Disruptive Package Design

By Paul Siems

Packaging is everywhere we go – in every business and household.

Consumer goods fall into the most competitive, fastest-growing, look-based market sectors on the planet. To create an emotional reaction in your consumer and trigger that 'buy now' response, your package design needs to disrupt the visual space in its category. This book outlines a common-sense approach to the matter and methods that can be executed on any budget.

Take the following into consideration:

How do I create category-busting designs on a minimum budget?

How do I find design solutions when there is no market research to reference?

How do I deliver concepts that will outperform others on the shelf?

How do I understand my clients' expectations?

Why do graphic designers need to ask questions?

Whether you're a graphic designer, a product developer, a start-up looking for that edge, you'll find value in what this book has to offer. You are going to be able to find creative direction for package design at your competitor's expense as well as project management solutions, and much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667808550

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

A No-Nonsense Approach to Package Design

This is it. The best, ‘no-nonsense’ approach to taking a blank canvas and producing something that disrupts the package design sector. Sure, you may have come across similar offerings, but this book is going to get into all the nitty-gritty details without any of the technobabble and help you achieve success within this sector of the creative industry. We’re not just going to be brushing the surface; we are going to be excavating the whole niche.

I’m Paul Siems and the chances are that you may have already read some of my other publications. If you don’t already know this, I am a creative professional who has been in the graphic design game for many years. In this time I have honed not only my skill set, but my approach to the entire industry, and I am going to be letting you in on some sneaky tricks of the trade that will have you laughing all the way to the bank. If you’re already into package design and you’re feeling a little lost or burnt out lately, you might just be failing to plan your work dynamics efficiently. Don’t sweat it. You’re in the right place. I’m going to take you through the entire process; from intricately understanding your project all the way up to conceptualizing, designing and finalizing your project. On the other hand, if you are looking to break into this challenging yet oh-so-rewarding sector, this book is your one-way ticket to getting there faster.

This book is based on my own study in pursuit of package design mastery. A common-sense approach to design. In my pursuits there has always been something so rewarding about walking into a national retailer and seeing a product design that I created on the shelf.

My work!

Right there!

It creates an energy all its own.

You want that feeling too, don’t you? You can have it! All you have to do is follow these tricks.

Before we jump right in, I want to get something out of the way straight out of the gate. My intention is not to drill down into all of the ‘techno-babble’ that most industry guides get into. No; my intention is to give those of you who are interested in package design a common-sense approach to it all and to offer a method that can be executed on any budget. Whether you’re a graphic designer, a product developer, a start-up looking for that edge, or just random person looking for insight into the package design world; I’m certain that you’ll find value in what I have to share.

One thing that I want to focus on is budget. If you haven’t ever sat at a boardroom table across from a client with a literal zero budget set aside for market research, trust me when I say you are one of the lucky few. Graphic designers will often find themselves in a situation where their client has no funds for market research. Imagine trying to design and market a product when you have no idea about who you are supposed to be marketing to, let alone how or when to do it.

Frustrating right?

Well, it doesn’t have to be. These tricks can be applied irrespective of marketing budget. In fact, I would even be so bold as to say that by the end of this book, you are going to be able to produce package artwork that performs well on a totally non-existent marketing budget.

Not sold yet?

Let me fill you in on the value that you’ll be getting out of this book. You are going to be able to find creative direction for package design at your competitor’s expense by assessing their projects and then outsmarting and outselling them. Before you can package a product that will sell successfully, you first have to sell yourself successfully; and it all comes down to making yourself appear to be more valuable than the competition. Be cognizant of the fact that you are in, or about to enter, the most competitive, fastest-growing, looks-based market on the planet.

Keep your stakeholders engaged!

It will make or break your experience during the process.

There are only two main factors which will ultimately guide your creative direction for every single project:

1. The Product Itself; and,

2. The Market.

All you will be doing is playing a game of connect-the-dots between the two and digging out the underlying creativity. This book is your shovel.

Let’s get digging.

CHAPTER 1: THE PROJECT

Know What You’re Working With

When it comes to any sector of the creative industry you have to know what you are working with in terms of your project.

Seems pretty obvious, right?

You would be amazed at just how many creatives miss the mark during this phase of work, so don’t take this chapter for granted. There is an entire checklist that you need to be sure to tick off before you can even think of moving on to your competitive analysis, let alone the conceptualization stage! You need to be able to answer the following questions as your point of departure with any project:

□ What is the product?

□ Who’s buying the product?

□ How are people buying the product?

□ Is there a creative brief?

□ What are the brand requirements and their guidelines?

If you can successfully answer all of these questions, you will be ready to move on to the next phase of the project. These questions will serve as the foundation upon which you will build out your concepts and it will be absolutely vital to the success of your project

What is the product?

This is a given with any packaging design project. You have to know what you are working with in order to create a design around it, but do you know what you need to know about the product? Packaging is not just a good looking box or sleeve used to catch the customer’s attention; it also needs to serve a specific function for the product. Everything from whether or not the product is a liquid or a breakable substance, to its size and weight will determine how you go about designing a package for it.

You will want to determine the factors that will inform you as to details such as whether or not the packaging will require a polyethylene lining; or perhaps a Styrofoam lining for larger or more delicate items. You will further need to assess the density of the material to be used for the outer packaging; including the card stock and finish.

Who’s buying the product?

Your target audience is also going to influence the way in which you design your packaging. The audience data will speak to what colors to use, what type of illustrations or graphics, as well as what type of font to use. Imagine packaging a luxury item with a crayon font, or packaging a children’s product with fancy sans serif font. You need to know who the product is geared towards in order to make an informed decision on the overall design.

Are you designing a product for the visually impaired? In that case braille demarcations alongside traditional font should be employed.

Are you designing a product that is geared towards a more environmentally conscious clientele? In that case you need to use packaging materials that are indicative of going green, so to speak.

How are people buying the product?

This will be an equally important question to answer. You will need to know the shipping and storage logistics of the product as this will dictate the strength of materials to be used, as well as whether or not you will need to include any protective materials. These could include bubble wrap, wedges, fluted cardboard or Styrofoam, to name but a few. This will be apparent with products that are sold online, in particular. Products as those will have to be tightly packaged, and depending on the product itself as determined earlier, they may further need the aforementioned protective materials.

Is there a creative brief?

Your client’s creative brief should contain information regarding the product, key demographics, brand requirements and guidelines, and whether or not your design needs to tie into previous works. It should include details that you would need to work from should you be taking up a project that fits into an existing product range. These should speak to the overall design and highlight color codes, previous design dimensions, and fonts used. We’ll explore the creative brief in further detail once we wrap up the key questions.

What are the brand requirements and their guidelines?

The brand requirements should generally be included in the design brief. The requirements may come with a set of guidelines as per how the branding should be used. These guidelines should speak to the brand’s history, core message, logo usage dos-and-don’ts - including examples of how it has been used on corporate stationery - and image styles that work best with the logo color palette.

So how do you answer all of these questions?

You have to engage with the right personnel if you have been hired by a corporate client; or work closely and collaboratively with your client themselves, if you have been hired by a private client. The design process is a deeply personal one for your client. It will be influenced, not only by current trends, but by your client’s personal taste and preference. Due to this fact, you have to bear in mind that collaboration will be your ‘word-of-the-day’ from start to finish.

You will need your creative brief from your client before you can get started on any meaningful work.

So what exactly is a creative brief?

When some clients first hear the term ‘creative brief,’ they are quick to assume it’s just about the visual elements included in their artwork.