4. Establish a data architecture.
Recall those three questions, in particular, who is purchasing your goods and where they are finding it? You're going to use that to develop the package's information architecture.
You might have lovely images of your product in use, an excellent client testimonial, a clever tagline that describes why you're fantastic, and an excellent graphic that demonstrates how to utilise your product. However, a customer will generally only recall one thing after looking at your packaging. What do you envision for that?
Choose the one feature of your product that you want people to know the most about. That ought to serve as the focal point of your layout.
After they have chosen your product (or clicked on your link), you can add a maximum of two to three items that will help you close the sale. Let's examine a few instances:
5. Examine a packaging concept
You have some fantastic design concepts! It's time to offer your opinions now. The following are a few things you should consider:
Is the nature of your offering obvious?
Is it obvious from the package what the product performs 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.
Is your product accurately represented by the packaging? 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. You should and should put your best foot forward, but if you advertise raisin-filled muffins when there is only one raisin in each of your muffins, a consumer will feel tricked and is likely to stop buying from you in the future.
How will this package look in three dimensions? A skilled designer ought to offer a print-ready (flat) and three-dimensional mockup of your design. Printing things out on white paper and assembling it into a box or tube allows you to make your own mock-ups. You'll start to pay attention to stuff 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). Make sure you are aware of the distinction. How will this package appear when it is purchased? When it comes to products that are offered in stores, shelf impact is crucial. You should take into account: What portion of the package may be seen? When items are placed side by side, you often only see one face. Make sure your most crucial information is prominently displayed. What would it appear like when these items are put one above the other? Has a pattern been established? Do you desire that there be? How will this compare to the opposition in terms of appearance? Decide where your product will be put by visiting one or more of the stores where it will be sold. Do most goods have a single colour? How will you distinguish and draw attention to yours?
Is this pattern adaptable? Aunt Miranda's Famous Hot Sauce may only come in one flavour right now, but you might want to make Aunt Kelsey's Notorious Buffalo Sauce and Aunt Sasha's Secret Caesar Dip in the future. Will it be simple to make changes to your design to accommodate future product iterations?
Your package is it recyclable? You might want to think about if 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? Free advertising Can your box be modified into a planter if you sell gardening gloves? That is both ingenious and useful!
6 Take 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 neighbour, those who are not intimately familiar with your product will pick up on stuff you never did. Possibly enquire to them:
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 their responses to these queries. If it isn't, talk to your designer again and determine what has to be altered.
7. Get the right files from your designer
You've chosen the look of your packaging. Best wishes!
Check that you have the correct files by returning the information you received from your printer. You likely require:
Dielines for packaging in vector form. This will most likely be a file formatted in Adobe Illustrator (.ai), PDF, or Eps. One will be required for each packaging variant you design. (Since you need 3 dielines for 3 tastes.)
coded colours. Make sure you have the Pantone or CMYK colour codes if your printer can print custom colours so that everything comes out looking the way you want.
vocabulary for packaging design —
What's that mean? Here is a quick glossary of some terminology used in packaging design:
A vector image can be created using the design software Adobe Illustrator (AI) (which you will need for printing). The program's files have the.ai extension. Adobe Illustrator is required to open these files. (It's acceptable if you don't have it. It'll be your printer.)
Barcodes (UPC and EAN) are those clusters of lines that can be found on any package. They provide information about the goods, including the price, that can be read by machines. There are various distinct kinds of barcodes, including the EAN (International Article Number; it was originally "European," hence the E) and UPC (Universal Product Code), which are the two most common in North America. Prior to having your packaging designed, you might want to apply for these.
When printing, a bleed is used when your design extends to the paper's edge (or box, or wrapper). In this situation, designers would actually add a small amount of excess design to the edges (the "bleed") so that there is some leeway when the design is printed and cut to the appropriate size if the cuts are a few millimetres off.
Canister: A cylindrical or spherical container that is frequently constructed of metal and is used to store items like food and chemicals.
Cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow, and key (CMYK) (black). These are the four printing-related colours. A printer will use the CYMK codes for each colour to aid in colour matching between your design and the final product.
Dielines are the packaging for your product's flattened pattern. They are used by designers and printers to design the ideal arrangement for a package.
Encapsulated Postscript is referred to as EPS. This is a file extension for images with a vector foundation. Typically, only specialised graphic design applications can open them.
Digital printing is a contemporary printing technique in which each piece of packaging is printed separately using a printer that receives file information digitally. For fast turnaround times and small volumes, digital printing is fantastic. For larger print runs, offset printing, which is more traditional, is frequently more cheap.
Offset printing is a printing method in which four-colour plates of your design are made (CMYK). After that, a sizable industrial printer is used to create these plates. Although offset printing requires an expensive setup (the plates must be made), it is more cost-effective when used in big quantities (often more than 1,000 pieces).
The Pantone Matching System was developed by the firm Pantone (PMS). A list of standardised printing colours is contained in the PMS. Each colour has a unique number, and every printer can replicate it almost exactly.
Portable Document Format, or PDF. It's a flexible file format that can include both text and graphics and can be either a vector or raster (you want a vector for packaging!). Almost any computer may be used to open a PDF file.
Raster images are made up of hundreds of small dots and are a sort of raster file (pixels). They are challenging to resize as a result.
Red, green, and blue (abbreviated as RGB) are the three fundamental colours of light and, consequently, of digital displays. They can be combined to create all other colours. Colours are identified in digital areas using RGB or hex codes, which can then be translated into CMYK and Pantone colour codes for printing.
Type of file: vector Lines make up vector images. They may easily be resized as a result.
99designs suggests that —
You're all set to begin working on your product packaging. Here are some outstanding businesses we've worked with and heartily endorse.
For designing your packaging:
99designs. (I mean, we can kind of call ourselves out here, right?)
For cartons, mailers, and boxes:
Packaging Refined by Lumi Packlane
For labels, packages, and boxes:
printing more cheaply
For stickers or labels:
Sticker Mule
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