During packaging design development discussions, we’re frequently asked our opinion on whether seeing the product through the actual packaging makes a difference in the decision making process for customers.

The simple answer is…

Well, there is no simple answer.

Being fair, the packaging design development all depends on the product and the target market you’re looking to present to.

As far as general food and drink packaging goes, wherever possible, the target audience needs to see the product in order to make a purchase decision.

This can be via a window, carton aperture or even a suggestion of what to expect through excellent photography.

This will underline the quality on offer and encourage the purchase.

Of course this isn’t set in stone and it certainly doesn’t just apply to food and drink.

When designing and developing your packaging, your focus should always be on the customer experience.

There are of course exceptions to everything.

For example:

It could be that the product needs to maintain an exclusive customer “just for you” feel;

Or the product may be light sensitive;

The packaging is too small to structurally accommodate a window that makes any sort of difference.

It could even be that any inclusion of a product image may appear too small and seem like an insignificant afterthought.

In such cases it boils down to experience

And a lot of common sense from your design team.

This highlights that, especially in design, rules are made to be broken and careful thought can always overcome any hurdle.

Unless you’re really fortunate to be able to use some generic packaging that honestly enhances your product presentation,

Chances are your carton, pouch, sleeve etc. will need to be created from scratch, so its bespoke to you and your product,

Which means the shape and tooling dies will need to be specifically created.

With this in mind, you have the perfect opportunity to maximise impact with a clean slate.

Our advice would be to:

• Keep all considerations on brand.
• Make sure it’s commercially focused (unless you are trading B2C direct, you may have two potential audiences -the retailer and the consumer).
• Always consider your audience and their engagement experience with your product and brand.
• And finally, be authentic.

 

#packagingdesigndevelopment #creativepackaging #innovativepackaging