Brand Packaging Design: Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes

Posted by on Nov 10, 2015 in Packaging Design, Silkscreen on Glass | 0 comments

Brand Packaging Design: Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes

Great design goes into every facet of your business identity, be it web design, business cards or packaging. Successful branding is all about creating a design that effectively conveys the information your audience needs in order to be motivated to purchase your goods or services. If you’re making the switch to the innovative and eco-friendly packaging design of screen printed bottles, it’s important to keep in mind that the same design principles of print labels apply.

Printing your “label” directly onto a bottle helps it stand out among the competition. This distinctive alternative packaging option offers a more flexible canvas on which to work, but watch out for these five common design mistakes as you develop your brand packaging design.

  1. Inconsistent Branding

It may seem obvious, but a simple thing like making your brand packaging design immediately recognizable and consistent is key to creating a strong brand image that customers will want to follow, be it in stores or online. What’s inside the bottle certainly matters, but be sure your packaging design matches your overall company vision.

  1. Forgetting the Customer is Always Right

Research shows that 76% of purchase decisions are made in-store, so careful consideration of your product’s benefits and elemental makeup should be featured in your packaging design. If you want customers to take that final step on the path to purchase, think about what they are expecting or interested in knowing about your product. Create something buyers will connect a feeling of trust to and you’ll have their loyalty for life.

  1. Design that Confuses

Overly complicated design is a common mistake, most often the result of wanting to get as much information as possible on to the bottle in order to entice buyers. Instead, the customer ends up confused. Your packaging design should be clean and eye-catching with enough information to make clear what you’re selling, but also striking enough so that it stands out from the surrounding products.

  1. Packaging Design that’s Irrelevant

All good designers will help you create a package that stands out from the crowd, but the true measure of successful packaging design is how well it represents the quality, price point and character of the bottled product. Don’t let clever or beautiful design get in the way of a customer choosing your product in those “last 10 seconds of marketing.”

  1. Forgetting About the Last 10 Seconds of Marketing

All the elements of your brand packaging design – type, color and copy – must work together if you’re to make an effective connection with your customers in those final seconds leading up to the buy. Remember these important design rules:

  • Keep it classic.  Classic is not the same as boring, old-school or dull. Instead, it means passing on current trends in favor of time-proven colors, traditional fonts and other details that serve your brand for the long term.
  • Less is more. Minimal design that’s easy to recognize from the aisle works best.
  • White space. Effective use of white space let’s your brand “breathe” and makes your design easier for customers to read.
  • Add a touch of “you.” Whether it’s a favorite color, font or logo element, let your uniqueness be reflected in your brand packaging design. That little touch can make all the difference to customers keeping your brand in mind when deciding to buy.

Designers like to say that “A design isn’t finished until someone is using it.” Keep these packaging designs in mind as you create a consistent brand image and you’re sure to stand out in the marketplace.