Packaging Design: How to Brief a Graphic Designer

Packaging Design: How to Brief a Graphic Designer

When it comes to creating professional and exciting packaging, the skills of a graphic designer are worth paying for. A strong brand image can transform the look and feel of your product range.

Having spent time developing a new packaging concept, it’s disheartening when we receive poor quality images and text for the print run. First impressions count. If you want to encourage customers to buy into your brand, you need high quality design.

The challenge is getting results that you and your potential customers love. To greatly increase your changes, you need to provide the graphic designer with a detailed brief. If you’ve not done it before, you may be wondering where to start.

How to brief a Graphic Designer:

1. You need to clearly communicate the values, priorities, USP and tone of your business. The graphic designer won’t have a detailed insight into your organisation, so you need to build their understanding. Just letting them know the product range isn’t enough.
2. You also need to provide a clear description of your target audience. Who needs to find the resulting graphics appealing?
3. Be clear what you want the design work to feature on. The requirements for a website, business card or printed packaging are quite different.
4. If printed packaging is in your remit, request that they prepare a design that is suitable for flexi print. This means working with limited colours and possibly half tones. Considering the location of the design on the packaging panels is also a priority.
5. To give the designer an idea of the market your company operates in, it is useful to provide details of your main competitors. You want a design that stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons.
6. Provide information on the boundaries of the brief. This includes anything that must be avoided, the budget and timeframe.

It is ideal if you can talk through the brief with the graphic designer. This gives both parties the opportunity to ask and answer questions, discuss thoughts and gain understanding.

Graphics and Packaging

Aylesbury Box Company is more than happy to work with your chosen graphic designer to ensure that we collectively produce professional and affordable packaging design. Put us in touch so that the right questions are asked and common errors are avoided.

We also have established contacts with local graphic designers. At your request, we’d be more than happy to put you in touch with them.

Finally, if you have packaging design ideas which look fabulous, but aren’t commercially viable, speak with us. There is often an alternative option which offers a similar end result without breaking the bank.