When’s the last time you bought a new product – something you haven’t tried before? Among the masses on the shelf, how did you decide which one to buy? Was it the cost? Maybe you read online reviews about the healthiest granola bar on the market. Perhaps a friend recommended a brand of sunglasses. Or maybe you found yourself browsing for wine, and a unique bottle caught your attention. There are a million ways that a new product can end up in the hands of a new client. And when it is your product that is performing well on all of these fronts, you’ll see new clients lining up to give it a try. Today, we’re going to talk about techniques to impress prospective clients with your packaging. Here are our top tips to create strikingly attractive, yet elegantly utilitarian packaging to impress your new clientele – take note, this is part un of a two-part series, so check back for our next article!
Your packaging can say a lot about your product. It can capture the eye, or it can be just another thing among thousands of similar things on the shelf of a grocery store. So how do you stand out? How do you make an impression? Here are our tips:
Consider the shape:
You can earn the eyes of eager buyers with an interesting packaging shape. Think about that wine bottle that we mentioned earlier. While it might cost a bit up front to make a bottle mold, that one-time expense could pique interest in those who are perusing the market for their next vino. You might consider a bottle shape that is wider and more stout for a wine with a bold flavor. Or perhaps you’ll design a bottle with spiralled grooves that turn one of your sparkling whites into a whirlwind of bubbles upon opening.
Material counts:
While it may or may not be a material world, and you may or may not be a material girl (shoutout to Madonna), material counts when it comes to your packaging. It can make a big impact. Now, let’s think about soap. There are a thousand kinds of soap out there… Lots of them come in a plastic bottle. Lots of them come in a thin paperboard box.
But your soap is different. It’s organic. It’s made by hand. It features beeswax that you collected from your own hives. It’s a creation unto itself, and it’s wildly different than most soaps you’ll find in the supermarket. So, you’ve decided to utilize a packaging material that encapsulates your ideals and the natural beauty of your hand-crafted soap. You’ve opted to utilize a thick, recycled artisanal paper that’s flecked with unique colors and textures. Your packaging couldn’t pop more, especially against the canvas of monotonous soap products on the market.
Don’t go overboard:
Don’t get too “weird” with your packaging design — it can be off-putting to some, and you still have to cater and appeal to lots of clients to turn a profit. While you’ll want to have a design that’s a bit of a black sheep, it’s still important to remain inviting and comfortable for prospective consumers. If you’re selling a product with packaging that’s too gaudy, for instance, you could lose the competition to other, more familiar looking contenders.
Know your boundaries:
Along the same lines, some packaging simply must be designed to meet existing specifications. Think about cereal boxes: They all have to fit on the same sized shelves. Or take soda bottles, for instance: A 20 ounce bottle has to fit in a soda machine properly, or else vendors won’t stock your item. Be wary that there may be restrictions on the size and shape of the packaging of your product — restrictions that you won’t have control over.
Your label is as important, if not more important than your packaging – plus, labels and packaging are inseparable and they should be integrated. Consider your product label design at the same time as you’re designing your product packaging.
Let’s go back to soap: If you’re opting for that artisan paper for your hand-crafted soaps, you’ll need a label to match. In this instance, your paper speaks volumes about your soap, so the label can be more subtle. An eggshell white and some soft pastel lettering could be enough to make the sale. Your label compliments your packaging.
Or consider the wine bottle example once again: You could opt for a standard wine bottle shape (they are far cheaper after all), juxtaposed with a complex label design. You may prefer to print out a custom-cut, dragon-shaped label to capture the essence of your boldest wine, instead of crafting those stout wine bottles.
Branding is crucial. And it’s doubly crucial if you’re selling a line of products. With the right branding, you’ll make your product instantly recognizable. Think about the big brands that you see every day: the arches of McDonald’s; the red and white curly ques of Coca-Cola’s iconic name; Starbucks’ green, crowned lady.
Strive to make a brand that’s equally simple, and equally recognizable. Your brand should speak to they type of product that your selling.
In addition, you’ll want to design a brand around which products can be customized. Leave room to let your mint cookies look different from your peanut butter cookies, but don’t make your product labels so different from one another that they don’t seem to be correlative at all.
Here at Leapin’ Lizard, we know design is in the details. It’s the little things that move products off the shelf. At the end of the day, your business’ success could come down to your packaging and product label. We can help you with that latter bit. We print custom labels for businesses across the nation. Learn more about our custom label printing services, and get started with a free quote!
Remember, check back for part two of our series on product packaging tips.