Packaging Design
Insights & Guides, Page 2.
Practical guides on product packaging design, label compliance (FDA, EU), CMYK vs Pantone, dieline specs, food and cosmetic packaging, and brand identity, written by a designer with 7+ years of real-world experience. See the results in our case studies, or explore the full service list.
Custom vs Stock Packaging: Which Is Right for Your Product Stage and Budget?
When generic stock packaging is the right call and when custom packaging earns back its premium cost, a decision framework for founders, brand managers, and product teams at every stage of growth.
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Packaging Design for Retail: How to Get Your Product onto Store Shelves
Retail packaging has rules that direct-to-consumer packaging doesn't. This guide covers planogram compliance, fixture types, retailer submission requirements, and what buyers look for when they review a product for ranging.
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Pantone vs CMYK for Packaging: When to Use Spot Colours and How to Specify Them
CMYK and Pantone serve different purposes in packaging print. This guide explains when each is appropriate, how to spec colours correctly, what 'colour-matching' actually means in print, and how to avoid the surprises that come from getting it wrong.
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How to Calculate the ROI of Packaging Design (With Real Numbers)
Packaging design is a cost that produces a return, but most brands don't know how to quantify it. This guide shows exactly how to calculate the financial impact of packaging investment, including conversion rate, price premium, and retail placement value.
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Sustainable Packaging Certifications Explained: FSC, Seedling, How2Recycle, and More
FSC, PEFC, the Seedling compostable mark, How2Recycle, and SCS, sustainable packaging claims require certification to be meaningful. This guide explains what each certification covers, who issues it, and how to specify and display it correctly on packaging.
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Packaging Design for Startups: What to Know Before Your First Product Launch
First-time founders routinely underestimate packaging lead times, overestimate minimum order quantities, and brief designers without knowing what information they need. This guide covers what startups need to know before spending money on packaging design.
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What Is a Packaging Dieline? A Complete Guide to Dielines, Bleeds, and Safe Zones
A dieline is the flat template that defines every cut, fold, and perforation in a packaging structure. This guide explains what dielines are, how to read them, what the key zones mean, and how to set up artwork on a dieline without expensive errors.
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Colour Psychology in Packaging Design: What Colours Signal and How to Use Them Strategically
Colour is the first signal a shopper registers before reading a single word. This guide explains what different colours communicate in the context of packaging, how category colour conventions work, and how to use colour strategically rather than decoratively.
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Unboxing Experience Design: How to Turn Packaging Into a Brand Moment
The unboxing experience is the first physical touchpoint between a brand and its customer. This guide covers how to design packaging that creates genuine brand moments, and the specific structural and design elements that drive social sharing and repeat purchase.
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Glass vs Plastic vs Aluminium Packaging: How to Choose the Right Material for Your Product
The packaging material you choose affects product shelf life, cost per unit, sustainability credentials, weight, fragility, and brand perception. This guide compares glass, plastic, and aluminium across every factor that matters to a brand owner.
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Child-Resistant Packaging Requirements: PPPA, CFR 16, and What Triggers CR Compliance
The Poison Prevention Packaging Act requires child-resistant packaging for specific product categories. This guide explains which products require CR packaging, what the testing standards are, and how to source compliant closures and structures.
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INCI Ingredient Lists for Cosmetics: How to Write, Order, and Display Them Correctly
Every cosmetic sold in the US, UK, or EU must carry an INCI ingredient list in the correct format and order. This guide explains what INCI names are, how ingredient order works, where the list must appear, and the differences between US and EU requirements.
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Fragrance and Perfume Packaging Design: Components, Regulations, and Brand Considerations
Fragrance packaging is one of the most technically complex categories in cosmetics, crimped pumps, glass flacons, capillary tubes, IFRA compliance, and allergen disclosure all interact before a scent reaches a consumer. This guide covers everything indie fragrance brands need to know.
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How to Manage a Packaging Redesign Without Losing Sales or Confusing Customers
A packaging redesign done badly can disrupt retail ranging, confuse loyal buyers, and strand existing inventory. This guide covers how to plan a packaging transition, manage the retail and e-commerce handover, and protect the brand equity you've already built.
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Private Label Packaging: How White-Label Products Get Their Own Brand Identity
Private label is how supermarkets build own-brand ranges and how entrepreneurs launch products without manufacturing from scratch. This guide covers how private label packaging works, what you can and can't change, and how to build genuine brand differentiation on a white-label product.
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Packaging Copywriting: How to Write Copy That Sells on Shelf and Online
The words on your packaging work as hard as the design. This guide covers the hierarchy of packaging copy, from the front panel headline to the back panel story, and the specific techniques that turn browsers into buyers.
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Subscription Box Packaging Design: How to Create an Experience Subscribers Look Forward To
Subscription box packaging faces a unique challenge: it must delight on first delivery and continue to feel worth opening on the twelfth. This guide covers box structure, inner experience design, insert strategy, and how to manage packaging costs at subscription scale.
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Beverage Packaging Design: Cans, Bottles, and Labels That Perform at Shelf
Beverage packaging is one of the most contested shelf spaces in consumer goods. This guide covers the design and regulatory requirements for beverage cans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles, and what separates the brands that stand out from the ones that disappear.
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Gift Packaging Design: How to Create Packaging That Works as a Gift Without Redesigning Your Product
Gift occasions drive a significant share of premium product sales, but most brands treat gift packaging as an afterthought. This guide covers gift box formats, seasonal packaging, gift sets, and how to build a gifting strategy into your packaging system from the start.
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How to Choose a Packaging Printer: What to Ask, What to Check, and How to Avoid Costly Mistakes
Choosing the wrong packaging printer is expensive. Bad colour, missed tolerances, wrong substrate, slow turnaround, and hidden setup fees are all preventable, if you know what to ask before placing an order. This guide covers how to brief and evaluate packaging printers.
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Packaging Photography for E-Commerce: How to Shoot Product Packaging That Converts
The product listing image is the most important sales asset in e-commerce, and it's a photograph of the packaging. This guide covers how to shoot packaging for Amazon, DTC, and social media, including lighting, angles, styling, and the specific requirements for each platform.
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Paper and Board Grades for Packaging: SBS, GD2, Kraft, and How to Specify the Right Substrate
The board grade you specify for folding cartons, labels, and corrugated packaging determines print quality, structural performance, and cost. This guide explains the main paper and board grades used in packaging and how to specify them correctly in a print brief.
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UK Packaging Labelling Requirements After Brexit: What's Changed and What Brands Must Know
Since Brexit, the UK has its own packaging and labelling regulations separate from the EU. This guide covers the key differences for food, cosmetics, and general product labelling, including the UKCA mark, UK responsible person requirements, and the new UK calorie labelling rules.
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Minimum Type Sizes and Legibility Requirements for Packaging: A Practical Guide
Regulatory minimums for packaging text size vary by market and product category, and in most cases, the regulatory floor is too small to be practically legible. This guide covers the rules in the US, UK, and EU, and the practical minimums that produce readable packaging.
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