{"id":23956,"date":"2016-07-06T18:47:05","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T02:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/?p=23956"},"modified":"2024-01-19T07:42:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T07:42:28","slug":"10-golden-rules-designing-package","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Golden Rules for Packaging Design"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Packaging design is deceptive sometimes, especially for those new to product design. It seems so simple but there are so many considerations for a packaging design to work.<\/p>\n<p>Not only should the packaging be able to contain the items safely and securely, not only should the packaging be eco-friendly and easy to ship, not only should the packaging look good, it should also compliment the product and the brand.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re a beginner and you want to get it right the first time, here&#8217;s a basic product design guide to successfully designing an effective and good-looking product packaging.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ab6cbdbf92\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ab6cbdbf92\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#1-be-direct-to-the-point\" >#1 BE DIRECT TO THE POINT<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#2-be-consistent\" >#2 BE CONSISTENT<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#3-design-for-your-market\" >#3 DESIGN FOR YOUR MARKET<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#4-find-out-what-has-been-done-before\" >#4 FIND OUT\u00a0WHAT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#5-choose-whats-affordable-without-compromising-quality\" >#5 CHOOSE WHAT&#8217;S AFFORDABLE WITHOUT COMPROMISING QUALITY<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#6-choose-easy-to-read-fonts\" >#6 CHOOSE EASY-TO-READ FONTS<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#7-make-sure-its-functional\" >#7 MAKE SURE IT&#8217;S FUNCTIONAL<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#8-dont-steal-artwork-of-any-kind\" >#8 DON&#8217;T STEAL ARTWORK OF ANY KIND<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#9-make-at-least-three-options\" >#9 MAKE AT LEAST THREE OPTIONS<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/10-golden-rules-designing-package\/#10-test\" >#10 TEST<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1-be-direct-to-the-point\"><\/span><strong>#1 BE DIRECT TO THE POINT<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Customers, even the most loyal ones, want to know right away what you\u2019re offering. They simply have no time or attention span to analyze what it is you\u2019re actually selling.<\/p>\n<p>Make sure that in just a few seconds, they can get all the important details and information without much effort.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2-be-consistent\"><\/span><strong>#2 BE CONSISTENT<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Make sure that the design of your product packaging is consistent to the branding and design of the website, posters, merch, and more.<\/p>\n<p>You cannot be too cluttered or else you\u2019ll have to go back to the start and correct everything. Start with the brand and the big idea first before you make the individual design for each packaging or collateral.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3-design-for-your-market\"><\/span><strong>#3 DESIGN FOR YOUR MARKET<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Who\u2019s your target market?<\/p>\n<p>Are you designing for teenage boys who love punk music and skateboarding or are you designing for yuppies that prefer to stay home and chill during weekends?<\/p>\n<p>You cannot design for everybody because everybody is not your market. Once you\u2019ve defined who you\u2019re trying to attract, it will be a lot easier for you.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4-find-out-what-has-been-done-before\"><\/span><strong>#4 FIND OUT\u00a0WHAT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Research the packaging designs that has been done before.<\/p>\n<p>They could serve as your inspiration or they could serve as your limit (you don&#8217;t want to do what has been done a lot of times before).<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5-choose-whats-affordable-without-compromising-quality\"><\/span><strong>#5 CHOOSE WHAT&#8217;S AFFORDABLE WITHOUT COMPROMISING QUALITY<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>By now, for sure you already know the cost of most materials.<\/p>\n<p>The basic stuff like white paper is cheaper to print on than colored paper. But there are so many options nowadays that there&#8217;s always new stuff to learn. If cost is a concern (and I assume it always is), choose the materials and colors that would be a cheaper alternative.<\/p>\n<p>Just make sure you&#8217;re not compromising quality.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6-choose-easy-to-read-fonts\"><\/span><strong>#6 CHOOSE EASY-TO-READ FONTS<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Avoid using fancy, curly, swirly fonts because not everyone can decode in five seconds or less.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Remember Rule #1,<\/strong> you have to be clear with your message because everyone has an attention span of a goldfish.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7-make-sure-its-functional\"><\/span><strong>#7 MAKE SURE IT&#8217;S FUNCTIONAL<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Who cares if your design looks good if it doesn&#8217;t serve its basic purpose- which is to contain and protect the product?<\/p>\n<p>Functionality should never ever be compromised.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8-dont-steal-artwork-of-any-kind\"><\/span><strong>#8 DON&#8217;T STEAL ARTWORK OF ANY KIND<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You don&#8217;t want to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/design-copyright-infringement-costly-cases\/\">sued for thousands of dollars like these guys<\/a>. Even if you&#8217;re trying to do a parody, you have to contact the owner of the artwork.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"9-make-at-least-three-options\"><\/span><strong>#9 MAKE AT LEAST THREE OPTIONS<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You can&#8217;t just make one design because you can&#8217;t be so sure which one works best.<\/p>\n<p>Make at least three samples because even the best designers can&#8217;t get it right the first time. It&#8217;s added work, for sure, but that&#8217;s how it&#8217;s done.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"10-test\"><\/span><strong>#10 TEST<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No matter how brilliant you think your packaging is, the consumers still have the last say. Print samples and gather at least 20 people and get their opinion.<\/p>\n<p>If that&#8217;s tedious for you, simply upload your designs and let people vote. That&#8217;s the best way to know which works.<\/p>\n<p>______________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b><i>James Hill<\/i><\/b><i> is a veteran of the music industry. He first worked at Warner Reprise Records then later joined Interscope\/ Geffen Records where he managed producers and songwriters and got his first platinum record for Keyshia Cole&#8217;s The Way It Is. He is now helping indie artists with branding and manufacturing through his company <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/\"><span class=\"s1\"><b><i>Unified Manufacturing<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a><i>, a CD\/DVD\/vinyl and merch company in LA.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Packaging design is deceptive sometimes, especially for those new to product design. It seems so simple but there are so many considerations for a packaging design to work. Not only should the packaging be able to contain the items safely and securely, not only should the packaging be eco-friendly and easy to ship, not only [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,4,6,25,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artist-tips","category-cd-manufacturing","category-dvd-packaging","category-graphic-design","category-packaging-design"],"contentshake_article_id":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23956"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29771,"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23956\/revisions\/29771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unifiedmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}