Packaging Design, and Label Design

Packaging design keeps the world organized! Whether it’s a beer bottle, a chocolate bar, or a box—if packaging design doesn’t exist, it’s as if the product itself doesn’t exist. Quality packaging and product label design distinguish yourproduct from countless others and play a key role in brand building and promotion. A product that visually stands out will be noticed much faster. On average, consumers need about 5 seconds to decide whether to purchase a product. Some products are bought intentionally, while many are purchased through so-called impulse buying.

Is the designer the only one involved in packaging design? This is a common question, but the answer is: the designer is the creator of the packaging—but based on the needs of the market. Not the company or the brand alone, but the targeted market segment. The creation of packaging design typically involves the brand team, the marketing team, the packaging designer, and the prepress specialist. The final design will largely depend on what the company wants to achieve with the product on the market—and, of course, on the guidelines provided to the creative agency by the client.

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Why Is Packaging Important?

Packaging is not just a box for displaying, storing, or transporting a product — it identifies, differentiates, and creates impact on the shelf in order to attract the target audience. Packaging design is the visual creation of the exterior of your product. This includes the choice of materials, colors, fonts, logo, and more.

Effective packaging highlights specific aspects of a product or service benefits, such as quality (premium vs. economical) or physical attributes (such as taste or scent). As an important part of the brand, its role is to communicate the brand message by positioning the product against its competitors.

Packaging design begins with creating the graphic design for the entire product range, ensuring every SKU fits cohesively into the product line it belongs to. This is a visual language consumers understand instantly — one that helps them more easily find your product on the crowded shelves of hypermarkets.

Before We Start Designing the Packaging

3 important questions:

1. What is the product?
This is the fundamental question and refers to the size of the product, its key characteristics, the material it is made of, etc. For example, if the product is delicate, it will require more secure packaging; if it is flammable, it must be placed in specially designed protective packaging.

2. Who buys the product?
Is the product used by men, women, or both? Is it intended for children or for people who are environmentally conscious? For consumers with a higher budget or those with lower income? Packaging design must appeal to the consumer, so it is essential to know who that consumer is before the design process begins. If a product targets a premium buyer, the packaging must convey luxury.

3. How do people buy the product?
Is the product purchased online, in a supermarket, or in a boutique? The design approach differs depending on whether the product is sold exclusively online or needs to stand out on store shelves. If you can answer all of these questions, that’s excellent — and it will help us significantly in creating the most effective packaging design.

Content That Must Appear on Packaging

There is certain content that is legally required to appear on packaging, such as declarations, barcodes, and similar information. This varies from country to country and also depends on the specific industry. Some products — such as food or cosmetics — require additional information to be included for different product batches (expiration dates, batch numbers, etc.).
You likely won’t want to print these directly onto the packaging because they change regularly, but you will want to reserve space for a label or stamp that will later be applied with this information.

There is also content that you should include in order to differentiate your product on the market. This is the part of the text that needs to be created by a creative team or a copywriter.

Additionally, if you use photography, make sure that the rights to the image have been purchased and that the entire process is entered fully legally.

Design Style — What You Like and What You Don’t

It’s a good idea to do a bit of style research before we begin designing the packaging. What types of packaging do you like? What caught your attention? Which colors appeal to you, etc.?
However, this can sometimes be a double-edged sword, because the style you personally prefer isn’t always the style that fits your brand.

For example, you might like a certain shirt pattern, your aunt’s curtains, or a font you saw in a sandwich shop. Remember one thing: you are not creating design ideas for yourself, but for your ideal customer. Maybe you personally prefer something shabby or ultra-chic — but what if you’re selling baby products? Then your personal style is not the right solution.

Budget for Design

The packaging design budget can be divided into two categories:

One-time costs
Itemized costs

What are one-time costs?
These may include the entire creative process, meetings and consultations with the team, the unique design concept, and print-ready preparation.

Itemized costs may include various expenses related to materials, print method, colors, print passes, and the production of print plates (clichés).

