10 Things Every Package Designer Should Know
With over 10 years of package design experience there are things we’ve learned that you don’t realize you will need to know. Designing a good package is more then just putting graphics on a package to make the consumer want to buy it. It’s understanding where you are in the overall process and doing the best you can in the most time efficient way possible.
Styleguides, dielines, materials specs, and understanding FTC regulations are just a few of the things that you need to know to succeed as a package designer.
Below is just a tip of the iceberg on things you should learn to advance your career as a package designer and put you on the fast track to promotion.
Styleguides
Lately, there has a been a huge push for retailers to go Private Label (store brand). More then likely you’ll come across requests to follow a retailers guide.
Every retailer will give you a guide on how to properly follow their guide and what rules they require you to follow. From layout of the package, fonts, colors, even dieline and material spec requirements.
You’ll follow that as close as you can however there sometimes will be exceptions. For example how do you have a 2 inch lip on a PDQ for a 16 inch tall item that is only a 1/2 inch thick? A u-front and a divider is the most cost efficient way.
There will be times where they allow you to do the layout and they just have to approve other times they will take the Dieline from you and have their design team apply the graphics.
Most likely you will have to review it to look for mistakes. This is a great step towards management as that is what you do is review designers work.
Walmart is a prime example of one that takes your dieline and adds their artwork. Once they decide they want the product they request the dieline and take a few weeks to design and send it back to you for review.
When you send the dieline make sure it is exactly how they request it. I always suggest no matter who you are sending your Dieline to that you label the panels and the orientation. The only thing worse then realizing on the first round of changes that the orientation is wrong is realizing it after they released the artwork.
Another thing to remember is to label your layers. I’ve seen people do this in a few different ways but I prefer to send the dieline with 3 layers. The slug layer, the Dieline Layer with dims, and the graphics layer.
Other styleguides you may run across is licensor guides. For instance, kids licenses like Disney or athletic like collegiate & professional sports. With those you almost always design yourself and get licensor approval on graphics.
Case Packs
Most of the time this won’t be decided by or even concern you but if you are dealing with private label and designing PDQs for retailers like Walmart then you will need to know the “pack and a half rule” (which is having enough to fill 1 & 1/2 shelves) or in Walmarts case it’s the ”1/2 a pack rule” which is 1 PDQ fits 1/2 a shelf depth or 11 inches that way when the shelf is full of 2 PDQ’s once one PDQ’s gets emptied they can put another PDQ on the shelf. Now your probably asking why do I need to know that, well there is a good chance you will be designing the Dieline unless you company is big enough to have a packaging engineer.
Planogram Layouts
When you are designing a line of products you want a clean look to it. It varies from company to company as some like to set up a planogram and just see what fits where and that is good if you don’t know what you are trying to push to be your better sellers.
However, knowing your retailer and what their shopper demographics is like you will know what their price point sweet spot is and those are the one you want as close to eye level with the consumer.
Another way I’ve seen a planogram laid out is making sure all the packaging is is aligned in a way that really showcases a clean and organized look. This is where you will have to be consistent on packaging with placement, size, ect.
Container & Pallet Loads
This is very important if you are shipping to club stores like Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s club to name a few. Knowing that Costco shops from the 48” side where the other 2 the shopping side is the 40” side makes a difference in how you want to lay out your package. In the industry the retailers want more and more visual on how stuff will look.
Let me give you an example of how I;ve been given a task and this info comes in handy.
The brief goes like this.
Product is a Dinner ware set.
4=10” Plates, 4= 8” plates, 4=7” Bowls, 4=13oz mugs
Here is the product give me a package, Pallet rendering, and container load for Costco.
So I have to figure out Product protection, product layout in packaging, Dieline, how to best showcase the product to make people want to buy it, How it will look and fit on a pallet, will it need a tray or PDQ. How much room does it take up on a pallet.
Now not companies you work for will require this but the smaller the company you work for or the higher you rise in a company you’ll need to know this and quickly be able to figure it out just by looking at the product.
