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Product packaging today is no longer just a protective shell—it’s a powerful marketing tool. Whether you’re launching a new product or refreshing your brand, packaging plays a significant role in shaping customer perception and driving sales.
However, understanding your packaging needs and bringing your visions to life can be challenging. In this complete guide, we will walk you through every step. Let’s get started!
What Is the Purpose of Product Packaging?
Understanding the purpose of your packaging enables you to make informed decisions that align with your product goals and customer expectations.
First of all, product packaging is deeply connected to the 4 Ps of marketing—Product, Price, Promotion, and Place.
What’s the meaning?
- Product: Your packaging should reflect the product’s quality, category, and intended use.
- Price: Exclusively designed packaging can justify a higher price point and signal value.
- Promotion: Packaging acts as a silent salesperson, highlighting the product’s features and benefits.
- Place: The location where your product is sold (retail or e-commerce) influences the packaging style and durability.
Optimizing your packaging around these four pillars ensures consistency across your marketing strategy.
Packaging Preparation
Before designing your packaging, you need to evaluate several key factors, such as:
- What are the packaging options?
- How much are the production and shipping costs?
- Which packaging solution is best for your product and business?
What Are Your Packaging Needs?
The next step is to assess your packaging needs.
Start by evaluating the key factors that influence your packaging decisions:
- Type of Product
Is your product fragile, perishable, a luxury item, or intended for everyday use?
If your product is fragile, use a durable packaging material and add cushioning to ensure it remains safe during display, shipping, and transit.
Alternatively, if your product is luxurious, choose premium packaging solutions with smooth texture and layout, such as rigid boxes.
Remember, every product is unique and it requires different packaging solutions.
- Quantity
How many packages do you need to order?
Do you need to pack 100, 500, or 1000 products?
Your quantity requirement will directly affect your costs and business requirements. Order your packaging at the exact quantity you need.
- Budget Consideration
Consider and think properly about how much you can invest in design, materials, printing, and logistics. Ensure you conduct a budget-friendly evaluation to cover your business’s daily operational expenses as well.
- Production Timeline
When do you need to launch your products to the market?
When deciding the timeline, also consider the packaging inventory you need to ensure you will not run out of stock.
Proper Measuring
Accurate box measurements are essential for creating packaging that fits your product perfectly. Use the formula: Length × Width × Depth.
You can use a ruler or measuring tape to know the box dimensions in inches or centimeters.
Proper measuring ensures your packaging is functional, cost-effective, and visually balanced. Eventually, precisely sized packaging will help reduce your business’s carbon footprint.
Choose from Various Types of Product Packaging
The packaging should also fit within your business goals and industry needs. Fortunately, there are various types of product packaging to choose from. Let’s break it down!
Folding Cartons
Lightweight and flexible, folding cartons are ideal for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food, and retail products. These cartons are made of different materials, including kraft, Solid Bleached Kraft (SBS), and Clay Coated Board (CCNB).
Some popular styles of folding cartons used are:
Thanks to their lightweight structure, they can reduce shipping costs and are easy to handle during storage and transportation. Most importantly, they are easy to print on and cost-effective for mass production.
Corrugated Boxes
Corrugated boxes provide superior strength and protection, making them ideal for shipping heavy or fragile items. They come in single, double, or triple-wall thicknesses. The most widely preferred box styles are included shipping boxes and mailer boxes.
Rigid Boxes
Rigid boxes are famous for high-end products like electronics, jewelry, and luxury goods. These boxes are larger and thicker than folding cartons and do not collapse or fold when opened. They are perfect for storing products that are heavy or need extra support.
Thanks to the unique characteristics of rigid stock, these boxes provide a premium unboxing experience and are highly customizable.
Eco-Friendly Kraft Packaging
Made from recycled materials, kraft packaging appeals to environmentally conscious customers. Yes, kraft paper is biodegradable, recyclable, and perfect for organic or sustainable brands.
Other Styles
Depending on your product’s needs, there are other packaging styles you should also consider, such as:
- Paper Bags: Great for retail stores and takeaway packaging.
- Mylar Bags: Airtight and moisture-resistant, ideal for food, supplements, and cannabis products.
- Pouches & Sleeves: Flexible, lightweight, and customizable for branding and design.
Consider Box Inserts
Box inserts are essential for securing products and elevating the customer experience. Even better, help organize multiple products and prevent movement during transit.
You can choose foam inserts to provide cushioning for delicate products. These inserts will also enhance the interior packaging, making it look luxurious and delivering a memorable unboxing experience.
Alternatively, you might have seen that cardboard is being used as custom inserts, dividers, or partitions. For cost-effective and recyclable options, opt for cardboard inserts.
