Designed to Sell

Developing a new package—whether a product package, point-of-purchase (POP) display, or online shipping box—means blending form and function to create a container that also, ideally, captivates clients and customers while showcasing a product or brand.

Designing a package that accomplishes all of these things effectively is never easy. But outstanding packages go even further, offering standout examples of a company’s creativity, technical expertise, and in-house talent. Great design doesn’t happen by accident.

Clients and Creativity

“When we jump into a project, we first have to understand the scope,” notes Colten Freeze, creative services manager at Bennett Packaging. That happens during what the company calls “new item meetings,” at which graphic and structural designers, a project manager, and a salesperson discuss the customer’s expectations, timeline, and budget.

“Stemming from these meetings, especially in the case of POP displays, we like to have brainstorming sessions with multiple designers or creative people within the organization,” Freeze says. “We can throw out ideas and come up with efficient ways to run components through our plant or come up with cool and innovative design features. We use these meetings to prepare ourselves to think ahead of the customer,” which, for Freeze’s team, means anticipating potential challenges the packaging may face when it comes to assembling, shipping, and in some cases, serving retail. “Ultimately, we want things that are pleasing to the eye and effective in their purpose.”

No matter how much talent and experience are in the room, though, there are often stumbling blocks along the way to a great design.

“It’s not uncommon to think you have a grand idea and get steps into the process, only to realize you have to scratch it and start over,” notes Matthew Meehan, structural designer, The Royal Group Mid-Atlantic. “You have an idea in your head of how you want it to function, how the paper’s going to fold. But sometimes it just isn’t going to work.”

“Not everything a designer touches comes to life and makes it to the store shelves,” Freeze acknowledges. “Sometimes you’ll design something, and you hit the nail on the head. But at any point you might hit a bump in the road. It might look great, but maybe it’s too expensive. Or you’ve just gone down the wrong path. When that happens, you need to find a solution.

“That doesn’t mean your original design was a complete failure. You still have the files on hand. You still have those ideas, so you can recycle and reuse them later on.”

“It’s not uncommon to think you have a grand idea and get steps into the process, only to realize you have to scratch it and start over.”

— Matthew Meehan, structural designer, The Royal Group Mid-Atlantic

Steps to Success

For some, it’s a pencil on paper that first brings an idea to life. For others, it’s computer software that allows nearly infinite exploration of a package concept. But without structural and graphic designers, it would never make it from someone’s head to someone’s hands.

“Once we break from our initial meetings, we begin in graphics with hand sketches, then renderings, and then into structure design for CAD [computer-​aided design] layouts and a prototype,” Freeze explains. “For packaging, we don’t do a lot of renderings; we’ll do hand sketches or go directly into structural design. We’ll then submit those to the customer for feedback. For POP displays, we typically start with hand sketches or a rendering, where we can seek feedback from our customer. We may see multiple rounds of revisions, so by sketching or rendering we save time and resources with our structure design team.

“I’m a firm believer that the more real you can make that rendering, the better impression it makes on the customer,” he says. “The render is a selling tool. We’ll print those renderings on big image boards for client meetings. However, we don’t always have that luxury—based on timelines, customer proximity—but we work hard to make it a sales event or presentation. Our second choice would be emailing the client a PDF version of the rendering.”

When it comes to the software applications they rely on for packaging design, boxmakers agree: Adobe Creative Suite—which includes Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat Reader—and ArtiosCAD are essential. Other software in use includes 3ds Max and Strata 3D for rendering and modeling applications, and Esko’s Cape Pack for palletization.

Of course, anyone can buy or lease great software. That doesn’t mean they will produce great packaging. “Anybody can grab software and create boxes,” Freeze says. “But a good, experienced structural designer goes beyond that. They’re thinking 10 steps ahead—from machine limitations up to the hand labor required, to how it will ship, and the retailer’s requirements. There is a tremendous amount of planning that goes into the design work of a package or display.”

