The Importance of Packaging Design

Author: Interics Designs

Packaging design is one of the most powerful marketing mediums which is still surprisingly underestimated by many companies. It can be your 24x7, 365 days lasting medium of advertising on retail shelves. Though it may be heartening to see that companies have of late realized the importance of packaging design, it continues to be a low priority for many brands. Packaging design is of crucial importance in the branding process, especially in the case of new product launches. The packaging design and materials used in the packaging work together in creating a perception in the minds of consumers regarding the product quality.

As packaging design is what customers finally see, it has a huge impact on the brand identity. Apart from other touchpoints where the customer is exposed to the brand, packaging design plays the most significant role, since it is the physical manifestation of the brand.

Packaging design is an extremely critical facet of marketing and needs to be a priority of any brand. Packaging design is a medium to highlight a product’s unique selling (USP) while conveying the brand identity. Unique packaging design not only permits the product to stand out from the crowd, but also contributes to the brand identity. Underestimating this power of packaging design may prove to be a mistake down the road.

Evoking the right emotions is an essential part of an effective marketing strategy. Packaging design is an obvious medium to evoke emotions in prospects. Packaging can be considered the promise of the brand about their product and adds to the brand experience of consuming the product.

Some of the latest trends in packaging design are:

  1. Use of illustrations & collages

    The use of hand-drawn elements is one of the most popular trends in packaging design.

  2. Increased use of gradients

    Gradients are a simple and practical way to add colour and texture to simple designs. The use of gradients in packaging design is a major trend in the industry.

  3. Use of unconventional typography

    Typography is by itself an art form. Choosing the right font is crucial to brand communication. The use of unconventional typography in packaging design is trending with unique fonts and experimental, stylized text that gives your packaging an edgy and potent look.

  4. Use of handmade & handcrafted designs

    The ‘Handcrafted Look’ is trending in the world of packaging design. An increasing number of customers are preferring brown craft paper with plain white or black printing. Shiny packaging is declining in popularity and the world of the slightly unpolished ‘Handcrafted Look’ is here.

  5. Introduction of sustainable packaging

    As people become more aware of the environmental impact of packaging, many businesses are placing more importance on the use of sustainable, reusable and recyclable packaging. Fewer plastics and other non-degradable materials are being used, with an increased focus on sustainable packaging.

  6. Deployment of value-engineered packaging

    This trend entails making the most of a product’s packaging by reducing waste, maximizing space, and making the packaging functional in design. This trend is basically about using every part of a product’s packaging for the most functionality – whether for storage and shipping, repurposing and reusability, or advertising your brand.

  7. The advent of personalized packaging

    As personalized marketing has taken over in the digital arena, it has also become a hot trend in packaging design. Many companies are now personalizing colours, visuals, and even special messages for clients in their packaging design.

It is necessary for B2C businesses to understand how their packaging design represents the entire brand. It not only informs about the contents but is also an extension of the brand. The right packaging should express the brand cohesively through its contents and design.

While packaging design may not seem as important for a B2B company, it is still highly recommended to invest in it. There are both short and long-term benefits of investing in high-quality packaging. From improving the client experience to establishing the branding of your company - great packaging design does it all!

How can Interics IN-BRANDS help?

With the requisite market research and design intelligence, Interics IN-BRANDS creates effective packaging designs that convey the brand promise and benefits in rigmarole-breaking design that’s aesthetic, practical and unique. From brand naming and label design to structure design - our Packaging design process helps your product develop your brand to stand out to your clients, and create memorable experiences for them.

About Interics IN-BRANDS

Interics IN-BRANDS is a division of Interics Designs, a branding agency in India with more than 30 years’ track record as a design agency, brand launch agency, and packaging design company India. We have an admirable portfolio of clients for brand positioning strategy, startup branding, corporate identity program in India, product launch strategy, creative packaging design, spatial branding, cohesive Integrated Branding and much more.

An apt example of a well-executed branding and packaging design project by Interics IN-BRANDS:

Client: Octagon Foods LLP

Brief background

Octagon Foods is an agribusiness company engaged in the business of edible oil and nutritious food products.

With their years of experience in the field of food grains & edible oils, Octagon sought to leverage its expertise and transition from its purely B2B business model into the retail market by launching a branded range of ‘Meal Essentials’ products.

Approach

To differentiate Octagon from the competition, Interics positioned it as a progressive, holistic agri-foods brand delivering high-quality, pure food essentials packaged with expert care while creating collective well-being through the value/supply chain.

Interics proposed to create the brand’s value perception by bridging the business legacy and philosophy with modern nutritional awareness and needs, in the consumer’s mind. SarvPure- Pratha Shuddhta Ki reflected the Brand Motto and guided the brand’s unique visual expression combining authenticity and rootedness with contemporary design appeal that was resonant with consumer aspirations.

Solution areas

Conducting an exhaustive brand naming exercise and finally arriving at a brand name that conveys the ‘pure’ journey of the products from farm to kitchen. The purity aspect was also eloquently expressed in a Hindi tagline, designed to resonate with their TG.

  • Developing a strong and resonant visual identity for the brand.
  • Developing a comprehensive packaging design strategy for the complete range of products.
  • Building a robust information architecture and packaging design based on brand identity, visual language, colours, typography, imagery styles, product descriptors, and other brand properties
  • .
  • Developing innovative & expressive packaging designs that conveyed the brand story and differentiated product value for the various offering segments in the SarvPure portfolio.
  • Designing content-rich marketing collateral such as websites, brochures, point-of-sale material, etc. for an effective, synergistic retail launch.

Outcome

SarvPure was recently launched in regional markets. The initial impact of the carefully thought out brand with clutter-breaking design is testimony to the desired appeal and forthcoming growth of the brand.

Visit www.intericsdesigns.com to find out more about our Packaging Design and Branding services.