Need a more durable and reusable option? Then, you should opt for plastic trays. Also known as blister inserts, these trays are lightweight and flexible, ideal for securing products during shipping.
Ultimately, if you’re searching for the most sustainable option, molded pulp inserts are the best. You can see the example of these inserts in Apple packaging. Yes, this worldwide tech brand has been using molded pulp to protect its products.
Know the Right Printing Options
Once you’ve finalized the right product packaging you need, it’s time to know the printing options to consider. Let’s discuss which one is compatible with your needs and expectations.
- Digital Technique
As the name suggests, the digital printing technique uses digital printers to transfer artwork files directly to product packaging. This method offers vibrant colors and flexibility, ideal for short runs and fast production.
- Offset Technique
Offset printing is the most popular printing technique in the packaging and printing press industry. It delivers high-resolution prints with consistent quality, making it the best option for large volumes.
- Flexography
This technique is famous as the modern-day letterpress and can withstand large quantities. Suitable for printing on flexible materials, such as plastic, foil, and film. Hence, it’s commonly used in food packaging.
Understand the Color Models
Understanding color models ensures brand consistency across all packaging. There are two types of color models used in the packaging industry:
- PMS (Pantone Matching System): It offers precise color matching for logos and brand elements.
- CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black): Standard for full-color printing. Best for photographic images and gradients.
What color models should you choose now?
Choose PMS for brand-essential colors and CMYK for general printing needs.
Choosing the Coating
Applying a coating can enhance the look and feel of your packaging while protecting it from wear and tear.
Here are some options for you:
- Matte Lamination: It provides a smooth and elegant finish.
- Glossy Lamination: Makes a shiny and vibrant appearance.
- UV Coating: High-gloss finish with extra durability.
- AQ (Aqueous) Coating: Water-based and eco-friendly.
- Varnish: Adds subtle texture and protection.
Keep in mind the desired result (the appearance of your packaging) you want to achieve when choosing the ideal coating.
The Finishing Options
Last but not least, the finishing touches have the power to add visual interest and tactile appeal, encouraging customers to choose your products over others.
Here are the best finishes for custom packaging:
- Spot UV: Highlights specific areas with a glossy look.
- Hot Foil Stamping: Adds metallic accents for a premium look.
- Embossing: Raises design elements for texture.
- Debossing: Creates indented effects for elegance.
- Die-Cut Windows: Allows customers to see the product inside.
Overall, all the finishing options above can significantly boost shelf appeal and brand recognition.
The Importance of Packaging Design
Your packaging design is the face of your brand. It influences buying decisions, builds trust, and creates memorable unboxing experiences.
A well-designed package can increase perceived value, improve customer retention, and encourage social sharing and word-of-mouth marketing. Thus, investing in professional packaging designs pays off in brand loyalty and sales growth.
Prepare the Dieline
The next step? It’s time to prepare the dielines.
What Is a Dieline?
A dieline is basically a template that ensures the accurate layout of your packaging. It serves as a diagram of your packaging that marks all the folds and cut lines.
Artwork Placement
Decide where you want to place your business logo, text, and graphics within the dieline to ensure proper alignment. If you’re new to this, consider working with a packaging designer, as the artwork should be in a vectorized format, which is composed of mathematically described lines. Moreover, the resolution should be set to 300 DPI for optimal quality.
Prototyping
For your assurance, you can request a box sample or a 3D mockup to assess the quality and design of your product packaging.
The Final Step: Production & Shipping
The final step is to produce and ship your packaging. At this stage, you should choose a reliable manufacturer with quality control standards, such as Custom Box Makers. Also, make sure you plan logistics and track the shipment for timely delivery.
Efficient production and shipping ensure your product reaches customers in perfect condition.
Final Thoughts
Undoubtedly, product packaging today is no longer just a protective shell—it’s a powerful marketing tool. In fact, packaging is deeply connected to the 4 Ps of marketing—Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. Optimizing your packaging around these four pillars ensures consistency across your marketing strategy.
Hopefully, our complete guide above helps you to achieve the best result for every aspect of your custom packaging.
FAQs
Why should we consider the purpose of the packaging?
Understanding the purpose of your packaging enables you to make informed decisions that align with your product goals and customer expectations.
How to assess the packaging needs?
You should assess packaging needs by evaluating key factors, such as product type, quantity, budget considerations, and production timeline.
What type of product packaging is best for business?
Depending on your product and business needs, you can choose from various types of packaging, including folding cartons, corrugated boxes, kraft packaging, paper bags, mylar bags, as well as pouches & sleeves.
Which printing technique should I choose for product packaging?
The most popular printing options include digital, offset, and flexography techniques. You should choose the one that’s compatible with your packaging needs and expectations.
