Why is a Branded Product Packaging Design Important?
With product design, the process shouldn’t just focus solely on the product itself, but also on the product packaging design. While the product may be incredibly useful or change the way your customer manages a daily task, it needs to be packaged correctly to sell the product and advertise your brand in a world that is saturated with recognisable branding. Making careful choices in material, graphics and colours can really tell a story with your packaging, and help potential customers to understand your brand and what the product is.
Whether it’s a bottle for the latest soft drink, a stylish box for a perfume or a printed postal box for a subscription box service, having custom product packaging is always a good idea. Every detail of your product packaging design needs to engage your customer and ultimately help them decide if they want to buy the product or not.
How to brand your packaging
Of course, there is a whole process to undertake to achieve your custom product packaging, but we’ve narrowed this post down to five essential product packaging design tips to help you get started.
1. Research the competition
Before you take any steps towards branding your product packaging, it’s crucial that you conduct some market research to find out how your competitors brand their packaging. This can show you where the gaps are, but also help you generate some brand packaging ideas that differ to theirs.
It’s also important to research the types of packaging is available for your product. If you’re offering take out food, you may need printed paper sandwich bags. If you take postal orders, you may be interested in printed tissue paper or branded paper mailing bags. You could even start small with branded packaging tape. There is a huge amount of packaging options on the market, so choosing what would be best for business is key to helping you create a base for your custom product packaging.
2. Consider colour
This might be the most obvious tip when it comes to brand packaging ideas, but it’s also one of the most important factors in product packaging design. Think of a shelf of products. The first thing you notice is colour and it can often help you to recognise a brand almost instantly. If you have a style guide already set out, centre your product packaging colours around your chosen palette, but the brighter the colour, the more likely your product is to stand out.
3. Incorporate your tone of voice
While some brands are known for their bright colours, some are known for their incredible tone of voice. Your brand may have a tongue-in-cheek approach to messaging or a more formal, serious tone, but either way, your custom product packaging should feature your tone of voice. Not only does this help to make the product even more recognisable, it can communicate your messaging effectively and make a connection with the customer.
4. Use your logo wisely
Logos are a huge part of a brand’s identity and depending on how busy or minimal your logo is, it can really advise on how to brand your packaging. For example, if you have a fairly subtle logo, you could probably get away with having a repeated design on tissue paper. If you have a busy or loud logo, you may want to focus on the placement of just one logo on a bespoke flat handle paper bag with a small amount of text. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm the product packaging design, so use your logo wisely.
5. Don’t over-complicate things
When it comes to brand packaging ideas, it can be quite easy to over-complicate things and try incorporating too many elements at once. To create custom product packaging that really emulates your brand and speaks your values to customers, all while selling the product you’re offering, it’s about understanding your identity and the best ways to communicate to your audience. Keep it simple!
If you’d like to learn more about the packaging options that The Printed Bag Shop offers or have a chat about your product packaging design, please don’t hesitate to contact us.