The brief

Detailing of your product

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Quality briefs are  the linchpin for the work a packaging design agency does. It’s the quality of the brief that largely dictates if the creative work which follows is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, good or bad.

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The project plan 

Keeping your brand on customers’ minds

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As with any project plan, a packaging design project must also be held accountable by timings, dollars and quality. A great project plan will in essence keep the designer honest and ensure the outcomes of the project remain on track, without blowing deadlines and budgets.

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Research 

Brainstorming of product need

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Today many brands receive relatively little media and advertising support. Therefore the retail package on the shelf is the advertising campaign and has to do all the heavy lifting. In just few seconds, at the shelf,  the pack design must not only attract attention, engage the consumer, tell the brand’s story and convince the consumer to buy.

 

To make a sale, there are two battles at shelf you have to win. First, people have notice your product and reach for it (as opposed to something else). Secondly, people have to drop it in the cart. You have to win both battles. The product’s packaging is the only weapon you have to win.

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Developing the concept

Making of your product with new approach

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During this development of the concept design stage, the needs of the target market are identified, competitive products are reviewed, product specifications are defined, refined until selected.

When developing concepts the following should be considered:

• Brand identity: What is the brand essence? What does the brand stand for? What is the distinctive personality? What image it the brand trying to convey?

• Positioning: Packaging often portrays the products positioning of price and quality. Where is your product located on the product positioning map Price vs. Quality?

• Consumer persona: Who is your target customer? How can you use design to make an emotional connection?

• Colors: Packaging colors account for nearly 85% of the reason why someone purchases a product.

• Fonts: The most important thing here is to get the right balance between legibility and visual appeal.

• Images: There are occasions where an image picture of what is inside the packaging can increase consumer confidence. However today’s trend is for simple graphics and symbols.

• Checking design elements against brand guidelines

• Proofreading all copy carefully.

• Paying particular attention to regulations

The initial design concept/s does most likely will not include specifics. Instead it will focus mainly on color palettes, shapes, graphics, materials and other material options that appeals to the consumers many sensory levels: visually, tactility, emotionally.

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Design refinements

Fine-tuning the Product Design

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The selected packaging design is now polished and refined for the last time, determining the necessary finish. Client’s may request changes to color, typography and even graphic imagery. The objective is to ensure the final design communicates the intended deliverable’s.

Careful attention and consideration is given to:

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• The final brand identity

• Shapes of the letter forms are balanced, and the spacing are refined.

• Structural dimensions, secondary copy

• Layout and positioning

• Colors, and imagery are all reviewed.

• All copy is proofread.

• All legal and regulatory requirements are checked and approved

• Slight alterations to the selected design

Here are some key points which must be ticked off the design checklist.

Does the design:

• Deliver shelf stand-out

• Differentiate on shelf – Clear differentiation from competitors and line segments and varieties of complex product lines

• Align with the brand persona- The design must graphically support the brands color palate and persona

• Clearly convey positioning

• Communicate communication hierarchy and product attributes including usage, qualities,size, benefit, flavor and characteristics

• Call out features, benefits or changes

• Create emotional connection

 

Design the Dieline

Templating your product design

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The dieline is the template for a package. It’s a flattened outline of the cutlines and folds.
You cannot create a product package design without one!

• A dieline is the flat template for the package.

• The dieline is the digital document that contains the precise drawing indicating the shape and structural specifications of a package.

• The dieline serves as a package template that ensures proper layout for the printed product.

• The dieline is a diagram showing all the cut lines and folds of a package in flattened form.

• The dieline is usually put together by the packaging designer in a vector program, like Illustrator, using simple lines and shapes.

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Finished Art 

Product final Outcome

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This is where the design goes into production and the approved packaging design concept becomes a reality. This is where the integrity of the approved design is maintained all the way through to the printing process. This is where design production takes layouts from finished art to pre-press and digital ready states.

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The role of finished art – is about taking elements from multiple sources, such as clients, image libraries, Creative Graphic Designers or Art Directors, laying it out on a page with appealing typefaces and images utilizing a variety of layout techniques. The finished artist is often more technical than creative.  This vital function, done poorly, will greatly increase the risk that the visual aspects of the chosen packaging design will be “off brand” and can send production and print costs skyrocketing.