We create the
packaging design
that sells
retail buyers
and consumers
worldwide.

Retail Product Package Design | Packaging Designer | Consultant

Since 1979, we've developed retail product packaging that sells and adds value.

The packaging design process and why our package design process always leads to successful product sales.
By Tom, our Senior Packaging Designer, and packaging designer of all the packaging below.

Logos | Packaging | Print  < Click to open multi-page PDFs to view, save, or email.



When you click contact us I can personally speak with you about your packaging design and graphic design, and I am the designer of the packages you see above and other logo design and package design when you click Logos | Packaging | Print or here. See testimonials.
Tori is an expert in many things and she will help as well.
Senior Designer Tom

Our proven step by step package design process makes it almost impossible not to end up with packaging that sells.

The first step to any packaging design project is to have a 15 minute conversation with me, Tom, which is free and so we can get a good basic idea of the project and the package you plan to have me design. .

After the first 15 minutes we charge at our normal rate and further discuss the package design steps and details. We work very cost effectively as described here.

Contact us today for a free 15 minute consultation and I will help you get started in developing a successful package design that meets all your needs as well as those of the various vendors and manufacturers you'll work with.

We can offer any of the following packaging design services:

• Provide a 1 hour consultation on how you might revamp a packaging design
• Provide end to end service including vendor selection/coordination (see below)
• Provide rough sketches and stop right there with just a few hours of time
• Provide any packaging design service offered below including art production only

Structural details, properties and logistics are the first step in any successful package design, then we design.

If you already have a supplier and a package structure, please skip to Phase 1.

See Packaging Design Terms

If you have never packaged this product before, please read on about the first steps.

After we discuss your project, the next step in the package design process is to get the product in hand which you ship to me, or at least initially show me photos of.

I then evaluate the product, your market, your goals and objectives.

If there are design approaches, design styles, structural approaches or other properties of the packaging design that you want to discuss we will do so at this stage.

In evaluating I consider structural properties of the package design, properties of the goods to be in the package and things like fragility and/or perishability.

I also assess how the paperboard or other material could be converted (folded, glued, sealed, manufactured), packing and packaging systems, marketing objectives for your package, distribution requirements for the package, retail outlet and retail buyer expectations of the retail packaging design, needs and desires of the end user, and how the end user will use the product contained in the retail packaging we design.

I also help determine and assess converting and package manufacturing issues, product manufacturer issues regarding filling and sealing, and consumer issues regarding convenience and packaging performance.

With the packaging manufacturer I consider how the packaging design will move easily through the packaging manufacturer's converting plant, how the artwork will be best reproduced by the packaging manufacturer, the thickness of the paperboard or other material to compensate for creases, tucks, and other features of the package, ways to minimize spoilage, and the expected life cycle of the package.

I also take into account receiving, storage and handling of the packaging before packing, kitting or filling, product characteristics that effect the shape of the final packaging design, packaging line performance, feed, form and close requirements for hand package  filling or automated package filling, locking design (if applicable), packaging line speed, and the packaging line environment (cold, wet, dry, other). These aspects require myself and the company packing the product as well as the company manufacturing the product to engage in a conference call to be sure we work together effectively and without errors.

In addition I bring up and discuss retail outlet needs such as receiving and storage of your package, shelf facings, ideal packaging dimensions, and the display environment of your package (cold, wet, dry, other).

In the process I suggest and ask the manufacturer to suggest ways to make the packaging design less expensive yet serve the intended purpose, as well as greener and more eco-friendly solutions to retail packaging design and manufacture that today are very much desired and available from those I recommend as packaging vendors.

Of course if you already have a packaging printer, carton manufacturer, or similar, I will be glad to work closely with your existing vendors.

Your packaging design may also need to be tamper evident, and in addition we will discuss things like product visibility, easy open/close features. how and where the consumer stores the packaged product, and ease of retail packaging use by your customers, for example easy/open, easy/close packaging - and exactly how the retail package is opened and closed.

As you are probably all too aware, people will try a package once yet if it was a battle to open (for example) the consumer may never buy that product again.

Even the feel of the package often makes a huge difference is sales, and I can specify a variety of tactile coatings that are necessary as a rule anyway to protect the ink from scratching, yet give your package a unique feel, soft, rough, textured and in between.

We discuss other consumer matters as well including meeting practical as well as psychological consumer expectations, regulatory and informational copy required for the consumer to make an informed purchase, ways to enhance and promote the key features and qualities of the product, post-consumer use and ease of disposal, and both real and perceived environmental considerations.

Other packaging design considerations include Food and Drug Administration (FDA) health and nutritional claims (if applicable), Nutritional Labeling Education Act (NLEA) guidelines, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) environmental and advertising claims, Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA) requirements, National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) requirements, and other specifications and requirements specific to your product and industry - as well as international requirements (if applicable).

I can point you to the regulatory sites listed above or work with you, your marketing team and/or your attorneys to be sure we are in compliance. If you've never had one I can also explain how to get a UPC bar code which you apply for at www.gs1.org

Contact us today for a free 15 minute consultation.

A package design includes structural design, graphic design as well as mechanical packaging coordination as described above, and all must work together.

Once we have discussed and made some decisions on the structure we determine the first run quantities for your packaging and where the package will be printed as well as where the package will be filled or kitted. In many cases the choice of where to print the packaging coincides with where the products are manufactured to reduce freight costs.

I help evaluate the packaging vendors and work with the package manufacturing vendors with you by email and conference calls.

The packaging vendors I suggest are those I believe will work best yet we make no commissions while we do charge our normal hourly rate to set you up directly with those who will print and manufacture your retail packaging. You may also have or choose your own retail packaging vendors.

