Last Updated on January 29, 2023 by Packoi Team
You are being professional means having a packaging design that perfectly represents your brand. It should also use high-quality materials. The bottom line is your packaging should make your cosmetic brand look trustworthy and effective.
In this article, you’ll learn more about how to create professional-looking cosmetics packaging that’ll increase the sales of your products.
Why Packaging Design Matters In The Beauty Industry
The beauty and cosmetics industry will be all about visual appeal. Sure, your cosmetic product has to meet the customers’ expectations after use.
But before that happens, you must convince consumers to pick up your product first. That’s your primary brand strategy.
How will you make that happen?
Through the design of your cosmetics packaging.
It’s not just about making it look beautiful. It has to call out to your target audience.
Let’s take makeup as an example. When a consumer looks at the makeup packaging, it has to evoke the feeling of confidence that it can make them look beautiful. It should make them feel good about themselves.
That’s the goal when you’re going through the design process of the cosmetics packaging.
There are also things happening in the industry that increase the importance of having good product packaging.
Big Brands Are Stepping Up
First, the big cosmetic companies are stepping up with their product packaging strategies. And they are very vocal about it.
They promote their cosmetics packaging and highlight it on social media platforms. They no longer rely on old advertising designs to promote their products.
Sometimes, even a teaser of their packaging is enough to hype their followers and excite them about a new product.
With the big names in the industry pulling out all the stops regarding their cosmetic packaging, they’re forcing everyone else to level up their packaging game.
Smaller Brands Are Getting Innovative
In recent years, many small businesses have come up with cosmetic products. Since they know very well that they can’t compete head-to-head with the big brands in the industry, they’re going a different path.
They’re getting innovative when it comes to their packaging design. It’s the only way they can make their cosmetic packaging stand out, even if it’s beside the big brands in the cosmetics industry.
Because of this, it has become a packaging competition among different cosmetic brands. So if you want to make your product stand out, be prepared to provide more impressive packaging.
4 Profiles to Consider When Designing Cosmetic Packaging
Now that you know how crucial cosmetic packaging is, let’s start brainstorming how to make your cosmetics brand the most professional and impressive on the shelf.
Since the goal is to get the attention of potential customers, your brand strategy should involve getting a deeper understanding of your target audience. You have to make sure that your packaging can attract their attention.
With that in mind, let’s look at the four profiles of your target market that would be looking at your packaging.
Consumers Reaching for Life Aspirations
Have you noticed that many big brands use a luxury cosmetic packaging design?
That’s because most people who buy makeup, skincare, or fragrance products are not just buying them because they like them. They’re buying to reach a life aspiration that they want to have.
That means your cosmetics packaging should make your consumers feel and look beautiful. Or smell like a huge success. Whatever their life aspirations are, your packaging should make your customers feel like they can achieve them.
The best way to do that is to make your product packaging look luxurious.
Consumers Supporting Sustainability
Another profile your cosmetic packaging will try to attract is the eco-friendly ones.
This is a vast market. People have consciously started making environment-friendly lifestyle choices with increasing global and climate change issues. That includes the products that they buy.
To appeal to this market share, your packaging must be more sustainable. Make your outer packaging use eco-friendly materials. The same is true for the inner packaging.
Find a type of packaging that customers can reuse so you can help reduce waste. Or opt for kraft materials and other organic elements to decorate your packaging.
Consumers of The Future
Are you trying to attract the younger part of the market? That doesn’t always mean you have modern consumers. You don’t have to limit yourself to using a stylish design for your product packaging.
Think about what young people usually want. They like fun, light, and fresh designs. Your cosmetics packaging should consider all that.
Remember that young people are usually in tune with the latest trends. Try to find the balance for your packaging design so you can meet their preferences while staying true to your brand and product.
Retailers And Wholesalers
The last profile you must consider is the retailers and wholesalers buying your product in bulk.
Think about how you’ll distribute your products. Will it be through a department store where other cosmetic companies display their products? Or will you be mostly selling online?
However you decide to sell your products, you have to get to know the packaging standards of the retailers and wholesalers. Sometimes, stores have a specific display design that your cosmetic packaging should follow.
Make sure you consider that – not just to comply with the standards but also to give your packaging an edge.
After all, you want your packaging design to stand out.
Design Considerations for Different Beauty Product Categories
Now that you know who your target market is, it’s time to dig further into your market research.
Let’s start the design process. It’s time to figure out the right cosmetics packaging design for your product line to make it look trustworthy and professional.
First, you must stay true to your cosmetic or beauty brand. There are no ifs or buts about this. It’s okay to follow trends. But you want to ensure that you follow your brand’s style.
Apart from your brand, you also want to take cues from the product you’re creating the packaging for.
You see, consumers buy cosmetic products for different reasons. Your cosmetic packaging should convince them that your product can meet their specific needs.
