Packaging design for the FMCG industry

One of the most important aspects of selling food is the packaging. It’s the last touchpoint in the customer journey where the customer looks at the product, and the packaging must be able to persuade the potential customer to put your product in the basket over your competitor’s – whether it’s online or offline.

Choose the right design for your packaging

The right packaging design is one that differentiates itself from other products on the shelf, is eye-catching and memorable to consumers, and is in line with current trends.

We have worked with many different clients both in terms of packaging design for private labels and brands including Netto, Salling Group, Lidl, Carletti, BISCA A/S/Karen Volf, Nordic Greens, BKI and Jakobsens A/S. Our approach to packaging design is always focused on the above factors, where we spend time analysing and understanding the food trends and tendencies, so we can use our knowledge to create designs that attract consumer attention and appeal to the product’s target audience.

As examples we’ve designed the Wassim Hallal series for Lidl Denmark, where we emphasized the current trends for simple design and the use of few elements. We used colors that support the exclusivity of the products and use arguments that strengthen the perception of the products’ quality. Read more about the Wassim Hallal case here. Or if you want to see what a well thought-out and well-executed packaging design can do for your business, read more about Black Coffee Roasters, where the new design has contributed to a 55% growth!*

*Survey: AC Nielsen: ”A.C. Nielsen, hele bønner, Sales (KG) % Chg YA, W1-52 2024, DVH total”

Packaging design with the right argumentation

We work with the understanding of consumer journeys and behaviour and have built up a a heavy konowledge about the consumer from our many years of experience. It’s important that the packaging communicates exactly the information that consumers are searching for when they are in the buying/decision process.

Of course, the message in the design must also be something that the product can vouch for and that is in line with the brand values. There must be a strategic overview of your products to create a strong connection when needed and sometimes just a small common thread.

We are happy to advise you on which packaging strategy you should use for your product portfolio.

7 elements that give you an optimal packaging design

• A design that stands out from the competition
• The right message
• A functional design that consumers can quickly decode
• A design that matches the target group’s wishes and current food trends
• A packaging design that fits into your overall packaging strategy
• A design that supports your brand values.
• A design guide that ensures that the design does not vary inappropriately

Stay in line with a design manual

Once you’ve decided on the design you want for your packaging, it’s extremely important to create a design manual afterwards, as the design process includes several rules and guidelines for how elements should be designed and positioned. Design rules that are specific to your design and that your business can keep as a guide to ensure the design and a strong brand in the future. Unfortunately, if you leave this part out, there is a tendency to make small adjustments in subsequent artworking processes, which in the long run can lead to a ‘major’ and unintended design slippage. This is often the case when design development and final artwork are outsourced to different agencies, in-house e.g..

That’s why we recommend creating a design guide that contains descriptions and arguments for which rules should be followed in the further process to achieve a result that is completely in line with the visual identity and not least with the other products in the range. If the range expands in the future, the design is also ensured so that your brand is as strong as possible in the shop window.

We have extensive experience in this area and are happy to help you create easy-to-understand design guides that convey the necessary information to ensure that the results match the original thoughts behind the design.