We loved designing these because the company was very open to a new approach and they had some great direction as well. Packaging has to do so much for the product since you’re not always going to be their to explain it to people in person. Anything we needed to tell people had to be on the packaging. And it had to be eye catching as well as look good across other items like earphones and mini USB fans. A unified look always impresses at retail.

Get a project brief from the client or take a lot of notes. But always document the meeting or thier direction and keep that communication going. Don’t leave them wondering what’s going on. Get their feedback and understand what they’re seeing and what the public needs to see. Sometimes the client needs guidance on what a customer might experience that is missing from their packaging or where is the best place to apply certain copy.

Build a mockup by hand on a small scale for yourself and see how it works and show it that way so people can quickly see how it works from all sides. Computer screens don’t always show you how something will act in real life in real light.

If you come up with something not discussed in any meeting, make quick and rough digital mock-up and show them you’re new idea for solving something you might have run into. They’re more likely to approve if you’ve actually identified a real problem and if you’ve solved it for them in an elegant way without adding more cost or at worst minimizing costs. These boxes were made of one sheet folded in a way to strengthen to cover flap and not have to glue a second sheet to wrap around. This saved them money because of the number of steps taken to create the boxes was reduced. We also added magnets for the closer so box flaps don’t flip open inadvertently and we showed illustrations with tech features called out. Then in the box a clear window showed the product beautifully.

Some customers need a printed piece and a digital piece. This means more work in staying organized for preparing files for both mediums. Created separate WEB and PRINT folder structures and keep your files in the correct CMYK color space from the begging. This will better convert to RGB when the time comes than the other way around.