That means your design approach for skin care products should be different from that of hair care.
Not only that, but the packaging has to meet certain functionalities depending on the cosmetic product.
Here are the major product categories that you should consider.
Facial Skin Care
People are overly concerned about their faces more than any other part of their body. After all, it’s our face that people notice first.
This is why people are more careful about the products they’ll choose to put on their faces than all the other beauty products.
That means highlighting the ingredients when designing the cosmetic packaging of your facial skincare products. Put in text like “all-natural,” “proven safe and effective,” or “100% safe” – or something similar to that.
Make sure you give consumers the complete details of what they’re putting on their faces. The more information you can provide, the more they’ll be convinced that there are no harmful chemicals in the product.
They’ll feel more comfortable using it on their face.
Body Skin Care
This is the product category that has the most variants. You have lotions, scrubs, and even bath items. There are products for specific body parts, like the hands and feet.
The bottom line is that many companies are selling in this category of skincare products. So when designing this line of cosmetic products, you must make sure you’ll stand out.
Make sure your cosmetic packaging isn’t just informative. It has to be visually appealing as well. That doesn’t just mean you have to make it beautiful.
It has to appeal to the specific market share you’re targeting.
Makeup
This product category is all about beauty. But that doesn’t mean you should only focus on the look of the cosmetic packaging.
Since makeup is mainly put on the face, you must be transparent with the ingredients used. Show the consumers through the beautiful packaging that your products are safe to use.
This can be challenging, especially since some makeup packaging is small. Lip gloss, eyeliner, and similar products have small packaging sizes. But there are ways to provide information despite the smaller space in the packaging.
Add a website link so the consumers can know more about the product. Or put a QR code.
Don’t forget that the information should also include instructions on how to use the product. It’s not just the application but the removal as well.
Hair Care
Next to the face, it’s the hair that people care for the most – even men. So your cosmetics packaging for hair care products should assure consumers that they won’t have to worry about bad hair days.
Your packaging design should convince them that your product can make it go away. But, like all cosmetics products, you have to make sure you’re setting realistic expectations.
Give your target customers enough information to convince them that your product is safe and effective. Not only that, but your packaging should also include tips like what other hair care products should be used together.
If you can help your customers get the best results, you can get their loyalty and trust.
Nail Care
Comparing this product category with hair care, facial, and body skincare won’t be as essential. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about what this product packaging will look like.
You must understand what your customers want to see so they can be convinced that nail care is also essential.
After all, they don’t buy these products for health care purposes. It’s more accurate to assume that they believe it for hygienic purposes.
But more importantly, they want to feel glamorous. So emphasizing the chemicals used to create the product won’t matter that much to your customers.
You’re better off investing in the packaging style to showcase the nail polish’s color or how effective the nail cleaning products are.
Fragrances
This particular category in the beauty industry is slightly different from the rest. It appeals to another type of consumer base.
Why? Because fragrances like perfumes and colognes appeal to the need to feel sophisticated. Or luxurious. Sometimes, even the feeling of success.
The thing about this category is it’s all about preferences. People won’t look at whether the fragrance is made of all-natural ingredients. They are after that; the smell should blend well with their natural body odor.
That means the role of cosmetics packaging isn’t to inform the customer. It’s more to protect the glass bottle that holds the fragrance and ensure that it’s easy to spray or apply.
You can choose the shape and size of the bottle. But make sure it’s highly functional and easy to use.
6 Guiding Principles for Your Cosmetic Packaging Design
The cosmetics industry has leveled up its game regarding cosmetic packaging. Companies have become more innovative about it. When they create packaging for their products, it’s not just for protection anymore.
Cosmetic packaging is now used as a marketing strategy. Putting in the correct design elements can be a great marketing tool to help increase your sales.
This is why your cosmetic packaging design should be carefully planned. Everything that you put in there should be intentional.
All the visual elements should have a specific purpose that can help customers make a buying decision.
How can you do that?
Here are six guiding principles that help you plan the best cosmetic packaging design for your products.
Space
When you’re designing your product packaging, be careful with the space. Precisely, the white or negative space. These refer to the areas in the packaging surface that are left empty of any design elements.
That means there’s no text or illustration on it.
Why is this necessary?
First of all, that space can help you highlight something. So if you have a warning on your packaging, put white space around it so people will naturally gravitate towards it.
The second reason is for breathing. If you put a lot of instructions in text form, you need to give the readers breathing space before they consume more text. It helps with retention.
Repetition
Repetition in cosmetic packaging designs is a great way to bring your message to life. Choose patterns or elements that reflect the product that you’re selling.
Apart from that, repetition can also put texture on your packaging. Even if you only have one pattern embossed all over the packaging, it’ll make your product look sophisticated.
