Five pitfalls to avoid in packaging design

Assuming that package design is a straightforward process can compromise a company’s brand, supply chain and even financials.

The team from Studio One Eleven - the design and innovation division of Berlin Packaging - has more than 150 years’ experience creating successful packaging. Here, they outline the common pitfalls they’ve encountered - and tips for avoiding them.

Ideation without a solid foundation

Brand positioning, consumer insights, competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, market trends - these factors and many others are the building blocks of a proper design process. But many agencies overlook or simply don’t seek out these critical inputs. Designing great packaging requires a full and accurate analysis of where, how, and for whom a package must perform, addressing factors from costs to merchandising to sustainability.

Designing without the supply chain in mind

A good package solution is much more than a compelling visual; it’s a well-reasoned response to a commercial opportunity that can be manufactured efficiently and flow smoothly through the whole supply chain.

Narrow thinking

It’s important to appreciate the visual vernacular of the product category in which you’re competing, but ground-breaking solutions also take cues from outside the category and challenge conventions in ways that consumers appreciate.

Designing for the sake of design

Properly framed, design is the creative means to a commercial end. Marketers and brand owners want to engage partners and advocates who pursue a common-sense goal of building a successful brand.

Accepting misaligned incentives

Agencies that sell their time are, by definition, driven to take more of it, sometimes placing their financial incentives at odds with their client’s need for speed and efficiency. On the other hand, package manufacturers are incented to fill machine capacity, so their decisions aren’t driven by the best solution for the brand but rather the best solution that they can manufacture. You should pay only for real performance and ensure that your interests and those of your partners are aligned.

“There are lots of players in the market today that say they’re qualified to develop a product or package. Very few, however, have the skills, the tools, the aligned incentives, and a certified process to do so properly,” said Scott Jost, vice president of innovation and design at Studio One Eleven.

“With all that is at stake, companies are wise to work with a team that is well-versed in every aspect of developing this critical business asset.”

Studio One Eleven’s recently launched refreshed website, www.studio111design.com, features an array of content that informs package and product design decision makers. The site includes an overview of the company’s practice areas and ISO-certified design process, examples of work and white papers.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Dmytro Kozlov