How To Design Packaging!!

Designing packaging can be very difficult and time consuming. It's tough because there are so many creative ways to approach such a project. For instance, whether or not you want to do a custom Die Cut design. What type of material you will be using. Will it be raw or printed. The colour scheme, the type of finish etc. There are so many aspects that can really make your packaging stand out from your main competition.

For example, I work as the Senior Graphic Designer for a LED Lighting company. I also run my own graphic design firm. So I'm constantly trying to push the envelope and think of new innovative and dynamic ways of developing packaging.

One big thing is to understand the budget you will be working with, and then making a calculated approach. I recently had to develop some packaging for the LED company I work for. Monster LED Lites' main office is located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. this is considered to be the silicone valley of Canada, as Blackberry was created here, Christie Digital, Communitech, Open Text and the list goes on. Any who, The creative process can be very time consuming like I said.

Here are some photos that showcase part of the creative process:

Those are just some of the rough drafts of the actual packaging. As you can see there are more aspects to it than actually just designing. You have to figure out what kind of material you want to use within the packaging. You need to figure out if you want transparent vinyl, so that you can see the object inside etc. I could go into so much greater detail, but as your can see it can get very complicated and this isn't even a very complicated design.

I am currently waiting for the custom die cut file to be sent to me from the factory so that I can design the actual packaging properly. My rough copies are all designed to scale, but there is some trial and error that needs to happen before we can do the final printing run.

Not only do you have to consider how the packaging will look, but the functionality of it - Will it look good on shelf, how will it hold up structurally - is it easy to open - is the product inside at risk of being damaged?

You then have to consider other aspects such as installation instructions, warranties etc. Things of this nature that will need to be provided inside.

I have attached some of these for reference:

As you can see, there is trial and error with these as well.

You then need to develop a SKU number for the product line - a custom barcode. It's really much much more than just designing. So before you agree to take on a job of this nature, remember that it isn't just one step like designing a poster or business card. You really need to brainstorm and come up with a solid plan, or it could be very detrimental and costly to not only you but your client.

I will be posting the final product photos once they have come in. So if you you'd like to see that, remember my page!

Here are some other photos for you to check out from this packaging design, and another one that I just begun this week. It will be the same kind of design as to develop stronger and consistent branding within the companies product line:

If you are an up and coming designer, and you ever want a hand, or some guidance please let me know, I'm happy to help!

Cheers!

Kusick