Packaging Design in 7 Steps

Once we have gathered all the necessary information, the most exciting part begins — the creative work and design! Let’s recap: we’ve collected everything we need, and now we want the packaging to tell a story — the so-called storytelling. Everything gathered from the brief will now help us create the entire design concept.

1. Design Depends on the Type of Product

If your product requires two or three layers of packaging, then we must pay attention to every detail.
For example, chocolate can be packaged in one, two, or sometimes even three layers — inner, outer, and transport packaging. Perfumes also require multi-layered packaging, especially if they are premium products. The outer packaging can also serve as protective packaging — it is the first thing the customer sees and plays a major role during product delivery.

Inner packaging protects your product from damage. For instance, inner packaging preserves the freshness of ready-to-eat meals, pâtés, or certain types of sliced products.
When people think of “packaged products,” most imagine only the box. However, packaging includes much more — a well-designed label, a wrapper for a chocolate box, and so on. Every design must tell a story.

2. Choose the Right Type of Packaging

Here, you must be very careful with what you choose. A good rule of thumb: start with your product above all else. What is its primary purpose? Who are the buyers? What kind of design do you want?
For example, will your bottle of rakija have only a label, or will it also be placed in cardboard packaging (a box)? This depends on its final use and positioning.
Here are a few things to consider when choosing the right type of packaging for your product:

Product

Everything begins with the creative! It’s always like that. If the creative direction is strong and the packaging design is done excellently, even a single label can look outstanding.
Just because the packaging consists of only one label does not mean it can’t look premium.

Competition

It’s definitely important to look at the competition — but never to copy them or try to do the same.
They may not have done everything correctly either.
Being different is always the best approach, and that is what you should strive for.

Packaging Highlights the Product’s Features

Packaging design should emphasize the important characteristics or specific benefits of the product. One way to highlight key information is by using special materials such as foil labels or metallic inks that attract the viewer’s attention. Another method of informing and attracting customers is showcasing the product more directly through acetate or cellophane windows.

Showing the product can be an effective strategy because it reduces uncertainty and helps customers feel more confident when making a purchase. For some products, their most important qualities are their features. By designing packaging that includes an additional list of benefits, attributes, or other key information, the designer encourages interaction with the observer. As we know, once the product is placed in the hands of the consumer, half the battle is won.

Packaging and Label Design

We offer outstanding design solutions for all types of labels and packaging. We are capable of executing the entire project from start to finish — from developing the product name, selecting the packaging, choosing the type of paper or foil, to photographing the product and creating 3D models.

Shrink Sleeve Label Design

Take a look at an example of shrink sleeve label design for the Eurocrem product, in the variant where the packaging uses a shrink sleeve.

Shrink sleeves (also known as shrink-wrap labels) are one of the highest-quality ways to present packaging. The print quality is excellent, and the product looks visually impressive.

PRODUCTION PROCESS

Print Preparation

One of the most important elements after the packaging design itself is print preparation. Print preparation varies depending on the type of packaging—whether it is paper packaging, cardboard, foil, etc. Another key factor is whether the printing will be done using offset or flexo printing.

In flexo printing, when preparing files for foils, special attention must be paid to spot colors, as well as to any photography used, since images must be specifically adapted for this type of printing.
A great deal of attention is also given to rules regarding minimum font sizes for declarations, as well as barcode specifications.

From Packaging Design to Brand Building

Creating a unique packaging design is something achieved through significant effort and dedication. We have a team that will deliver an outstanding packaging design for your product. Our goal is not only to support you through design, but also through our marketing and consulting services. We help you build a brand strategy that guides how your newly designed product will succeed on the market.
Investing in marketing is the best investment. Some of the world’s biggest brands don’t even produce their own products — but their marketing is extraordinary.

Which Elements Matter Most?

The appearance of your packaging — your brand’s visual identity:
Everyone will notice your logo, brand name, and color palette. All these elements must be appealing and convey a clear image of your brand.
This is where design and creativity take the spotlight.