10 Bad Packaging Design Mistakes To Avoid
The wrong packaging can ruin an otherwise great product, which is why packaging design is so important! At the same time, packaging design can be difficult for beginners to navigate on their own. Thankfully, we here at Box Genie know all the ins and outs of packaging which is why we have compiled this list of 10 bad packaging design mistakes you should avoid.
10 Bad Packaging Design Mistakes To Avoid
It’s so easy to make mistakes with your packaging design. Unfortunately, these mistakes can cost you money and customers. So here are 10 bad packaging mistakes to avoid.
1. Excess Packaging
When it comes to packaging, you want to use the right amount of it. This means not using a huge box to house a tiny carton. Instead, you want to have a variety of different box sizes in your arsenal that can comfortably and reasonably fit all of your different products.
2. Difficult Packaging
There’s nothing worse than dealing with difficult packaging. Just think about how frustrating it is to get items out of plastic packaging with multiple layers, twist ties, etc. Now think about how your customers would feel the same way! As a result, your packaging should be just enough to protect and secure the product without being too over-the-top.
3. Expensive Packaging
While expensive packaging might look nice, it also might cut your profits. So instead of spending a ton of money on packaging low-value products, try to minimize your packaging costs as much as possible. On the other hand, if your products are high-value, it may be worthwhile to spend a bit more on packaging to help portray that value.
4. Illegible Packaging
If your customers cannot read your packaging, they likely aren’t going to purchase your products. As a result, you need to make sure that your packaging is perfectly legible. Sometimes, fonts can be confusing or hard to read, so make sure to test out your fonts with all of your copy before you go ahead with packaging production.
5. Boring Packaging
Furthermore, if customers aren’t excited or enticed by your packaging, they aren’t going to choose your product over countless other options on the shelves. This means that you need to incorporate some sort of design element into your packaging to avoid leaving too much white space. It also means that you need to incorporate an appealing color scheme based on your brand, product, and customer base.
6. Busy Packaging
At the same time, you don’t want your packaging to be too busy as this will also turn customers off. Instead, try to leave some negative or white space within your packaging design so that it’s clear and concise.
7. Unbranded Packaging
Unbranded packaging is another packaging design mistake that you cannot afford to make. It needs to be clear who is selling the product by incorporating branded logos, color schemes, fonts, etc.
8. Blurry Packaging
Blurry packaging is also going to turn customers off as it doesn’t speak well of the value of your product if you can’t even get your packaging right. Make sure that your packaging is printed using high-quality materials designed for the type of packaging.
9. Incorrect Packaging
Customers depend on packaging to make informed purchasing decisions. So if there’s incorrect information on your packaging, you’re essentially misleading the customer—which is always a big mistake to make.
10. Constantly Changing Packaging
Finally, you shouldn’t be constantly changing your packaging as this can be confusing for customers. Instead, you need to come up with a good design and generally stick with it aside from minor changes here and there.
10 Packaging Design Best Practices
It wouldn’t be fair to talk about what not to do when it comes to packaging design without also telling you what you should do! So here are 10 packaging design best practices to help guide you through the design process.
1. Keep It Simple
Your packaging needs to be simple and to the point. Everything included in your packaging should have a clear purpose with no unnecessary or redundant information.
2. Use the Right Colors
Your packaging needs to use the right colors. If you already have a color scheme for your brand, then you can use that! However, if you’re still developing your brand personality, then you may want to look into the psychology of colors when making decisions about your brand and packaging colors. This is because different colors portray different things and evoke different emotions in people.
3. Incorporate Your Brand
In addition to your brand colors, you also need to incorporate your brand logo and font to make it clear who is selling the product. The overall goal is instant recognition of your product on the shelf based on its packaging.
4. Consider Your Products
Your packaging needs to cater to your products—not the other way around. If you have a detailed and intricate product that customers would like to see before they buy, then you should consider plastic packaging. On the other hand, if you have heavier or fragile products that need extra protection, then you should consider corrugated cardboard boxes.
5. Stay Within Budget
You also need to stay within your budget when choosing your packaging. Take the value of your products into consideration when deciding how much you should spend.
It might make sense to consider corrugated packaging if your products are on the cheaper side. However, if your products are expensive, you might want to splurge for rigid boxes.
6. Cater to Customers
You need to think about what your customers want to see in your packaging. What visual representations are they looking for? What information are they looking for? These are all things to keep in mind when designing your packaging.
7. Consider the Environment
Another thing that customers tend to care about these days is the environment—so you should care about it too! Consider using environmentally-friendly packaging options that come from recycled material and can be recycled again after use.
8. Be Informative
Your packaging needs to include relevant information about the product in question. So while the design is important, the copy is important too! Include information about the product’s ingredients, uses, benefits, functions, expiration date, etc.
9. Follow Rules and Regulations
Depending on your product and industry, there may also be rules and regulations that your packaging has to follow. This is definitely something to look into before you begin designing your packaging.
10. Work With Experts
Finally, you may want to work with experts to design the packaging for your products and your brand. Packaging experts will be able to help you avoid all of the mistakes we covered while hitting all of these best practices.
How to Avoid Making These Mistakes
Box Genie offers customized packaging solutions and assistance that covers all of these best practices and then some!
If you know exactly what you want, you can choose a package and send your design right to us.
On the other hand, if you have no idea where to start, we can walk you through the entire process from start to finish.
Sources:
Trusted by top brands worldwide. Dedicated to smaller businesses like yours.
Over 2,000 brands trust us to help them grow and build successful businesses. Find out how custom packaging can work to help take your brilliant brand to the next level!
Ready to design your own box?
Start building your custom box now to see a preview of how it will look!
