A quick guide to some of the packaging fundamentals

When it comes to creating the perfect packaging for your product, there are many fine lines you must walk. The packaging should be attractive, whilst complying with many regulations regarding content. It should reinforce a company brand, whilst making sure to include various different pieces of information. And there are so many layers to consider! Warehouse packaging, distribution packaging and the consumer packaging must all meet different briefs.

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Here we take a look at the five essential criteria that must be visible on your packaging.

The Truth!

Not only for packaging, but all aspects of marketing should be founded on a level of trust. It sounds fairly obvious, but any descriptions of goods on packaging must be accurate. Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, traders can be prosecuted if they exaggerate or misrepresent the product the packaging contains. In both text and illustrations, you must be truthful and accurate about:

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      • The quantity or size of the product
      • The composition of the project
      • The method of manufacture
      • The place and date of manufacture
      • Endorsements by people or organisations
      • The product&#;s fitness for stated purpose

Safety Instructions

If the product you are selling is potential dangerous, it&#;s crucial for manufacturers to provide the appropriate safety information, with instructions where necessary. This is relevant at all levels of the supply chain &#; safety information can be vital when the product is being transported by air, road or rail, and the outer labels can carry important information to ensure the goods are handled safely. Certain products will also require some very specific safety guidelines &#; including children&#;s toys and electrical goods.

Barcode

It&#;s hardly the most glamorous element of packaging design, but it&#;s one of the most essential parts. 

Put simply: if you&#;re going to sell a product, you need to have a barcode.

The best resource for finding out about barcodes is GS1 UK. Their barcodes and unique GS1 numbers are used by almost all of the UK&#;s leading retailers, including Amazon, eBay, Boots, Waitrose and Debenhams &#; so you&#;re in good company.

Barcodes aren&#;t there to look pretty &#; they&#;re on packaging to serve an important purpose, so the most crucial thing to remember when positioning your barcode is making it clear, concise and easily scannable.

Weights

Under The Weights and Measures (Packaged Goods) Regulations , you must ensure that &#;on average&#; each package contains the declared weight or volume of goods. As mentioned above, the weight of your product must be highly accurate on your packaging. 

In many industries, you&#;re legally required to label any package with the weight &#; and you must use metric weights and measures (with a few exceptions of course &#; milk is still sold in pints, as is beer). You can choose to add imperial measures, but they can&#;t be more prominent than the metric measures. 

If you&#;re selling to a business, the requirements on weight labelling are less clear &#; so it&#;s worth examining guidance for your specific industry for more information.

Manufacturer/Importer

All packaging must have the name and address of the manufacturer, packager or importer, clearly listed. This is in case consumers have a claim regarding the product, or wish to seek additional information about the product itself. This is your moment in the limelight &#; make sure your details can be seen! If you are new to the market and need some advice, we specialise in start-up marketing support.

Of course, there are other crucial additions your packaging can&#;t be without, many of which are dependent on industry or circumstance. Foodstuffs must contain ingredients and &#;best before&#; date. Those hoping to sell their product across Europe must add a CE marking &#; a symbol which declares conformity with all legal requirements associated with sales in Europe.

If you have any specific questions about packaging or the guidelines mentioned above, please don&#;t hesitate to ask. At BrandRefinery, we cover all phases of product launch and project validation, to ensure that you&#;re targeting the right audiences in the right place in the right way. 

Feel free to get in touch with us regarding any of our services. We would love to hear from you!

Image taken from &#;j_lai&#; Named &#;Tropicana old and new&#; licensed under &#;CC 2.0 BV&#;

Boxes can vary from small to big, colourful to minimalist, but they all should be useful.

Useful can mean a lot of stuff - from having a perfect size for the product to being visually incredible. However, we believe at Packhelp, that any box should meet more than just requirement. This is how we came up with this list!

Does a perfect box even exist?

We started off with asking such question. Although many marketing channels provide good exposure, only packaging reaches all of your clients. It starts the conversation and makes up for the first element to judge.  So - in a certain way - every box is a perfect way to start the relationship with the customer. Yet, to become truly "perfect", we have prepared this list of the most important features that your box should have.

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It&#;s eye-catching

Box is the first possibility to &#;wow&#; your potential customer.

Unpacking is supposed to be the beginning of an experience with the product. Your customer should be encouraged to take a picture with that box, post it online. However, it doesn&#;t necessarily mean that the box should be extremely colourful or extravagant.

See an example of the packaging for Sriracha sauces by André Moreira - it's both creative and light in its colour tonality. An eco mailer box - like the ones we produce at Packhelp - can dazzle with its simplicity as well. It all falls down to your creativity. 

The company is the world’s best Creative Packaging Solution supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.

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It&#;s durable

Trust us - packaging&#;s durability is one of the biggest challenges to face.

Cardboard boxes - the ones we produce at Packhelp - are both light and durable. However, it is always important to be cautious about the weight and shape of the product. Whilst mailer boxes are perfect for smaller products, branded shipping boxes might be a good choice if the product requires special treatment or farther shipment.

So, here&#;s our tip - before you make an order, be sure that the box will be a match for your product.

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It conveys the message of your brand

Packaging is a great means to tell about your brand.

Consider it as a kind of dialogue with the customer. If one of your most important features includes an eco-friendly approach, an eco box will surely be a way to emphasize that.

Supposing you are a clothing producer that is colourful and stylish, a more creative and crazy design of the box can surely convey your message. Or your product is Boxed Water and you go for a minimalist design, with very clear message about your product's advantage over competition. The point is to make your customer aware that you put your heart in every step and element. 

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It secures your product

Box should secure your product - obvious, right?

Yes, but it is one of the most important features of packaging - the degree to which it secures what&#;s inside of it. Nobody wants to pay for a one-of-a-kind product, wait for the shipment and finally receive it&#; broken.

Hence, it&#;s crucial to know the weight and size of the product and secure it by an appropriate box. When sending donuts in a box to your client, make sure they look as delicious as they taste!

5.

It&#;s easy to open

There are boxes that look astonishing due to their creativity.

There are boxes with irregular shapes and incredibly designed forms, but it often happens at the cost of functionality. And there&#;s hardly anything so irritating (in the packaging world) than a box that takes too much time to open. If it&#;s not intuitive, the risk of destroying the box is much higher.

Additionally, it might influence how your customer perceives the brand and the product - nobody likes to waste time unnecessarily. A cool example of introducing the concept of "easy-to-open" is the design of ChenChen Hu, who created the new delivery boxes with a "corner pack". 

All of those features are equally important.

A box can be visually captivating, convey the message of your brand, but it doesn't fit its purpose 100% if the contents are not safe inside! Therefore, we always advise our clients to double-check all of those key elements before ordering boxes. Maybe dropping us a line is a good way to sort things out? 

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We would love to hear your opinions - what features of box do you find most important? Do you agree with our propositions?

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Smart Print Solutions. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.