Last Updated on June 1, 2023 by Packoi Team
A paper bag can help grow businesses – but you need to use the right design to maximize it.
In this article, you’ll discover several paper bag designs that can inspire you to create an effective marketing and advertising tool for your brand.
10 Design Ideas for Your Custom Paper Bags
If you want to create a paper bag for your business, you don’t have to build everything from scratch. You can do your research to find the best paper bag inspiration out there.
Let your potential customers inspire your paper bag design. Or it can be inspired by the type of business that you have. Your paper bag can represent your brand’s advocacy.
Or the bag can be designed for a specific occasion or season.
Custom paper bags come in all shapes and sizes. To help you find the right design for your paper bag, here are 10 design ideas that you can draw inspiration from.
Soft Colors
Printed paper bags are great at attracting attention. But that doesn’t mean the bag should be in bold or striking colors.
You can create a paper bag design with soft colors. Choose pastel hues for your paper bag like light pink, yellow, blue, and green.
When people look at the paper bag, the soft colors will give a calming and soothing vibe. If that’s the effect that you want your brand to have, choose the same for your paper bag.
Eco-Friendly Message
You can hit two birds with one stone through your custom paper bags. How? By using your paper bag to send an eco-friendly message.
Choose a kraft paper bag material to promote sustainability. Make sure your paper bag design uses eco-friendly materials only. From the tags to the ribbons and adhesives that’ll be used on the bag – ensure they’re all sustainable.
You can also print messages at the bottom of the paper bag like “Recycle this Bag” or something. Let your customers know that your brand encourages them to practice sustainability.
Floral Patterns
Using a floral paper bag design never gets old. There are several floral patterns to choose from.
Paper bags can use linear floral designs. Or you can do cartoon-looking flowers for your paper bag. You can even do floral crafts and attach them in patterns to your paper bag.
Stamps and stickers can also be an option for the floral design of your paper bag. Use your creativity and you should be able to come up with different floral drawings for your brand’s bag.
Neutral Swirls
Your brand’s paper bag can also use swirling patterns to make them look unique. You can keep the paper bag design from being too overwhelming by using neutral colors like brown, beige, cream, etc.
The paper bag can have an all-over print of the swirls. Or you can do a spot print and just have it in the center of the paper bag. Just take note of the different sizes of your paper bags.
The swirls in neutral colors can make your bag look elegant and fun at the same time.
Brand Name
If you want to stick to simple paper bags, just put your brand on them. Use a kraft paper bag and print the logo or name of your brand in the center.
Sometimes, the lack of other design elements in your paper bag will keep the attention on your brand. The customer won’t feel distracted by anything else on your paper bag.
Not only that but when people see the bag from afar, they’ll immediately see your brand name. That’s how you can design your paper bag to advertise your business.
Color Blocks
Another option for the design of your paper is color blocks. Choose different colors for every side of your paper bag.
Or you can have squares of colors arranged in different sizes and printed all over your paper bags.
The goal is to have a mix of colors in specific areas of the paper bag. When done creatively, this can make your paper bag stand out. It’s a simple way to design your bag and it’ll look clean, too.
Black And White
This is a simple yet powerful way to design your paper bags. Use black and white as your main color scheme.
There are many ways to apply this paper bag design. You can make your paper bag white and put black silhouettes. Of you can do it the other way around. The paper bag will be black and the print pattern will be white.
It could also be as simple as a black paper bag with a white print of your brand name. It’s an eye-catching design for luxurious paper bags.
Brown Kraft Paper and Doodles
Using kraft paper bags is an excellent idea if you want to build an eco-friendly reputation for your brand. By itself, a kraft paper bag is already deemed sustainable looking. It retains the natural color of paper – making it less harmful to the environment.
If you think that this paper bag design will look boring, you can always add doodles around it. This will make the paper bag look more fun.
Use eco-friendly ink to print on the paper bag to ensure that it’ll remain 100% sustainable.
Product Photo
If the paper is meant for a specific product, use that as the design. This will be like a preview of what the customer is carrying inside.
This paper bag design is a good option for product launches. You’re not just giving customers packaging to carry their purchases around. You’re also setting it up as free advertising. As customers carry the paper bags around, your brand and product will be exposed.
Your paper bag can increase both brand and product awareness.
Bold Statement
Your paper bags can also be created to make a statement. For instance, you can print the words “Save the Earth” on a kraft paper bag.
Nike’s “Just Do It” is also a powerful statement. Come up with something that you can put on your paper bag design.
Statements like “Make Every Second Count,” “Make A Difference” or “Be The Good.”
These are short yet very inspiring and powerful messages to print on your paper bag.
5 Paper Bag Styles to Try Out
When you’re creating custom paper bags, don’t just focus on the design that you’ll print or put on it. You also have to consider the paper bag style.
What will be the shape or size? What materials will the paper bag be made of?
Consider the image that you want your brand and business will have. Combine that with the main function that you expect from your paper. You’ll get the ideal style for your paper bag.
To give you ideas, here are some paper bag style trends that can inspire you.
Die Cut Handles
Instead of using a rope of ribbon as the handle, use the die-cut technique for your custom paper bags. Cut a handle near the top part of the paper bag.
Think of a kraft paper bag. Cut a hole that’s big enough for an adult’s hand to go through. If the whole paper bag isn’t made of thick paperboard, reinforce the handle with extra material. This way, the paper bag design won’t tear when customers carry it with them – especially if there’s a heavy product inside.
Consider designing the handle so it fits the hand comfortably and won’t cut through the skin.
Ribbon Closures
You can also create custom paper bags with ribbons that can be tied close. You can be creative in applying this type of closure.
One way is to attach a ribbon on one side of the paper bag and then put a hole on the other side. Or you can have two ribbons attached on either side of the bag. Tie them to close the paper bag.
What’s great about this paper bag design is it makes for a great gift bag as well.
Plantable Materials
If you want to be more sustainable with your paper bag design, you can do more than just use kraft paper.
You can take it one step further by using plantable materials for your custom paper bags. Use eco-friendly materials that can easily decompose when planted in a garden.
Packaging companies have come up with seed-based materials that can transform into functional paper bags.
After the customer uses it, they can plant the paper bag. This will help solve the growing packaging waste problems in the world.
Uncoated Paper
Coating custom paper bags with plastic film or laminate adds a layer of protection and makes them more durable.
However, this also means the sustainability of the paper bag is compromised. Even if you use a kraft paper bag, if you use plastic laminate, you can’t claim that it’s eco-friendly.
While there’s an option to use eco-friendly laminate, you can also join the trend of creating uncoated bags. This will ensure that the bag is 100% recyclable.
Functional and Reusable Bags
Custom paper bags can also be made to be both functional and reusable. That means the customer has the option to convert the paper bag into something else.
For instance, you can create a kraft paper bag with a robot design. Kids can cut out parts of the bag and turn it into a toy.
Reusing the paper bag is just another way to make your packaging solution more sustainable.
Let’s Get Started on Your Paper Bag Design. Packoi Printing Is Here to Help Product the Best Bags for Your Brand.
The customer paper bags that your business will use plays an important role in your overall marketing strategy. With the right design and style, your paper bag can be an effective advertising tool for your brand.
Don’t ignore its potential to increase your sales.
It’s time for you to create a paper bag that can contribute to the growth of your business.
With the help of Packoi Printing, you can find the right elements to add to your paper bag.
Get in touch with us so we can talk about it. Give us a call with your details and we’ll get back to you with a fair quotation soon.
