Both flexible and rigid packaging need an effective and original graphic design that arouses the consumer's curiosity and interest and convinces him to buy.
Below you will find a small guide with all the tricks to create an attractive and professional design, including mistakes and risks to avoid.
To design packaging or its graphics, you must first think about their function. The container is there to protect and preserve the product, while the graphics must attract the buyer's attention, inform him of the product's features and guide his decisions.
You will then choose the type of packaging, flexible or rigid, based on the product's preservation characteristics and the company's values, such as sustainability. Then you will need to set the graphics on an effective, original and persuasive communication.
Most packaging manufacturers take care of the technical design of the packaging and provide their customers with a template to create the print file themselves. Consequently, in this article we will focus on the creation of the graphics to be included in these templates.
Graphics for flexible packaging offer a few more opportunities than other types of packaging, but they also require some special tricks.
In the case of doypack pouches, in fact, the entire surface is printable, whereas in traditional packaging forms such as cans, tins and bottles, only a part is used for labels and graphics. This is a great advantage, but care and awareness are needed to exploit it.
When creating the graphics for a doypack pouch, we therefore suggest that you
Given the large print area, it is particularly important to create a clear and effective graphic design that guides the consumer's eye to the essential information.
Packaging design for the food sector has some additional requirements, mainly related to food safety regulations and the mandatory information it must contain. First of all, the choice of materials used must be compatible with the food contained, so as not to pose a health risk to consumers.
In addition, it will be necessary to include a series of mandatory information in the graphics for the food label, such as:
For some specific foodstuffs, other mandatory data are also added, such as origin or alcoholic strength.
Below we have put together a list of seven basic rules for creating safe, compliant and effective packaging. You can use it as a guide when creating your design or as a checklist to make sure you haven't missed any essential steps.
As already mentioned in the section on doypack design, each type of packaging has specific characteristics to pay attention to. Before you start working on your project, ask yourself:
These are fundamental prerequisites for effective communication.
When you start designing a graphic, it is useful to think about the goals of communication.
For example, for an organic product it will be useful to emphasise consumer health care, natural and sustainable production processes, and certification.
This information will help you set up your work correctly and guide you in choosing images, fonts and colours that express exactly what you want.
Branding is important for the recognition of your products and for customer loyalty. Try to choose colours, fonts and graphic elements that reflect your company's personality and match your brand.
Going back to the previous example, if the product you are creating the label for is part of an organic line, but your brand is known for modern and innovative cosmetics in luxurious packaging, a country-style packaging might not be a good idea.
In the second step, we chose the elements to be emphasised. In packaging design, a conscious use of composition, colours, contrasts and fonts is important, not only to create an aesthetically pleasing result.
Make sure that all these elements guide the eye to the essential information and highlight it. Generally these include the brand, the product name and its distinguishing features, but may be different from case to case.
Graphics can be eye-catching and effective even in a simple style. But even in the case of complex and unusual designs, it is important not to overcrowd spaces and create confusion by including too many visual elements.
In addition, by leaving sufficient spaces free in strategic points of the graphic, it is possible to use them for later modifications and additions, such as in the case of a new product line, a limited-edition or the sticker of a promotion.
Depending on the type of product that will be contained in your packaging, there are specific standards and mandatory information that must be included in the graphics.
Make sure this information is always clearly visible and easy to find.
An original and eye-catching design catches the eye, but packaging also plays an important communicative function and must help the consumer make purchasing decisions. Readability and clarity are therefore essential.
If there are conventions in the type of packaging you are working on regarding the positioning of information elements, such as nutritional values or expiry date, do not break them. Make sure that the buyer finds them where he expects to see them, quickly and without difficulty.
We have already seen all the tricks to create an original and effective packaging design, but it is only fair to also talk about the most common mistakes in this process. Below you will find a short list of things not to do.
Follow all these steps to create a graphic ready to conquer the shelves!