Four top tips from our packaging design masterclass
Many of our clients come to us with the simple objective of getting consumers to pick their brand off the shelf, and packaging design obviously plays a crucial role in achieving this.
Food Matters Live wanted to help brand managers and owners understand what makes effective packaging and how you go about creating it, so they enlisted the help of Popp Studio co-founder Andrew to deliver a packaging design masterclass.
Andrew’s masterclass drew on his experience delivering packaging design for some of the world’s most loved brands, from Desperados to Dishmatic, and Cadbury to Cawston Press.
A lot was discussed, so Andrew has picked four key tips that resonated with attendees to share here.
TIP 1 – Assessing your current packaging design
“One of the first questions asked in the session was how to assess your current brand, and in particular, its packaging. There is a longer answer to this, but a short one is just to ask yourself some simple questions we use as a guiding light for everything we create at Popp Studio.
Does it have a big, compelling idea at its heart?
Is it impactful?
Is it distinctive?
Is it engaging?
If you’re answering, yes, then you’re in a great position. If not, it might be time to delve deeper into why.”
TIP 2 – Defining a redesign catalyst
“If you’re a new brand, it's obvious, but if you’re an existing brand, understanding the catalyst for a redesign is an essential part of forming a solid brief. And a solid brief always delivers better creative work. Here are some example catalysts:
Do you have exciting new innovations or products launching?
Are your competitors catching up or pushing ahead?
Are there shifting societal views or a new audience to cater to?
Have aesthetic trends in your category moved on?
Or, simply, is this the best expression of your proposition?
Being clear on your catalyst helps focus your strategic and creative work and sets you up for success.”
TIP 3 – Avoiding the “Evolution vs Revolution” question
“It’s the question that has come up in so many briefing sessions in my career, but never delivers a satisfactory or clear answer: what scale of change are you looking for?
The problem is "evolution" and "revolution" are different things to different people, not least to different brands, with specific challenges to solve and objectives to meet.
We recommend doing an audit assessing the whole identity, so you are beginning from a truly granular, strategic start-point, with a clear perspective on what’s timely and what’s timeless for your brand.
This is one tool of many that can help inform a robust design strategy.”
TIP 4 – The design concept presentation sweet spot
“This is the exciting part of the packaging design process, but to really get the best out of the work (and keeps things efficient), you need to find that sweet spot for deliverables.
Too few, and you can’t assess the robustness of a design, too many, and the focus shifts from landing on a great idea and becomes about execution, which wastes time.
And, always review the work in context to ensure robust early decision-making – you have to understand the competition to beat them!”
