How to brief a packaging designer
A good brief saves weeks. The best packaging designers will help you write one, but if you arrive with clear answers to the questions below, you will get better work, faster and with fewer rounds of changes.
1. What is the product, and who buys it?
Describe the product in a sentence a shopper would understand. Then describe the buyer: who they are, what they are trying to do, and what makes them choose one pack over another on a shelf. If you have research, share it. If you do not, tell us what you know and what you are guessing.
2. Where will it be sold?
Packaging for a supermarket shelf, a hardware aisle, a pharmacy and an online store each does a different job. Tell us the retailer, the category and where the pack sits. If a retailer has packaging requirements or range review dates, give them to us on day one.
3. Who are the competitors?
Send photographs of the competing packs, taken on the shelf if you can. We want to know what you need to stand out from and what the shopper will compare you with.
4. What must the pack say?
List the essentials in order of importance: the brand, the product name, the key benefit, the variant, the size, and any claims. Anything mandatory, such as nutrition panels, warnings, barcodes, certifications and recycling symbols, goes in this list too.
5. What are the fixed points?
Tell us what cannot change: the logo, the colours, the pack structure, the printing method, the budget per unit. Constraints are useful. They are far more helpful than a blank sheet.
6. What does success look like?
Be specific. "A pack the buyer says yes to at range review" is a goal. "A modern look" is not. Include how you will judge the work and who decides.
7. Timing and budget
Give us the date the pack has to be on shelf and work back from it. Include time for approvals, proofs and printing. Share a budget range if you can; it helps us propose the right scope. See what drives packaging design cost.
8. Who approves?
Name the people who must sign off. Late approvers are the most common reason a project slips, so involve them early.
What to leave open
Do not prescribe the solution. A brief that says "make the logo bigger and use green" removes the thinking you are paying for. Describe the problem and the constraints, and let the designer propose.
A one-page summary
If you want a quick version, answer these in a page: the product, the buyer, the retailer, the competitors, the must-have information, the fixed points, the goal, the date and the approvers. That is a brief that works.
If you would like help writing a brief, or want to run a structured Range Review or Relaunch Audit ($5,000 + GST with 50% deposit, delivered within one week, with 100% of the audit fee credited toward packaging design for the range) before briefing your full rollout, get in touch. More on how we work is on our packaging design page.
