The aesthetics of your brand’s packaging are what sets your products apart from other brands and attracts potential customers to you. So don’t dismiss it as an annoying addition on your to-do list.
Creative and well thought-out packaging signifies that a product of high quality is inside. Quite often, consumers buy products based on the packaging alone, and this is especially true when buying gifts.
Luckily, brilliant and creative packaging ideas aren’t exclusive to the huge international brands that can afford an experienced advertising agency. Smaller brands can think up creative packaging ideas on a budget, and if you understand the skeleton of colour psychology, you’re already one step ahead on the path to perfect branding.
In this post:
Creative Packaging Ideas for Smaller Brands
You may have come across one of our previous blogs on creative packaging inspiration from the world’s biggest brands, showcasing how internationally-recognised brands such as Nike, McDonald’s, and Absolut Vodka have stepped out of the box with their choices of packaging.
As packaging is an ever-evolving concept and exciting, original packaging is always on the market, we thought we would touch on the topic again. This time, we look at how smaller companies can use their packaging to impress. It goes to show you don’t need a colossal budget and global fan base to be able to get creative with your packaging.
Handmade Packaging
Ensure your packaging gets your customer even more excited about the product inside. One way you can do this is to make your customer feel as though you designed and packaged up their item with just that individual customer in mind.
Achieve this unique personalised image by making your packaging by hand (or at least make it look as though you made it by hand – you can do this by adopting rustic paper and a handwritten font).
Being a smaller brand, you might have more time to spend on each individual sale so you should take advantage of this, by making your product look as though you’ve taken hours making it look visually appealing.
You may not have the time to go into as much detail as you can see on the packaging by oh, hello friend, which is a crafts and jewellery website. However, supermarket chain Morrison’s has taken the idea of handmade packaging to turn the everyday, average teabag into a romantic and artistic design.
Each teabag is labelled with a different phrase, such as “hey sugar!” and “you’re sweet”. It’s a simple design that can be created digitally, but that makes each teabag more personalised and might just put a smile on the face of the consumer, therefore encouraging more sales.
Care for the Environment
Keep the environment in mind when you’re searching for creative packaging ideas. Customers tend to favour purchases that they won’t feel guilty about and it will project your brand as being conscious and caring.
Use sustainable or recyclable material and don’t be too liberal with your packaging (avoid any unnecessary packaging, and if possible, steer away from the use of non-biodegradable plastic!) For more information and to see which big brands are looking after the environment, see our blog post on Green Chemistry.
Can you come up with environmentally sound packaging without compromising the individuality of your product? It may take deeper consideration, but it can be done and your customers will respect you for it.
You could try creating your packaging from upcycled materials to really distinguish yourself, or use materials such as glass, cardboard and tin that are widely recycled.
Method, a small soap company, is raising awareness of the dangerous amounts of waste plastic that ends up in our oceans, by fishing quantities of plastic out of the sea and turning it into their soap containers. This creative packaging idea from a largely unknown company brings them to the surface through innovation and environmentally-conscious packaging.
Creative Packaging and the Use of Colour
The consistent use of colour can define your brand, its personality and its values. A colour can make a brand almost instantly recognisable.
Use your packaging as a way to reflect your brand on the shelves, as it may be the deciding factor that makes a customer choose your product over your competitors’. You may not realise, but deciding on creative packaging begins before you choose your materials and design.
You should think carefully about the colour of your packaging and overall branding. Check out this infographic on the psychology of colour to discover which emotions are said to be evoked by certain colours. You can see a quick summary below.
Red:
- Evokes strong emotions
- Encourages appetite (think Walkers crisps and McDonald’s)
- Increases heart rate
- Boosts impulsive purchases (ever picked up a Coca-Cola when you’re already at the till?)
Yellow:
- Increases warmth and happiness
- Stimulates mental processes and the nervous system
- Represents optimism and youthfulness (may make you think of a fresh, sunny day)
Blue:
- Associated with water and peace
- Represents calmness as it’s a constant in human lives (the sky and ocean are constant in our lives, as Facebook and Twitter often are…)
- Increases productivity
- Creates the sense of trust in a brand
Orange:
- Reflects excitement and enthusiasm (think of the fun, upbeat image of Nickelodeon)
- Shows warmth
- Found in impulsive buys
- Represents a confident brand
Green:
- Symbolises health and tranquillity (Starbucks has become a place to unwind and treat yourself)
- Shows an appreciation for nature
- Represents growth and money
Purple:
- Traditionally linked to wealth, success and royalty
- Often used in beauty and anti-aging products
- Used to soothe or calm
- Represents a creative and wise mind (The Wonka brand and Hallmark are examples of this)
Now you have a good starting point to work on your creative packaging ideas; you know which colour you should target for your brand, and you know you can come up with great packaging on a budget.