If you want to boost brand recognition, this is also a principle that you can use. Create a pattern using your brand’s visuals, like your logo or brand name. Has it been printed on all other cosmetic packaging so potential customers will recognize your product from afar?
Balance
Balance refers to the “weight” of every visual element in design. That includes the text, images, illustrations, etc.
Balance has different types: symmetrical, asymmetrical, discordant, radial, and mosaic.
If you choose symmetrically, you should opt for an even distribution of the visual weight in your packaging design. In asymmetrical, the visual weight isn’t the same.
Think about the best way to balance the elements in your cosmetics packaging design to represent the product well.
So if you want professional-looking packaging, you might choose the balanced approach.
Emphasis
The emphasis is usually the focus of your design. It’s the first thing that people will look at.
But this isn’t always about the focal point. But it also refers to the elements in your cosmetic packaging design that aren’t the highlight but are still important for consumers to know.
The challenge is knowing how to highlight these so your consumers won’t miss them.
Contrast
This principle is all about ranking the elements in your cosmetic packaging designs.
You can use contrast to highlight the essential elements in your packaging. Identify the focus in your design, then let the other parts compare with that one.
This will make it easier for your customers to zone in on the correct elements in your design. In a way, it organizes the information in your packaging. Your consumers will know that this is important.
It can pique the consumers’ curiosity- guaranteeing that the information you want them to know will be read.
Movement
Another consideration in your packaging design is the perceived moment of someone’s eyes when they go through your packaging.
So when they’re holding it to inspect and determine if it’s what they need, it’s safe to assume that they’ll look at the focal point first.
But after that, where will their eyes go next?
That’s the principle of movement that you have to think about when you’re planning your cosmetics packaging design.
5 Cosmetics Packaging Designs That Never Go Out Of Style
No rules are set in stone when choosing how to design cosmetic packaging. You can be as creative and innovative as you can with the packaging design of your beauty products.
However, your design strategy should be done with a purpose. Be intentional with your choices for the visual elements of your cosmetic packaging design.
You have to remember every element in your design can be used to send a message. Don’t waste that opportunity.
Here are ideas that never go out of style to help you figure out what design to use. You can use these to guide you as you finalize your packaging design.
Brand Focus
A great way to start your cosmetic packaging design process is to align it with your brand strategy.
After all, your packaging will represent your beauty brand. It’s not just about using your brand logo. Or adding your brand story in the packaging. You want to make sure it shows your brand identity.
Every font, color, and layout must show your brand personality.
Subtlety
Subtlety is a design strategy that means elements in your packaging aren’t noticeable to the consumers. They take unconscious cues based on what they see in your cosmetic packaging design.
They won’t think about how you used contrast to make a specific element stand out. They’ll just naturally put more attention to that part of the design.
This will require you to dabble a bit in the psychology of design. But if you can apply this, it’ll be easier to deliver your messages to your consumers – without it being glaringly obvious.
Unique
If you want your product packaging to stand out, make it unique. Use intricate drawings to illustrate your own identity.
But as you choose the right cosmetic packaging design that’ll make people notice you, ensure you stay authentic to your brand. Choose custom packaging elements that’ll strengthen the specific characteristics that make your brand unique.
Typography
Unique custom fonts keep growing in appeal. Many cosmetics design their packaging using fonts as the main element.
What’s great about this is you combine the need to provide information and an attractive design without using too much space in the packaging.
You can lay out the fonts so it has precise shapes that’ll serve as the actual design of the packaging. It’s a great strategy for smaller products that don’t offer a lot of space to print information.
Color Play
Your cosmetic packaging design can also rely on colors alone as the primary visual appeal.
There are beauty products in the cosmetic industry that are already colorful – like makeup and nail care products. You can use that as inspiration for your packaging design.
Another option is to tap into a bit of color psychology.
Black and white naturally stand out if you layout it properly. Black can make your product exude power. White is all about minimalism. If you combine these two, you can make your product look luxurious, elegant, and sophisticated.
Pink and purple are two of the most popular colors in the industry. Why? Because it helps evoke feelings of beauty, femininity, and luxury. You want customers to have these feelings because it helps push them to buy your product.
Consider matching color schemes with the product you’re creating the packaging for. Make sure it calls out to the people that you’re targeting in the market.
Let’s Start Creating A Professional Look For Your Cosmetics And Beauty Packaging. Packoi Printing Is Ready To Help.
Creating a professional look for your product’s packaging shouldn’t be hard. But apart from planning the design of your cosmetics packaging, finding the right partner is essential to help you turn your plans into reality.
With the right help, the packaging design process can produce the exact output you’ve always wanted.
If you need professional cosmetics packaging help, Packoi Printing is here to help. We have a wide array of services that can make the design process easier for you.
Let us know the details of your cosmetic packaging so we can give you a fair quotation.
