1. Design Positioning: Finding the Core
Design positioning is the central meaning or theme of your packaging. Its primary purpose is to highlight what makes your product unique compared to competitors, focusing on key aspects while setting less critical ones aside.
Of course, the design theme encompasses various elements, such as:
- The product and its brand.
- The product and its target consumers.
This can feel like a lot to manage. You need to emphasize your product’s unique features while simultaneously building a connection with the consumer.
To avoid this, here are two key suggestions:
1. Identify a Core Focus: You must have a central theme. Without it, your design lacks direction.
2. Avoid Overloading: Having too many focal points is as ineffective as having none. A cluttered message can also lead to a loss of theme.
Another important point to remember is that your packaging design cannot appeal to every consumer. It should be tailored to resonate with your specific target audience.
2. The Packaging Design Process: From Concept to Reality
While market and consumer analysis are typically the responsibility of the brand, not the designer, the design process begins once the designer understands the client’s needs. Below is a standard design workflow.
Step 1: Sketching
This initial stage captures the designer’s creative exploration. Sketches document the evolution of the idea. Typically, the designer will select the most promising concepts from these rough drafts to develop further. This includes initial concepts for elements like the logo and the overall format or structure of the box.
Step 2: Color Roughs
At this stage, the designer refines the chosen sketches using tools like watercolors, gouache, markers, or colored pencils. The designer now has a much clearer vision for the packaging, including the final presentation style, the intended printing processes, and the materials to be used.
Step 3: Digital Mockups & Renderings
After communicating with the client and refining the design, the designer creates detailed production files on a computer. This includes the exact position and color of every design element, along with precise specifications.
Based on these files, photorealistic 3D mockups or simulations of the finished product can be created. This step is crucial for identifying potential production issues before any physical samples are made.
Step 4: Sampling & Physical Prototypes
Once the digital design is finalized, the next step is to create a physical sample. While a design team may not have large-scale proofing machinery in-house, they partner with professional packaging and printing companies to bring the design to life.
A Note on Sampling Costs:
Many people wonder why sample fees can be high. This is often due to a lack of familiarity with the customization industry. If your design requires special processes like hot stamping or embossing, dedicated plates and tooling must be created. For mass production, this cost is distributed across thousands of units, making each box affordable. However, for a single sample, the cost of setting up these processes is concentrated, which explains the higher fee, especially for complex, manually assembled boxes.
Step 5: Mass Production & Finished Product
The final step is the full-scale production run that transforms the approved sample into the finished consumer product. While this step may seem straightforward, the entire process from initial concept to finished goods can take a month or more, even under tight timelines. Revisions and adjustments are a natural and necessary part of this journey.
Final Advice for Project Managers:
If you are commissioning custom-designed packaging, frequent and clear communication with your designer is essential. There can often be a significant gap between the effect you imagine and the final design produced. Your active involvement and feedback throughout the process are key to a successful outcome.
View Our Customized Services
