Tips When Creating Custom Packaging Design That’ll Stay Ahead of Your Competition

Last Updated on June 15, 2024 by Packoi Team

If you don’t maximize the potential of your packaging, you’re missing out on a lot. Your box packaging can be a powerful tool, not just to stay competitive but also to grow your profitability.

In this article, you’ll get incredible tips that can help design competitive product packages that’ll surely leave your customers impressed and wanting more.

10 Tips to Make Your Custom Packaging Design Competitive

A competitive product packaging design doesn’t just happen. It has to go through a specific design process to ensure that you’re covering all the elements that you need to incorporate.

But don’t get intimidated by it. With the right guidance and enough research, you can find the perfect design that’ll blow your competition away.

When that happens, your packaging won’t have a problem attracting the attention of your target customers. Even if your product is placed on a shelf with other brands – it’ll stand out. People will come near that shelf to get your product and take a closer look.

That’ll take you one step closer to getting a sale.

How can you turn this scenario into a reality?

Here are 10 tips that can guide you. 

Start With A Purpose

An essential part of any project is starting with a purpose. So, if you’re designing custom packaging for your product, don’t do anything else until you’ve identified your purpose.

Although the main goal is to get more customers to buy your product and to stay ahead of the competition, it helps to identify a deeper purpose than that.

What do you want to achieve? Is there a message that you want your box packaging to convey?

When your customer sees your packaging, what do you want them to feel?

These are some of the questions that you should ask yourself to find the purpose of your packaging.

Take note that the purpose of every packaging you make doesn’t always have to be the same. It might differ depending on who you’re targeting, or you might have a different message for your market.

This is why you must find the specific purpose of every packaging before you start designing it.

Check What Your Product Needs

Another thing that you can do is to understand what the packaging needs to fulfill for the product. 

How big is the product? You must adjust the box size accordingly to ensure it won’t be too cramped. For heavy or larger items, you may need to create special product packaging to fit.

Or if the product is fragile, the packaging should provide the protection that it needs. You have to put in enough fillers or bubble wrap to ensure that it gets to the customers in good condition.

Even the design of the packaging should reflect the product’s content. If the product requires special handling, the outer packaging should indicate this. The same is true if the product has special instructions to be used properly.

Think About Your Brand Story

The packaging of your product is the first thing that your customer will see. That means you have to make sure it has the right brand elements in the packaging design.

That begins with your logo. You have to incorporate it into the design. It doesn’t have to be the focal point. But it needs to be present in your packaging.

Your custom packaging should use recognizable elements that you know your customer will associate with your brand. Like if you use a specific pattern for most of your products, add that to your packaging.

If your brand story has a specific theme, use it as the design inspiration for your packaging. It should be aligned with your product, so it’s a good design approach.

Be Clear About Your Message

Your packaging tells a story. But that story will depend on your product packaging design.

Your design can help you decide what message your product packaging will send to your customers.

This isn’t just about putting words and texts into the packaging. That’s the direct way of doing it. But there are other ways of sending a message through your product.

So let’s say you want your packaging to strengthen your brand identity. You have to put branding elements into the design.

If you want to convey your support for sustainability, use the right materials for your packaging.

In case you want to evoke a certain emotion, make sure you use the right elements in your design.

Make It Fun

We all want to have fun. So if you want your packaging to stand out, you can always create it to make your customer feel excited about it.

There are a few ways you can do this.

You can make your custom packaging design look unique. Give it a die-cut design or let it transform into something else.

Or you can use fun materials or funny designs that’ll capture the attention of your target market.

As long as your product stays on brand, it’s okay to experiment to find the best packaging design to make it stand out from the shelf.

Consider The Handling

The inspiration for your product packaging can also be functional. That means you’re designing it so the customer has an easier time handling it.

So if the packaging is for fragile items, you want to include things that’ll protect it. Make sure the inner packaging uses either bubble wrap, packing peanuts, or tissue paper.

Or if you’re designing the packaging of a cosmetic product, what does it need so the customer can use the product properly? What packaging materials can you use so the customer’s handling of the product will be easy and convenient for them?

Go For What Makes You Unique

One of the obvious ways to stay ahead of your competition is to make everything about your brand unique.

That includes your packaging design. So, when you develop packaging for your products, think of a unique design that’ll make it pop. Your custom packaging can have a unique shape.

Or you can create custom boxes that the customer can interact with. For instance, the outer packaging can be made of a material that allows the customers to write on it like a chalkboard, or they can turn something on the packaging to make it change color.

These aren’t just unique; they are fun ideas that will leave a lasting impression on your customers.

Opt For Sustainability

If you want to show your customers that your brand is here to make a difference, opt for sustainable packaging.

This means using cardboard boxes and custom tissue paper that won’t harm the environment.

But this isn’t just about using the right materials for your product packaging. It could also be about giving information about green practices that the customer can apply to your product.

Things like proper disposal after they’ve used the product. Give your customers the right information so they won’t use your product to harm the environment.

