Millennials have come out as trend setters, redefining the consumer story over the years. Being able to suit the needs of this new emerging class of consumers is crucial. Given that there is an increasing number of choices of products for consumers to choose from, packaging remains the first impression, reflecting the core identity of the brand to the consumers.
So how does one decide what the right visual language for their unique market offering is? There are numerous directions of packaging out there that are being incorporated by brands today—minimalism, sustainable packaging, and playful designs to name a few. In all honesty there’s no right or wrong answer here, what really matters is how well the brand’s identity communicated via the packaging design.
A product with an unusual typography and playful graphics can appeal to consumers looking for a light-hearted experience. The use of a variety of colours and patterns candidly put together tell a story of the brand, while being fun and engaging. Illustrative storytelling is another way of creating an interactive experience through the packaging of a product.
Knowing your market is really important here, and if it suits the persona of the brand. Playful and quirky packaging might just be the ever so needed pull to attract the consumers. Below are few examples of playful packaging:
Cutty Sark’s gift pack features illustrations of friends being candidly themselves while resting interactively within the letters ‘Truly For Friends’ on the back of the pack. The front of the pack is kept minimal with only the Cutty Sark logo unit to drive maximum shelf throw.
Pig On Fire a small batch hand crafted bourbon depicts an illustration of a flaming pig. A recipe for an old fashioned bacon and brown sugar is doodled on the back of the bottle.
The Bira91 bottle has a monkey and the letter ‘B’ is in reverse. The colours and typography chosen for the product adds to the aspect of playfulness.
At the end of the day what really matters is how your product effectively catches the attention of the consumer in a unique, memorable and remarkable way.
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Ishika Keshari is the content executive at Taali Media, a design studio in based in Gurgaon.