Custom packaging is more than just putting your logo on a bag or box. To truly impress your customers and expand your brand power, you should be thinking ‘outside the box’ when it comes to packaging design. There’s no doubt that traditional shopping bags, boxes, and tags adorned with a simple logo are effective and inexpensive, and sometimes simple design is all you need. However, taking your packaging to the next level can encourage an even stronger response and social buzz. Unique and creative packaging can be featured on blogs, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and more social sites that can serve as free advertising for your company. People love quirky, unique, and interactive packaging, and will be more likely to remember to your brand and reuse your packaging if you make it interesting. In a world of standard retail bags, boxes, and tissue paper, adding creative finishing touches or innovative design can help your business’s packaging stand out!
Small Details Make A Difference
These custom hangtags for Axel’s in Colorado are an example of adding unique finishing touches to a simple packaging item. Like most hangtags made for retail, these are paper hole-punched tags with string for attaching them to retail items. Axel’s took these hangtags a step further by getting custom foil hot stamping inside the small button that is used to loop the string. The button clasp style closure is also a unique option compared to other hangtags. The quality and attention to detail of these hangtags far surpasses most other retailer’s tags. Axel’s shows that their attention to detail and unique finishing touches translates to their merchandise, creating a higher value for their brand and products.
UV spot printing is a creative way to add depth and texture to your packaging products, without having to add additional color or foils. UV ink is curated using a special process that makes the design glossy and raised. These eurototes for Fuchsia feature hot pink side gussets and matching ribbon handles with a UV printed pattern on all sides. The UV spot printing adds a unique element to these bags and creates texture and depth and adds a glossy finish on the solid colored paper. UV spot printing can be done all over the custom product or just on certain areas like the main logo. The UV printing on these bags gives it an entirely new design without adding additional colors, it is a subtle finishing touch that makes it stand out from other shopping bags. 
Not all boxes are created equal…
Custom boxes have a wide realm of possibilities when it comes to unique design. Many businesses choose standard box sizes and colors simply because of financial or time constraints. When choosing a fully custom box however, the sky truly is the limit. Many companies have a need for custom boxes to hold their specific products or merchandise. Custom boxes can be made to hold any type of product securely for retail, and you can add features like colorful printing, viewing windows, unique closures and much more. Clever graphics are one way to stand out with your product boxes. If you are competing for retail space, your boxes need to be unique to capture the attention of shopping consumers. Boxes can also be designed with cut-outs, windows, magnets, or you can take it one step further and create a cylindrical tin to hold merchandise, like Senor Murphy has done.
Beautiful on the Inside
Many bags are custom designed on the outside, but are left as plain paper on the inside. Some businesses want their customers to be reminded of their brand when they look inside the shopping bag, not just when they look at the exterior. It makes sense right? When retail goods are put in a shopping bag for the customer to take home, the customer then reaches inside the shopping bag to retrieve them. Imagine their surprise when they see a unique and eye-catching design inside their shopping bag. The uniqueness of your custom shopping bags shouldn’t end at the exterior; think about your 360 degree design, inside and out, to truly make a lasting impression.
Taps custom designed a simple black paper shopping bag with bold and colorful designs, but they didn’t stop there. They decided to take their bags to another level by designing the inside of the bags as well. The interior of their bags is lined with a bright colorful repeating logo print that matches the color on the exterior design. They decided to make bags in multiple colors and designs with a coordinating theme and style. These bags are not only aesthetically pleasing inside and out, but they provide a bold reminder of the Taps brand name and even their website address.
The Phoenician Luxury Collection also used this technique on their eurotote shopping bags, leaving the outside design simple while adding a rainbow colored completely unique design to line the interior of the bag. This bag takes the phrase “beautiful on the inside” to a whole new level.
E-Commerce Packaging
In our last blog post, we talked about how important e-commerce packaging has become in recent years. Custom shipping boxes and packing tape are some examples of unique custom packaging that can be used in e-commerce businesses. There are many low-cost ways to customize e-commerce packaging including labels, inserts, and tissue paper. More involved methods include fully custom product and mailing boxes with unique and creative designs. Companies like Birchbox have created unique boxes for their products that make their brand stand out, and these creative packaging designs are often shared on social media and blogs. Check out the full blog post for more information on custom e-commerce packaging.
Interactive Packaging
Interactive packaging is probably the best way to engage customers and create a social media buzz around your brand. Coca-Cola achieved this recently by putting pull-bow ribbons on their plastic holiday bottles. Although at first glance the bottles look normal, customers are able to pull the ribbons to create a bow instantly, completing the holiday gift packaging look that the company was aiming for. Videos, GIFs, pictures and postings on social media followed, creating a viral marketing campaign for Coca-Cola. This innovative idea is just one example of how successful interactive packaging is in engaging customers and creating a viral marketing campaign.
See more examples of interactive custom packaging compiled by Bored Panda here: http://www.boredpanda.com/interactive-product-packaging-design/