Published on May 29th, 2020 | by Guest

Getting started with package designing – Here are some Do’s and Do Not’s

Package designing has played a primary role in branding and sales. Especially in FMCG product marketing, package designing can be a game-changer. Infact, 72% of Americans say that their buying decision is influenced by good or bad packaging.

Thus, if you know how to master this game, you might be able to carve a place of your own in the industry. For starters let’s just say: every package says a story and your story must be worth listening to.

Whether you do it on your own or hire some print and packaging design agency, you must be aware of the basics.

Let’s begin with some Dos about package designing

1. Being practical and obvious

Being unique is one thing, but being completely unrecognizable is another. Believe me, you don’t want the latter. The first thing you need to have in mind while designing the package must be easy recognition by your target audience. Too much designing might contradict that.

For instance, FMCG products like toothpaste, oil, soaps, each of them are recognized by standardized packaging. You can certainly experiment with designs but if you alter the entire basis, the audience might have trouble recognizing your product. For instance, can you image toothpaste in a jar of oil – no right?

Even if the jar is more reliable, people will not be convinced to buy the product because your packaging design failed to connect with the product. Remember, creativity is important, only when it is fairly mixed with reality.

2. A justified and apt label size

When we paste labels on our books, our minds are trained to paste it either on one corner or center of the top cover. We don’t bling the entire cover with the label. This basic must be applied while designing packages as well.

Lately, we have seen companies designing a label that covers the entire product. If you think it will make it more visible, well, you need to rethink. A standard-sized label is as much visible and readable size of the entire product. On the contrary, bigger labels leave little space for the package designs and thus fail to be eye-appealing. Plus, a functional label size will help you prevent overhead costs.

3. Think out-of-the-box

If you introduce something that the industry is yet to see, you will be able to capitalize on the first mover’s advantage. Secondly, it will make your products more visually appealing, only for people to take a closer look. It can be a little teaser or a unique selling proposition of your product, till the time it compels your target audience to raise eyebrows – you have done your job! 😉

While these were some of the must-dos of package designing, we also have a set of do not’s that you must follow to enable 360-degree success

Use fancy fonts and colors

The fonts and the color palette play a key role in the overall look of your package. It is important that it not only looks good but is also relevant to what you are offering.

There will be a whole list of fonts before you, the majority of which will appear fancy and trendy but it will not connect with the audience.

For instance, an energy drink like Red Bull has a very justified packaging. But what if tomorrow an energy drink company decides to have flowers as its labels or design? The flowers might look good individually but as soon as it is on the package of an energy drink, everything falls out.

Choose unsuitable packaging

While designing a package, if your basic outline is inappropriate, the final design is already prepared to fall out. Again, if your sole focus is on aesthetics, your message might not be received as desired.

A package design is a lot more than aesthetics, labeling, or even outlining. Think for yourself, what matters more to you while buying a product, the aesthetics, or the product’s performance? The latter, right?

Thus, to avoid unsuitable packaging, it is best to conduct a performance test. Test its performance on various indicators and factors, and then finalize it.

This was just a sneak-peek, there’s a lot more than can still be added to this list. These were the basics so if you fathom these well, you will get the desired head start and the rest of the learning lies in your own progress.

Tags: agency, design, package, print, selling