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Close-up of pink Victoria's Secret folded rose box
Select the right type of packaging
Download sustainability guideAnswer these basic questions:
What’s your perfect packaging? Well, the main thing is to think about your product and your potential customers, so you can target them in the most effective and creative way.
The first step will be to answer some basic questions:
- What are you selling? How big, or heavy is it? Is it fragile? With a product that could easily get damaged, the properties of the outer packaging are crucial.
- Who is your customer? Make sure you understand what’s appealing to your main audience. Does your packaging design reflect your brand identity and resonate with potential customers?
- How will he or she buy the product? If the products will be sold on a store shelf, they must stand out from the crowd. With products purchased online, product protection is actually far more important than in physical sales, as there are way more touchpoints in the distribution process. Packaging design needs to reflect that to prevent damage and defect, in order to give the consumer the perfect "unboxing" experience.
- What do you want to communicate with the packaging? Take the opportunity to use the packaging to emphasize important characteristics of your brand. And if it’s luxury you want to communicate, we’ll tell you how to do it in a sustainable way.
More things to consider:
- Plan your printing. Don’t wait until after the design is completed to discuss printing. Get a printer involved in your process at an early stage to better understand the costs involved and to get a better view of the options early on in the process.
- Go digital. Digital printing has generated so many more opportunities for designers who are willing to experiment with different techniques. Digital print and finishing techniques make it possible for you to cost-effectively add the final touches that will create a sensory packaging experience and drive sales. You can also easily make separate editions with only small alterations. Digital printing makes it much easier to customise packaging and print on demand, which in turn generates much less waste.
Paperboard benefits
According to a survey by the Paper and Packaging Board, 63% of all consumers associate paperboard or paper with premium packaging. Make sure you use paperboard if you want your product to relay that premium message.
Some paperboard benefits:
Renewable
- Made from a renewable raw material, wood
- If we take care of our forests responsibly as we have done for hundreds of years, the source of raw material for paperboard is endless
- Globally recognised standards, with FSC and PEFC certificates, ensures sustainable forestry
Recyclable
- Paperboard is easy to recycle
- The paper recycling system is the world’s most developed circular industry, with recycling rates around 70% in Europe and the US
- If a paperboard package accidentally ends up in nature it will soon dissolve and return to the soil, as if a tree fell over and dissolved the natural way
Remarkable
- Fantastic printing properties and designer freedom possibilities
- Makes it possible to use a plethora of finishing and embellishment techniques
- Can combine beautiful aesthetics, low packaging weight and minimal environmental impact
Choose paperboard
It’s equally important to choose the right paperboard for your specific packaging application. Paperboard is a versatile material that can be integrated with other materials or designed for multiple functions.
When choosing paperboard, keep these three Ps in mind: promotion, protection and production.
Promotion
- Important characteristics are whiteness and smoothness. A bright, white-coated printing surface is required to achieve faithful reproduction of the colours and artwork. The quality printing of graphics and hygienic appeal call for pure fresh fibres.
- The ability of the paperboard to withstand fading is vital for a lasting presentation and a longer shelf life.
Protection
- Paperboard made from fresh fibres produces a stiff, strong and durable material. An appropriate paperboard carton construction gives adequate protection in handling and storage.
- The package should provide physical protection of the expensive perfume (or any other product!) and its fragile container from handling in storage and distribution. Therefore a strong paperboard is critically required. It is also important that the carton is in excellent condition at the point of sale.
Production
- To obtain efficiency in printing, finishing and converting, a flat, stable and dust-free paperboard is required. Even surface ink absorption and drying are important to ensure a high print quality, whilst reducing process interruptions and material waste. The paperboard should also have consistency from run to run.
- Embossing, lamination and hot foil stamping require surface strength and a smooth surface coating. The creative and functional shape of the package calls for a strong and tough multi-ply paperboard to withstand the demanding printing and finishing techniques used to create a premium touch.
7 reasons why paperboard rocks
Discover what other indie brands have achieved using Invercote:
Clean, inclusive beauty
For Chicago-based dome BEAUTY it was crucial that the packaging could stand on its own and accentuate their brand.
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Smashbox Cosmetics is part of the Estée Lauder Companies empire. The packaging is an important part of the Smashbox brand.
Read full storyHear them roar!
Modern natural makeup brand All Tigers chose Invercote G to lower the climate impact of their packaging.
Read full storyHow to succeed with your packaging - step by step:
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