Dielines
I’m shocked by this but most designers that come into the consumer product goods (CPG) industry are not able to quickly knock out a dieline. I’ve had to train designers on how to properly layout a dieline based of the product size. If I can give you one tip it would be to study packages that are on shelves, take pictures of what you like about them and try to recreate it. When you buy items pay attention to what protection, inserts, and how they secure the product to the packaging. This isn’t just for beginners either I still pay attention to this stuff when I’m walking the stores.
Understanding Materials and Specs
If you are creating dielines for packaging you must be aware of what materials you will be using. The difference in materials dictate how much thickness you need to accommodate for in the flaps, locks, and how that will effect your inner dimensions.
Also not all package types are of same material. For instance, not all backer cards are made of the same material. Some are a thinner 400gsm glossy, where as I’ve done one before with that was 800gsm with a soft touch laminate finish so it felt like velvet.
Boxes holding a small or light products only need a thin material like a 350gsm card stock where as a large heavier will need something like a e-flute corrugate.
Another thing to realize is not all material is made the same. I’ve had huge issues with factories using overly recycled corrugate so the fibers are too weak to stand up to standard testing.
Understanding FTC Regulations
When you get into CPG you will learn or have to learn fast the basics of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Regulations. You may learn on the job from a more seasoned designer or you might be the one who has to teach the company if they are unaware of these regulations. I actually know of a company that has been in business for over 50 years and only in the last few years have they started following FTC regulations. I see the biggest violations in the size of font that is used to call out the product size.
Product Knowledge
Apart of being a great package designer is understanding the product you are designing around. Yes you could just put it in a box give it a nice large image and call it good. However the whole purpose of packaging is to hold the product but also entice the consumer to pick it up. If you truly care about the product it will show in you packaging.
Writing Instructions
This is very similar to understanding the product. There will be times where you may have to design instructions on how to assemble or use the product. Sometimes the steps are given to you and you need to lay them out on paper in a way that is easy to understand and follow. Other times you will have to write the steps yourself. If that is the case I suggest you repeatedly assemble or use the product until you understand the easiest way of doing it. Breaking it down to easy to follow and understand steps without confusion is not as easy as it may seem. I always suggest giving the item and instructions to someone who doesn’t know anything about the product and see if they have any trouble following the steps given.
Dealing with Factories
The reality is you don’t have to deal with them too much but when it comes to your artwork, dielines, and product protection you should be apart of the approval process. You should be seeing digital proofs (Making them send you a digital copy of what their layout looks like), press proofs, TOPS (top of production samples in packaging), and any adjustments they feel are necessary.
To limit issues you should layer your artwork Ai files. Your company may already have a process for this but if they don’t 4 layers is a good starting point; slug, Example of the package mocked up, dieline & measurements, and artwork.
Slug Layer
This is where you give all the details of the package. the product that this package goes too, SKU number, and special colors like PMS colors. You should also add the designer who worked on it and the date in which they last made major changes to the artwork. Lastly on this layer you should add the materials used in making the package.
Example Of The Package Mocked Up Layer
If you use anything as protection, or to secure the product to the packaging like swift tacks or wafer seals this is where you call those out with images and sizes. That way the factory that is producing the packaging and product knows how you envisioned it being packed. This step saves on back and fourth with the factories as well as countless hour of headaches with the factories. If they don’t know how you package it correctly it can be a major issue and if repacking or printing is needed it’ll cost money. You will also learn that your company may not always use only one factory to manufacture and package your items. So, if you have 2 factories printing and packaging your product and they have different ways of how they think the items should be packed out it can cause major issues in the final look.
Dieline & Panel Sizes Layer
Some people like to separate the size callouts of a package but it’s all related to one another. You won’t change your dieline size without moving the size callouts so putting it on one layer is fine.
Artwork Layer
This is where you put all the artwork. In this layer you may have sub groups of each packaging panel all grouped together, which is good practice.
You wont always have time to make all these layers and group everything perfectly but you should always make sure everything is on the correct layer.
Eventually you get so good at one or more of these things that you can create a very secure job where they won’t ever want to let you go because you are so beneficial or intertwined in the business that loosing you would be a blow to them. Theresa and I have made our career doing just that. By taking note of the above you too can quickly become a huge asset to your company and quickly move up the ladder.
Let us know in the comments below what was the biggest surprise to you that you would need to know as a package designer.
