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What should the packaging design process look like? Brands know that packaging is a major force in customer decisions. In fact, more than 72% of Americans say that packaging design impacts buying choices. The challenge for brands is that packaging needs to be more than just a “pretty face.” Packaging needs to:

• Attract the 72%.
• Securely hold a product.
• Be fit for shipping without damage.
• Be manageable to open without being too easy to open.
• Be the right size to avoid wastefulness.
• Not drive the cost per unit out of a brand’s budget.

It is an impossible task? One only has to look around to see how brands are leveraging packaging as a marketing asset by turning an unavoidable cost into a smart investment. They’re doing it with intentional packaging design. Take a look at every brand’s guide to the packaging design process.

Step 1: Start the Chat

Approaching a blank slate is an exciting opportunity for brands. Begin with a good brainstorming session with everyone involved in the creative and practical sides of brand management. If you’re designing packaging as an entrepreneur without a team, consider bringing in some outside help for your brainstorming session. This can include packaging designers, packaging engineers, and artists. Contacting a packaging supplier with a full staff of soup-to-nuts packaging experts can be a great way to avoid the costs of hiring consultants before you’ve even looked at your options.

The brainstorming phase is a time to collect inspiration, solidify your vision, and begin formulating an idea of what the finished product could be. It’s also a time to identify packaging requirements. Get specific about what your packaging needs to be capable of based on your product category. For instance, the performance requirements of food-grade packaging will be much different than the requirements for packaging for sneakers. Use these questions to get a concrete picture of packaging requirements:

• How will people be buying your product?
• How important is shelf appeal?
• How important is durability during direct shipping?
• Are there any legal requirements for packaging to consider based on the nature of your product?
• Does the product require tamper-proof features?
• How are leaders in the same product category handling packaging?
• What values should your packaging convey? Consider standing out as a brand with integrity by creating packaging that doesn’t contribute to the growing problem of plastic packaging waste around the world.

The brainstorming period is also a time to talk about limitations. Do the needs of your product rule out certain packaging choices? Does your budget prevent you from adding certain features to packaging? What you’re really doing here is negotiating your wants and needs to determine what’s possible. You should walk away from the brainstorming phase ready to make a plan. The first step is delegating tasks. The tasks to cover include setting a budget, contacting packaging vendors, confirming legal requirements, and researching customer trends in relation to packaging.

Step 2: Research Customer Needs and Attitudes

The good news is that most of the hard work regarding researching customer needs for packaging has already been done if you’re working on a product launch. All of the market research you’ve poured into developing your product can be recycled for developing your product packaging. Some points to consider include:

• How your product price point influences expectations for packaging.
• How do customer shopping trends affect your packaging function? If your product will be purchased online, consider customer psychology as it pertains to the “unboxing” experience. If your products will hit shelves, conduct research on how packaging influences point-of-sale impressions.
• How customer values influence brand perceptions. If your target market is socially conscious, consider prioritizing eco-friendly, sustainable packaging.

Consider all aspects of packaging when looking at customer needs and attitudes. This includes both performance and appearance. Brands that have aced packaging understand that engineers and art departments must work closely in collaboration to turn a “box” into a brand asset using the information gathered in the research phase.

Step 3: Design Your Branded Packaging

A full packaging concept should be solidified after following the steps above. It’s now time to turn a concept into a tangible product. Brands that have recently spent time developing new products should feel very “at home” with this phase because designing packaging is very similar to the process of bringing product prototypes to life.

Start with the technical aspects. It’s important to establish how many different designs are necessary. Is a secondary packaging template for shipping needed in addition to a product package? Designing both at the same time can enhance brand cohesion by coupling the two designs. The following decisions should be made when developing a packaging prototype:

• Dimensions for packaging.
• Ideal weight based on the desired “price to ship” limit per package.
• Image selections.
• Text selections.
• Brand standards for colors, design, and messaging.
• Visibility of barcodes.
• Visibility of instructions or disclaimers.

Prioritizing messaging is a major part of packaging design. Where should a customer’s eyes go first? In some cases, prioritizing visibility for instructional text is important if packaging needs to be opened a specific way. Other brands prefer to use the canvas of packaging to display their name or logo as a way to prioritize loyalty and recognition.

The development phase is also a time to make decisions about safety and protective features. While it’s easy for the focus to stay on the dimensions of a box, it’s also important to discuss what should be happening on the surface of the packaging. Some features to consider include UV coatings, aqueous coating, product windows, anti-tampering features, self-adhering tabs, crease lines, fold lines, and glue lines. While the focus up until now has been on customer experience, there is actually more to consider. The process of designing packaging must also take into account the experience at the point of processing and assembly.

Does the design of a package lend itself to easy assembly when products are being prepared for purchase? Does packaging shape allow for easy, efficient, and safe warehouse storage that doesn’t waste money by taking up more space than necessary? This is where looking at the “micro” instead of just focusing on the “macro” when it comes to packaging becomes important because brands can lose money through inefficient packaging from the moment a product leaves the assembly line if they aren’t careful. Smarter packaging allows employees to “work smarter” by processing each product more efficiently while also being able to stay focused on other essential tasks. The simple rule is to not allow packaging to hog the show!

Step 4: Get a Prototype Created

Brands bring their packaging designs to life by getting quotes from packaging vendors. Some packaging vendors will only provide clients with visual models of packaging. Unfortunately, this prevents clients from having the experience of seeing, holding, and interacting with the packaging that their clients will ultimately get. It’s important to work with a packaging supplier capable of providing a true sample.

Step 5: Tackle Proofing and Revisions

Getting a packaging sample before placing a bulk order is important because packaging can appear different in person than it does on computer screens. Differences in screen settings can greatly skew how CMYK and Pantone colors appear. Once a brand has a packaging sample in its possession, this is a chance to correct any mistakes. Those mistakes may simply be existing style choices that don’t translate properly in person. Brands can also confirm proper dimensions, proper spelling, proper logo use, and proper use of colors. Next, the brand team can coordinate with the packaging vendor to make any necessary revisions.

Get Your Packaging Plan in the Bag With Help From Packaging Experts

Brands don’t necessarily have all the answers on how to create extraordinary packaging because they aren’t in the packaging business. Mid-Atlantic Packaging helps brands to bring their ideas to life by offering custom packaging support for brands in all categories. Our team of packaging experts can help your brand with every aspect of packaging design, engineering, and printing. Make a plan to align your brand with your product packaging by getting a custom packaging quote from Mid-Atlantic Packaging today.