How to make your package design stand out

Your package design makes or breaks your product – at least at the promotion and sales stages. But creating the right kind of package design is a challenge. It is not just about the budget but rather finding the right agency who understands the brand story and is able to create a package design that not only stands out but aligns with the brand’s vision.

In this article, we look five ways you can create your package designs that will ensure your products stand out in the marketplace and open the doors to increased sales.

Your package design makes or breaks your product – at least at the promotion and sales stages. But creating the right kind of package design is a challenge. It is not just about the budget but rather finding the right agency who understands the brand story and is able to create a package design that not only stands out but aligns with the brand’s vision.

In this article, we look five ways you can create your package designs that will ensure your products stand out in the marketplace and open the doors to increased sales.

Photography as the hero

One of the best ways to create a truly outstanding package design is to use professional photography as the base of the design. For this strategy to work, the quality of photos should be really high. It is worth investing in a professional photographer to really showcase your products or related props. Framing the photos onto the canvas of the packaging should pop out and create an impact.

Here is an example of a package design we did for one of our clients where photography is the hero and is used elegantly to create a powerful design.

Brand pattern as the hero

Every brand aiming for the consumer market should have an official brand pattern which should be used to reinforce the brand identity. A brand pattern is used by most major brands to create recall with great effect. For packaging, the brand pattern comes in quite handy to create an elegant and impactful design.

Here is an example of a package design we did for one of our clients where the brand pattern takes center stage and creates really powerful packaging.

Logo design as the hero

Although all packaging would have the brand logo somewhere – preferably prominently, sometimes you can make the logo design itself the foundation of the package design. This depends on the market segment of the course and would not be recommended if you are in the luxury market segment where the logo would have to be subtle and understated.

Here is an example of a package design we did for one of our clients where the logo design is bold and almost overpowering the entire design. You can read the full case study here.

Brand elements as the hero

In certain cases, rather than use the entire logo design as the foundation of the package design, you can use elements of the logo design to form patterns and the basis of the packaging. In these situations, you have to be careful not to go too overboard with the usage of brand elements.

Here is an example of a package design we did for one of our clients where we took elements from with in the logo design and used them to form a background pattern that is subtle and still creates the right impact and ties all the brand items together into a cohesive package design. You can read the full case study here.

Custom illustrations as the hero

For certain industry segments like food and beverage or the restaurant and fast food industries, custom illustrations used in package design can create great impact. These illustrations should be related to the brand, their product or the world-view of the audience.

Here is an example of a package design we did for one of our clients where we created custom sketches and illustrations of various ingredients that the client use in their dishes and used those as background design elements on the packaging, stationery design and menu design. You can read the full case study here.

Creating packaging design can be fun. At SpellBrand we love working on packaging not only in terms of the design but also strategy, message development, ideation and bringing to life a creative campaign.