Tips for the Best Printed Packaging Results

Tips for the Best Printed Packaging Results

Plain boxes protect your goods and ensure they arrive in great condition, so is printed packaging necessary? If so, how do you get the best results?

Advantages of Printed Packaging

Adding print design to shipping boxes, e-commerce mailers and retail packaging offers an opportunity to enhance the perception of your brand. The goods inside the box are same whether the packaging is printed or plain, but how the recipient feels about their purchase can be quite different.

4 Ways Printed Packaging Enhances the Customer Experience

Firstly, quality print design shows your pride in your brand. You communicate that you care about presentation and are willing to pay attention to detail. Already the experience of buying from you is elevated.

Secondly, your printed packaging is distinct from the many other boxes that might be arriving that week. The recipient has an idea about what’s inside and this can build excitement before they catch a glimpse of the products.

Thirdly, packaging symbols and text provide a means of communication. You can share information of value to the customer, from care instructions to a discount code, a joyous message or a sustainability statement. This builds a connection between your customer and your brand.

Finally, if the design is consistent throughout the customer journey; on your website, on the box and the contents of the box, brand recognition is built. You become familiar and this encourages follow up purchases.

Quality Print Matters

All of the advantages listed above only come into play if the quality of the print design is high. If the text is too small to read or your logo is pixelated, it reflects negatively on your brand. You don’t want customers to associate your brand with poor quality, so, how do you achieve professional printed packaging?

8 Tips to Achieve Good Quality Printed Packaging

Creating a beautiful design on a computer is one thing, but it doesn’t always translate to 3D boxes. Therefore, we offer 8 tips on printed packaging design.

Seek Advice!

1. Speak to your local packaging manufacturer about the print options. Flexographic, lithographic and digital are widely used. The one that is recommended will depend on the type of packaging, desired finishes, quantity and budget.

2. You might want a full-colour design, but impactful results can be achieved with a single-colour print. Limiting the palette can encourage creativity and keep the cost of printed packaging down. Look at the impactful Georganics design that illustrates this article. It covers the inside of their bespoke boxes using a single blue print.

High Resolution on Any Scale

3. Use high-resolution images to keep the design crisp and avoid a blurred or pixelated print finish.

4. Consider that the design may be scaled up or down to fit different box sizes. Use Vector images, which allow alterations to the size without loss of quality. If the design is to be reduced in size, make allowances to maintain the readability of small fonts.

Print Formats for Packaging

5. Create designs in CMYK or Pantone colours, which are the formats used by the printing machines, rather than RGB. On this point, the colour print on brown kraft boxes is different to that on white boxes. We provide print samples before manufacturing boxes, to ensure you are happy with the colour match.

6. All designs should include what is called a bleed. This is an extension of the print design of up to 10mm beyond the dimensions of the box. It ensures that all the boxes are fully printed, even if there is slight movement when printing.

7. Boxes can be printed externally and internally, so there are plenty of surfaces to add designs to. Please consider the position of fold lines when planning the layout, so logos or text aren’t lost when the box is constructed. Also, remember that a good balance of white space makes it easier to see key information.

Final Checks

8. If the design includes typography and text, proofread before finalising the design.

Enhancing the Customer Experience with Bespoke Boxes

Elevate your brand and enhance the customer experience with bespoke boxes! It doesn’t need to be expensive and we are happy to inform you about low cost printed packaging solutions. Get in touch with our friendly team for advice, a quote and a print sample on 01296 436888 or enquiries@abcbox.co.uk.