As the old saying goes, a picture really is worth a thousand words. When you have limited space on your product packaging, you can make that space go a lot further by strategically placing targeted imagery on your product packaging. But how do you do that without cluttering the packaging surface and leaving out important information about the product?
At Bang Packaging, we’ve helped countless businesses transform their packaging to not only decrease costs, but also improve customer engagement with their brand. Using imagery on your packaging is an important part of any marketing campaign, and here’s how you can use imagery on your next packaging upgrade.
Imagery is More Than a Logo
First and foremost, imagery is so much more than a logo. Too often we see businesses that only place their logo on all of their product packages. There are products and branding themes that require a minimalist approach to packaging design, but if you’re not working toward a minimalist branding, there’s often room to add eye-catching, intriguing images to your packages.
By looking at your business theme and branding, you can begin to develop strategic imagery that works with your product packaging. Your logo is a fantastic foundation to build your database of consistent imagery to use across your business. From small product packages to large shipping boxes, using imagery adds another layer of brand recognition to your packaging.
What Story Do You Want to Tell?
You should always ask yourself what kind of story you want to tell before making any packaging design decisions. Many small businesses don’t have the luxury of a dedicated marketing team, and if you don’t have access to a marketing team, it’s not impossible to create a robust marketing campaign on your own.
Imagery often plays a bigger role in your brand story than words on your packaging or business website, so it’s important to take your image selection seriously. Once you decide your business theme and messaging, you can then narrow down what format your images should be.
Types of Imagery to Use
There are generally two routes your business imagery can take, and many businesses seamlessly combine the two – photography and digital illustration. For example, a logo is typically a digital illustration, while brand imagery can often be photography. However, when it comes to packaging, combining the two on one space can make the branding seem unclear.
A digital illustration gives you more freedom to work with the packaging space as you create the design, while photography allows you to capture real-world elements that connect your audience with your product.
Maximising Packaging Space
Now that we’ve discussed some of the important components of choosing your imagery, it’s time to maximise the packaging space by striking a balance between images and text. To keep your packaging clean and professional, we recommend no more than one frontal image and one image on the back of your package in addition to your business logo.
The front of your packaging should clearly indicate the product and have minimal text aside from what is necessary to inform your customers about the product and its benefits. The back of the package should be reserved for any technical and legally-required text, as well as information about your business and brand. Limiting your elements on the back of your packaging keeps the design streamlined – for example, one section for an image, one section for your business and product information, and one section for legally-required text if applicable.
Bang Packaging
There’s a lot that goes into attractive product packaging, and when you throw imagery into the mix, it can be that much more complicated to create an effective packaging design. Not only does Bang Packaging produce high-quality packaging materials for your business, but we can also assist with your packaging design.
For more information on how Bang Packaging can help you and your business, contact us today.