In conference calls and/or emails I also help you understand the packaging design and package printing and converting process and terminology, and help you understand how to make the right choices with the packaging vendors that will manufacture based on the package design and package design artwork specifications we provide.

We then send the product to the packaging printer to design the structure of the packaging, meaning how the packaging is cut, folded, how it opens, and other features if a paperboard package or other material, and/or how the label(s) will be applied if the package is a bottle, jar or other type of container.

Containers (bottles, caps and jars) use labels or direct-to-container printing which is often referred to as decorating.

I may decide to create some preliminary initial package design or label design sketches to send to the packaging or label printer or decorator if we have a good idea of what we're looking for in your package design or label design. A packaging printer is also known as a carton manufacturer if a paperboard package.

If you have multiple components or require it, the packaging printer/vendor makes an insert or platform that may be a clamshell or made of corrugated or other paperboard (if applicable) or a dieline for the product packaging and we discuss various packaging options from a cost perspective as well as many other aspects like how the case packs and master cartons will be configured and shipped, and packaging shelf space, and other details like paper or other material.

In our discussion we ask for and the package manufacturer often offers some other suggestions which we make decisions on, then provides a dieline that becomes the 'blank' that we place the package design artwork on, and this dieline is precise down to the millimeter.

Some products already come from product manufacturers in boxes and in that case we can create a sleeve package design that slips over the corrugated.

Contact us today for a free 15 minute consultation.

Writing up the packaging design and package manufacturing specs:

We next write up package printing and manufacturing specifications with the printer and after we have the approval of the manufacturer and filler (if applicable).

Aside from some other potential options, these often include product information, name weight, size; package design data including packaging design style, package size, special features; material substrate, type, caliper, window film type and gauge; graphic design data including graphics type, format, mandatory and legal copy for the packaging design art; colors and coating; number of colors; types of inks; color matching; printing process selection - litho, gravure, flexo or a combination. We can get samples and I, along with the packaging manufacturer, can explain the differences.

We also consider special features related to windowing, embossing, hot stamping and foil stamping, shipping and receiving, specifications as to how the converter should pack, mark and palletize the empty packages for shipment; customer receiving, warehousing and distribution, and other additional information related to your specific package.

The printer then sends me a blank dieline of the final packaging design (an Adobe Illustrator file) and sends you and I a three dimensional blank mockup of the package normally in the exact stock or packaging material specified and which you approve.

With the blank packaging design and package printer/supplier finalized and approved we can move on to the next phase, taking a close look at competitive package designs.

There are three phases to packaging design:

Phase 1: Research and rough package design concepts
Phase 2: Refinement
Phase 3: Production

Click the General Guide to Our Pricing to see the cost.

Phase 1:

Research and competitive package design evaluation:
(A part of Phase 1 in our General Guide to Pricing)

These days you simply cannot risk designing packaging 'on the fly' without a careful assessment of all competitive packages.

Therefore I visit the retail store(s) or outlet(s) and take photos of the aisle and all the competitive products and product packaging design in the aisle - or ask you to provide all competing package design as a jpg or PDF or as links to websites.

I study the potential shelf placement and try to determine where your product will be placed, top, eye level, or bottom.

I analyze the color scheme of your entire category of retail packaging and decide if there is a hole in the category that your product can own.

Color is very important with package design, for example, when you think of Coca-Cola you instantly think of red, and when you think of Pepsi, you instantly think of blue. It's our goal to get the consumer to have this same brand recognition with your package design in colors and design elements.

I also study and evaluate who your consumers are and how we can capitalize on any niche in your brand category that is not being met to its full potential.

I take photos of and look at competing package design for two reasons (1) to make sure the package design we create stands out on the shelf, and (2) to be as sure as possible that our packaging design will not create trade dress problems.

Amateur designers make two fatal mistakes, they attempt to imitate famous packaging design, or they simply do not look at competitive packaging design - both of which often lead to trade dress infringement claims. In these cases retail package owners receive a cease and desist letter and generally deal with an opposition or a law suit.

You should realize that even if your product is not identical to a competitor yet is considered "related and complimentary", and your retail package design is "similar" you may be subject to trade dress infringement.

For example if you make dishwashing liquid and another party with a similar package design makes scrubbers for dishes in a package that appears similar, the two are "related and complementary since the same type of consumer is likely to buy both products in the same aisle at about the same price and be confused and misled as to the maker or brand. Confusion or likelihood of confusion is the basis of a trade dress claim as it relates to package design. 

Trade dress is explained a bit more on this page yet the simple explanation is that if your packaging design looks confusingly similar to that of another party's packaging design you could be sued for infringement, potentially owe monetary damages, and have to destroy and recall all of the infringing packaging.

To save some time and money, or if you are located where I am not near the stores you sell in, you could take these photos of competitive package design for me, send me JPGs, PDFs, or links to analyze.

One way or the other, and also by searching the Internet, we need to see and analyze all the competitive packaging design before we begin your packaging design.

The things above we charge for at our normal rate and the time required depends on what you need. We then start the design.

Our General Guide to Our Pricing gives you an idea of the package design time and cost:

The initial design phase: (Phase 1 in our General Guide to Pricing)

Phase 2:

The design refinement phases:
Options, alternatives, revisions and changes. See our General Guide to Pricing

If sales are slumping, you need to be proactive and have a professional packaging designer show you how to refresh your package design..

I help and guide you every step of the way and everywhere in between, especially if you have never worked with a packaging designer.

However, if you have never designed retail packaging, I can set up the meeting with one or more trusted vendors, and will conference call with you, or meet with you and the packaging vendor or the filling or kitting vendor in person at my normal rate

Please note that consultation services are in addition to our General Guide to Pricing and the time for consultation and vendor conferencing/email is charged at my normal rate

People are saying great things about Tom's package design:

“You truly are an investment and not an expense."