The way we interact with brands is rapidly changing. As the role of packaging design evolves, it is important to keep up with trends that will make the biggest impact creatively, culturally and commercially. To make sure your packaging stands out from the crowd, follow these 10 top tips.
01. Communicate Clearly
It's not about trying to grab attention with louder messages promising more and better. Designers need to cut through the crowd with clean, clear and concise packaging communication.
02. Stay Focussed
Know your own mind and know your brand – true creativity comes from being fearless, original, diverse and determined in your vision.
03. Appeal to Desire
We need to think about packaging design as the art of desire, and simple, straightforward and single-minded is often (surprisingly) the most desirable.
04. Buck the Trend
Don't be afraid to disrupt the norm. Don't give in to the style and expectation of others. Be bold and resolute in your design approach.
05. Get Creative
The most exciting packaging design finds new and creative ways to deliver something that will exceed the expectation of a unique experience time and again.
06. Think Ethically
Packaging is now responsible for ticking lots of boxes: global, ethical and sustainable. This should always be integral to today's design thinking and not an add-on.
07. Strike up a Dialogue
Packaging needs to start a conversation on an intimate one-on-one level and as a talking point for the wider world. We need to design new and meaningful dialogues.
08. Invite People
Find ways to create some space rather than a totally finished package design. Let people interpret the design for themselves and fit it into their own lifestyles.
09. Use New Technology
Technology has created an age of more emotive and intuitive design, and we now need to find inspiring ways to truly apply this to packaging design.
10. Understand Your Position
We are change-makers. The best packaging designs come from understanding both need and desire to create exciting, relevant and game-changing solutions.
This article was originally published in Computer Arts magazine issue 252.