Yet that work still may miss the mark if it doesn’t effectively address several key points.

Essentials of Great Packaging

For Meehan, “a great package first needs to have visibility from the consumer side, as well as the strength that allows it to ship well, be palletized.”

Freeze agrees, adding, “When judging a great design, I think you have to consider the consumer experience. Did it increase sales? Did it help the product explode on social media?

“There’s also something to be said for unique and interesting ways of execution and improving shopability,” he says, “ways you can present the product that haven’t been done before.”

And while it is not common for the words economy and efficiency to be associated with greatness in the world at large, in boxmaking they can help to elevate a good packaging design into a great one.

“We’re very cognizant of paper costs,” Meehan says, “as well as what we charge to get these things out in the store. Limiting labor costs and co-packing requirements are cost-saving steps we typically use at The Royal Group.”

In addition, an award-winning product typically considers economies of freight, warehousing, and delivering added value wherever possible.

“Anybody can grab software and create boxes. But a good, experienced structural designer goes beyond that.”

— Colten Freeze, creative services manager, Bennett Packaging

Nailing each of these elements is not easy. Not every good package is also a perfect package on all counts. But when your team delivers something that truly stands out, it becomes more than just another project. It becomes something worth showing off.

Peer Appreciation

Every two years, AICC hosts a packaging design competition in association with its Annual Meeting. This year, members have the opportunity to submit their best packaging from the last two years for awards and peer recognition across a broad range of categories. (The competition deadline is Aug. 16.)

Jim Nelson, vice president of business development at Green Bay Packaging and chair of AICC’s Packaging Design Competition Subcommittee, explains how the event works.

“All of the entry samples are shipped and warehoused at a location near the Annual Meeting, and the [participating] companies submit detailed information on the entries to the AICC competition website.” At the meeting, “all the entries are set up and displayed by category. Currently we have 41 categories for corrugated, folding carton, and rigid box. The judges, who are chosen based on availability and their specific expertise with the categories, take almost a full day to judge their assigned category. The judges are put into teams and meet as a group to collectively review and judge their selected categories.”

As someone who has served on the competition committee for the last 10 years, Nelson has seen his share of award-winning designs.

“What sets a first-place winner apart from a third-place winner really depends on the specific category. If you look at items in categories strictly for structure”—for example, Category 1: Innovative Structural Design, Consumer and Industrial Focus—“the judges will look at the write-up of that structure that was submitted with the entry. Is there something unique about it? Was it all corrugated, or did it include other materials? They’ll consider the fragility of it, the type of testing that was done on its strength.

“What stands out? Maybe someone took a package with a lot of nonpaper items or nonrecyclable items and made it into a fully recyclable product that also saved money. That could be a first-place winner.

“For Judges’ Choice Awards, they look at the first-place-designated winners in each category. They look for something that hits the highlights of unique design. Maybe it’s so new in design and concept that it’s head-and-shoulders above everything else. They’re looking for something unique and so new to the industry that they want to spotlight it.

“We aim to get over a hundred entries,” Nelson says. However, that has become increasingly challenging. “Consolidation in the industry has reduced the number of entries we get. In 2017, we only had 86 entries. In 2015, we had about 150. In 2013, there were even more.”

The committee also aims to feature submissions from smaller independents, boxmakers who may assume they cannot compete with larger operations.

“We really want to dig down to the smaller independents and encourage them to compete. Sometimes the small guy who just has a two-color flexo press doesn’t want to enter because he doesn’t think he has a chance against the bigger guys. But there are so many subcategories for entries now, even the smallest guy has an opportunity to win.

“I’d encourage all independents to submit their best entry,” Nelson says. “By being part of the competition, you can get exposure you may not otherwise get if you’re a regional independent. Plus, it challenges your design teams to feel like they’re competing with other independents and really show their creativity as an independent. You don’t have to be one of the big guys. We try to make the competition equal among all.”

Robert Bittner is a Michigan-based freelance journalist and a frequent BoxScore contributor.