Designing Custom Product Packaging

Perception is everything in selling. The packaging you choose for your product, and the message you impart, will play a large part in how successful your product is. And that success depends largely on how you control the message – the words and images you use, and how you use them, allow you to influence the consumer’s perception of your product.
Designing custom box packaging isn’t difficult – and will be quite effective – if you design your box from the consumer’s point of view. A well designed custom printed box also allows you to define your product the way you want consumers to see it. If you’re competing in a retail environment, you should be designing your printed box with the 2.6 second rule in mind. This is the average length of time your package has to persuade a consumer to pick your product up from a retail shelf.

So, with a sea of competitors out there, a lot is riding on your printed packaging.
Here are a few design ideas to consider in creating the perfect product packaging solution:

Box Design Elements

• Spending time up front defining the look and feel of your product box on paper will pay dividends down the road.
• Resist the temptation to “create the box on the fly” – this usually results in mediocre packaging.
• Less is more. The most elegant, appealing custom box designs are usually quite minimalist.
• Come up with a list of product benefits – how does this product help your potential buyer. Don’t confuse a benefit with a feature! A feature describes an attribute of your product, where a benefit tells a buyer what it will do for them. An old business adage says “features tell but benefits sell”!
• Keep pictures and graphics to a minimum. They should demonstrate what the product does in a very clear manner.
• Short, concise points make for the most effective product presentation. Rework sentences and points until they flow well with very few words.
• Make sure your graphics and pictures support your points.
• Think about adding creative die cuts, windows and even special printed colors or attention grabbing packaging design finishes that make your merchandise packaging stand out from the rest of the cookie cutter designs on the shelf.

Finally…

• Balance your design, mix of colors, text and pictures until it all flows well.
• Get feedback from colleagues – they can be your best critics, and can give you ideas you hadn’t even thought of.
• Refine, refine, refine until you get just the right mix of design, colors and benefits (that customers care about!) that will be irresistible to consumers walking down the aisle.
• Look at the boxes on our site – these are actual custom boxes. There’s a lot of creative, and clever, custom box design ideas demonstrating good packaging design.

Creating the Box How to Pull all the Packaging Design Elements Together

Now that you’ve invested ample time defining and developing the design components for your new product package, it’s time to pull all of these components together and create a custom printed box that will make your product really stand out! Crisp graphics, concise copy detailing benefits and attributes, coupled with plenty of attention to detail will make your custom printed box really pop.

Make sure you have the correct size box: Click here to see how to measure for a custom folding carton box. If your product will be fitting the box tightly, make sure it isn’t too tight. A good rule of thumb is to leave 1/16“ in all dimensions. If we are printing your box we will provide you with a custom template. Just send us your product and we’ll create a custom design template for you to build on.

Don’t forget about paper thickness!: Make sure you are using a paper stiff enough for your boxes. Your custom boxes have to survive being filled, stacked, shipped, and handled without looking tired and worn. Paper thickness for boxes is measured in thousandths of an inch –or, in printer speak, points (pt.), and typically range from 0.024” (24pt. – credit card thickness, a good, heavy paperboard stock) to 0.010” (10 pt. – business card thickness, very light, not good for boxes). Most custom folding carton boxes are printed on paper that is between 18pt. and 24pt. thick. Anything less than that, unless your product is very small, is asking for trouble. If in doubt, ask for box samples.