3 Things to Consider when Designing Food Packaging

From the humble can of beans to the posh carton of organic smoothie, food packaging is diverse, what makes the best examples work?

Out of all design fields, food packaging is one of the most innovative, exciting, and rapidly evolving. It can make the product more attractive, protect it from damage, and extend its shelf life. With the growing environmental concerns, sustainability also needs to be taken into account. So before designing your next piece of food packaging, and giving your creativity free reign, consider the following three points:

1. Product Protection and Preservation

The purpose of food packaging is, first and foremost, to protect the food it contains and to preserve it for as long as possible. There are a few common packaging materials and it’s important to become familiar with the pros and cons of each and to choose wisely. The type of food, target market, and distance to the selling point are some of the factors in play here. While glass is relatively cheap, recyclable, and allows consumers to see the product, it is breakable and heavy. Paper and cardboard, on the other hand, can withstand heavy weight and is easily decorated, but tends to tear easily. So remember to be practical, not just creative!

2. Communication

Top shelves on supermarkets are premium, dozens of brands fight for consumers’ attention on each aisle and, just like outdoors advertising, you’ve only got a few seconds to make an impact. That is why being clear on your target market, your brand, and your message will make or break your product’s sales. When Arizona-based Revolution Tea redesigned its packaging to better explain the product, they managed to get their product into over 650 Walmart stores .

Make sure your packaging design doesn’t convey a different kind of product to the one being presented as this can confuse consumers or, worse yet, endanger them. Fabuloso cleaning products come to mind here. Their packaging design resembles juice more than anything else, not a mistake anyone should make.

The Yorkie bar was supplied with British army ration packs with a spin on its slogan, “it’s not for girls!” Image courtesy of James Humphries

3. Consider Changing Consumer Needs

The graphic design industry requires you to stay on top of trends as well as changing costumers’ needs. Packaging design is no difference. According to Smithers Pira’s The Brand Owner Trends Report: Consumer Packaging to 2018, there are currently five trends shaking up the food packaging industry :

1. Sustainability
2. Healthy living
3. Convenience
4. Authenticity and trust
5. Cost-effective shopping

So whether you design a packaging for a wine bottle or for a sandwich, make sure you take consumers’ needs and preferences into account.

Final Thoughts

The next time you go to a supermarket, take a more thorough look at the products you’re after. You will see that some products stand out while others are not so easy to find. This is a good way to test whether a certain food’s packaging is effective or not. So don’t be fooled by the myriad online galleries that showcase beautiful, innovative food packaging. Because when it comes to food packaging design, there’s much more than meets the eye.

Source: http://goo.gl/fiLUvb