Look At The Latest Trends

If you want a visually appealing packaging design, you can look for inspiration from the latest trends.

You can start by looking at the custom packaging of your competitors. Then check out the latest design of packaging layers so you can see which one can be applied to your own.

You don’t have to be very radical with the way you follow trends. You can just take note of the popular colors and illustrations.

There may be new graphics that’ll fit well with your product.

By doing your research, you can discover new ways to design your packaging. If you’re creative about it, you can even create your design out of these trends.

Stay Authentic

With all these tips that you can use to design custom boxes for your product, there’s one thing that you shouldn’t forget.

Always stay true to your brand and your product. Even if your product packaging follows the latest trends, it won’t matter if it’s not aligned with what you stand for. It also won’t matter if it’s not the right fit for the product that you’re selling.

If your outer packaging doesn’t match what you have inside, it’ll just lead to confusion. That can turn off your customers, and it won’t help you stay competitive.

Important Considerations When Designing Your Custom Boxes

Apart from your products and brand, you have other things to consider to ensure that your custom packaging box has the right design.

Remember, this is going to be part of your brand strategy. It’ll reflect your brand image. That means your packaging needs to go through the design process thoroughly. Don’t skip anything because it might just be the thing that’ll help your product rise above the competition.

Having mentioned that, let’s review all the other considerations you need to make to get the perfect design for your product packaging.

The Customers

Next to your brand and product, it’s your customer that you have to be most concerned with. Packaging plays a significant role in convincing your target audience to buy your product.

So before you create your custom product packaging, you have to get to know your customers first. Find out what they expect from you. What do they want to see? What type of packaging will attract customers’ attention?

The answer to these questions will do more than just pinpoint the elements that’ll give your market an eye-catching package design.

It can also help you create packaging that will lead to a memorable brand experience.

The Sales Channels

Once you have a full understanding of what your customers expect from your custom packaging, you should consider the sales channels next.

These refer to the retail shelves or the online shopping websites where customers will see your product. It’s the venue where they will interact with the product for the first time.

How will you design your packaging so it’ll stand out in these places?

In a physical store, you have to compete with the other products on the store shelves. You even have to think about the shopping bag where your products will be placed after purchase. Consider how your packaging will look with these other elements.

When it comes to online stores, the packaging won’t play a huge role in getting customers to buy. Its role will come after. Once the customer receives the product and sees the package design, that’s when it becomes powerful.

The packaging of online products can help you turn new customers into loyal ones. Make sure the packaging gives them a great unboxing experience – something that they won’t forget, and they’d want to experience again.

The Essential Information

The information that you’ll put on the product packaging will also affect the design elements. It’s not just about the brand identity.

Most customers look for information that can help them use your product better. Some would need to know what the product is made of. If they like what they read on the packaging, there’s a chance that the customer will buy it.

That’s why you shouldn’t make it hard for them to find it. Use the packaging to give them the data that they need.

If you’re going for minimalism and you only want the brand logo to show in your packaging, that’s fine. You can use the inner packaging to put more information about the product.

The Aftermath

As you think about packaging designs, ask yourself one question. What happens to the packaging after the unboxing?

You have a lot of options when it comes to what happens to your custom packaging after the customer takes out your product. You can help reduce waste by using a reusable box as your packaging. Use a custom box that’s sturdy enough to be used as storage.

By using the right materials and design, you can make your packaging look good enough to be a decorative piece at home or in the workplace.

Use your creativity so your packaging won’t be a waste.

The Budget

Creating product packaging will require a budget. This is why you need to come up with a budget before you do anything else.

Depending on how much you can spend, you can determine the type of packaging that you can choose. This will also help you decide on the right materials and packaging design that’ll fit your budget.

If your vision for the packaging is too expensive, you can find more cost-efficient alternatives. You can talk to the supplier so they can help you find the right packaging options that’ll work well with your budget restrictions.

The Professional Feedback

There are many software programs and tools that you can use to design your custom packaging. But it always helps to get professional advice to make it better.

If your budget can’t accommodate paying for a graphic designer, that’s okay. If you choose the right supplier to produce your custom packaging, they might offer professional advice as part of their service.

Give them your ideas and the different elements that you want to include like the brand logo, colors, font, etc. They can give their expert opinion on how to create the packaging design that’ll suit the product that you’re making it for.

Let’s Start Working on Competitive Product Packaging. Packoi Printing Is Ready to Help.

There’s a lot at stake with your packaging. It’s part of your brand strategy and can help you attract the right customers so make sure you’re using the right design. It can help you stay competitive in the market.

If you use the right custom boxes, you can make your product stand out even amongst other products in the store. Make sure you know your box and design options so you can choose the right one to use.

When you work with Packoi Printing, you’ll benefit from our years of experience and expertise in producing packaging for different purposes. We’ll help you find the right packaging for your product.

Do you want to get started? Share your ideas with us so we can give you a quotation.