it yourself or pay someone to pack your stuff into the box.

Six Most Important Steps in Product Packaging Design

1. Conduct Thorough Research 

To get the most out of your packaging design, it’s important to do a bit of research on the products you’re hoping to package. 

This might be as simple as looking up similar products online, or it can be as involved as physically visiting places and seeing what they stock.

If you have time, it’s best to do both: look up your product online and then visit stores that sell similar items or ones that are packaged differently from yours. 

You can also try visiting stores that don’t sell anything comparable, if only so that you don’t miss any major trends in packaging design.

2. Define Your Brand Objective

The first step in creating any product packaging design is to define your objectives. 

This can be as simple as defining the problem you’re trying to solve, or it could be something more complex, like determining whether your product should have a new type of material for its packaging.

Before you start designing, however, it’s important that you know what kind of results you want from this project. 

The easiest way to do this is by setting goals for yourself and then breaking them down into smaller tasks that will help get you closer to achieving them.

A good rule-of-thumb is: if the goal seems too easy or impossible while writing it down (or typing it) on paper, then there’s probably something wrong with how realistic those goals are!

3. Consider The Aesthetics Of Packaging Design

When you’re designing packaging for your product, you want to keep in mind a few things. 

The first is that the design of your packaging should be appropriate to the product itself. 

For example, if you’re selling shampoos and conditioners for babies that are made from organic ingredients and feature no harmful chemicals, then it makes sense for your packaging to reflect this fact by being organic and natural-looking.

The second thing is that the design of your packaging should also be appropriate to the brand itself. 

This means that the overall look and feel of all of its products should match up well with one another so that they all feel like they belong together as part of the same brand family or sub-brand within it (e.g., if you have several different types of baby shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc.).

Thirdly (and most importantly), consider who is going to use or buy them: 

• Is there enough interest among Millennials? 
• Are there enough female consumers? 
• Men with families? 
• How do these demographics differ across regions? 

These questions can help determine what color scheme will work best since different generations prefer different colors more than others do (for example, blue versus green).

4. Make A List Of The Packaging Design Materials

To begin the process of designing your packaging, you need to consider the size and shape of your product. 

For example, if you are working with liquids or powders, then you will have to opt for a squeeze bottle or jar design. 

For solid products like soaps and candles, a box is usually ideal. 

You should also think about how easy it will be for consumers to use these types of containers when they’re on the go.

If you’re planning on selling cosmetics or food items at festivals and other outdoor events where there aren’t many available seats—such as concerts—then having a lightweight container can make all the difference in how many people buy from your booth! 

5. Analyze the Product Packaging Design

Here are some questions that should be answered to analyze or evaluate the design of your product packaging.

1. Is the nature of your product clear?

Is it clear from the package what the product does and who it is for? Buyers will only pay for products they can understand.

Be careful that your packaging doesn’t resemble anything else (unless it is very specifically intended to). You most certainly don’t want to perplex your customer.

2. Does the packaging accurately represent your product?

Making false claims about your product on its packaging is among the worst things you can do. 

Verify that any images on the packaging are, in fact, images of the product. 

Of course, you may and should put your best foot forward, but if you advertise raisin-filled muffins but only include one raisin in each muffin, a consumer will feel duped.

3. How will this package look in three dimensions?

A skilled designer ought to be able to offer a print-ready (flat) and three-dimensional mockup of your design. 

Printing things out on white paper and assembling them into a box or tube allows you to make your own mock-ups. 

You’ll start to pay attention to things you otherwise wouldn’t. 

There are occasions when an image looks fantastic while it’s flat but awful when it’s created (or vice versa). 

4. Do you use recycled products in packaging?

You might want to think about whether your packaging can be reused (and whether you want it to be) even though it might not be relevant for every product. 

• Can your bag, for instance, be converted into a supermarket tote? 
• Can your box be modified into a planter if you sell gardening gloves? 

That is both ingenious and useful!

5. Collect Customer Feedback

Make sure to get feedback from both important stakeholders and individuals who have never heard of or used your product before making a final decision on your packaging design.

Even if it’s only your next-door neighbor, those who are not intimately familiar with your product will pick up on stuff you never did. 

Possibly enquire to them also about:

• What does this item accomplish?
• Who is supposed to purchase this item?
• What is the most important message you take away from this packaging?

You can tell if the packaging is conveying the desired message based on its responses to these queries. If it isn’t, talk to your designer again and determine what has to be altered.

Looking For The Best And Most Attractive Product Packaging Design?

Prepress packaging, product packaging, and premedia services from CG Premedia are unsurpassed. Among the Packaging Premedia companies, we are well-recognized and highly esteemed. 

Our team of designers and production artists works with brands to expand their range through pack formats, size or flavor variants, and sub-brands while realizing and maintaining their vision.

Through its expertise in high-end photography and retouching services, CG Premedia gives brands the tools they need to respond to the market extremely quickly.

Conclusion

As you can see, packaging design is a complex process. However, it’s important to remember that the best packaging design isn’t necessarily the most expensive one. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on fancy materials if your budget doesn’t allow it—there are plenty of affordable options out there! The important thing is that you create something that fits your brand and product perfectly.

FAQs on Product Packaging Design

Q1. What makes package design so crucial?

Ans: The design of the product packaging is crucial for establishing the identity of your products in the retail setting. One thing to keep in mind is that a design will draw in more viewers if it is “catchier.”

Q2. Which four components make up packaging?

Ans: The color, shape, texture, and imagery. All of these components contribute to the perception, value, and experience of a product, and when properly promoted, they will consistently draw in the target market.

Q.3 What specifications apply to packaging?

Ans: The norms and specifications for packaging, labeling, warehousing, and other associated instructions are referred to as packaging requirements.