Introduction
In the retail world today, half the battle is getting the consumer to notice your product on the shelf. With so much competition, it’s more important than ever to have eye-catching packaging that grabs a shopper’s attention. This is where packaging design comes in.
Requirement #1 for great packaging is looks. If your packaging is well designed and eye-catching, then it will stand out on the shelf and attract consumers. We shop with our eyes first, bear that in mind.
Good design isn’t just about being colorful. Good packaging connects visually to the market you’re attempting to capture.
"Consider a product designed for kids. Bright colors, cartoon characters, and a sense of fun are the ideal appearance. Something that’s organic and aimed at the health-conscious consumer, on the other hand, might benefit from brown paper and minimal printing." Madaline Tudose, Web Designer
Packaging helps to build a brand, so ensure you are subscribing to the brand tone-of-voice across all elements.
Good packaging should also be clear and easy to read.
Keep packaging simple and minimal . Consumers like to open something simple and also feel good about buying a product that's sustainable.
"Consumers want to know where the product is made and what the ingredients are. They may want to know nutritional information on food products, side effects and warnings on medication or cleaning products, and whether the product is organic or sourced from ethical sources." Madaline Tudose, Web Designer
Consider shelf differentiation. How will your product stand out from the rest? Design with visibility in mind. And don't forget that a product's packaging is a key component of a brand's marketing strategy.
What do we do?
You have been given a famous person from the world of pop culture. You've also been given a product category. Your famous person wants to launch a product in that category .... help them brand and launch it.
Think of your famous person's brand, create a style guide. Research the product category. Become an expert in that field.
Also research packaging design. Find innovative solutions, sustainable solutions. Collect, download, photograph, cut-out ..... immerse yourselves in packaging design.
Brand Identity?
Yes. Think of your recording artist as a brand.
- Think of three key words or phrases that describe their brand personality (for example "Fun, Frivolous, Colorful" or "Dark, Scary, Gothic") as this will determine the tone-of-voice that will be applied to your designs from color to copy.
- Identify a primary and a secondary font that will apply across your designs. The primary font will be for headline copy.
- Also identify a color palette that you will use.
- Maybe even a quote that is representative of who they are, this could be a line from a song.
- Then, download a "brand style guide" one-page template from Adobe Stock and edit it so it acts as a cheat-sheet or guide that you will refer to throughout the design process.
Do this BEFORE you begin to think about the packaging itself.
And then?
Applying your brand identity, design a series of packaging assets (labels, imagery that will go on boxes, cans, bottles, whatever) that will help this product gain global dominance. Find out what's trending in its market category, what colors are popular, what typefaces and visuals are used by their main competitors. Maybe tie it in to popular culture, but make sure it's appropriate for the product, brand and target audience.
Design and ideate through sketching initially. And then work your ideas into Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. These are standard sizes for labels, other packaging products like boxes and cans and so on are dependent on the product size:
- Wine Label 3.5 x 4 in
- Beer Label 4 x 3 in
- Water Bottle Label (16 oz) 8 x 2 in
- Water Bottle Label (8 or 12 oz) 8.25 x 1.75 in
What to consider when making a label
Measuring your item
Before working on your label, you have to identify the item you will place it on. You can use a ruler for flat objects and surfaces, or a printable ruler or tape measure for items like bottles.
Picking the right label size
Consider margins and the overall look of the item once you’ve placed the label. Will the label have enough room in the space? One tip that might help you would be cutting out the dimensions on a piece of paper and placing it against the object you’re labelling.
Coming up with the right design
Consider your objective for making a label. Afterwards, look for or come up with a design that matches your intent. Incorporate your personal preferences or brand look in your work.
When's the Deadline
Your designs are part of a two-step process. Once they are ready, save them as PNGs in your project folder. You will be importing these into Substance where they will be mapped onto actual 3-D packaging elements. You will arrange these into a scene as demonstrated in the Monday 10/16 Illustrator/Dimension Demo, photographed (you'll see what I mean) and saved either as PNGs or JPGs. Upload to Behance with your style guide, sketches and research as a project and submit via Canvas as well as posting the finished product shots on Slack. The date for this is 11/06 by end of class.
Why?
Packaging design can really invigorate a brand. It can breathe new life into their tired products. As an advertising creative you'll find that packaging will offer you an under-sung canvas to communicate your brand story. As effective as a billboard in Times Square!
Have fun and be creative!
But wait, here's an intro to working the project through Illustrator and Substance 3D Stager. (I could talk about Capture and Photoshop too .... but there's not enough time!!!)