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April 06, 2015 - Comments Off

Bring back Easter!

We hope you had a great weekend with family and friends over the Easter break! To keep you in the spirit just a little longer, check out some of our favourite chocolate packaging. Read more

April 01, 2015 - Comments Off

Liquivee

We like packaging. So this concept is interesting to us: making vitamins look sleek and sophisticated in a woman’s handbag.. how do you do this?  Read more

March 11, 2015 - No Comments!

The power of Packaging Design

Packaging on a shelf has less than three seconds to grab the attention of a consumer.

Given the clutter of comparative products and endless options, those three seconds are exceedingly important when you consider that more than 80% of purchasing decisions are made at the shelf. Add to this the fact that supermarkets can contain on average 40,000 packs to choose from, then your packaging design has got to work hard.

Packaging’s role is fourfold:

  • To sell the product
  • To protect and preserve the product
  • To facilitate the use of the product
  • To ship the product

Redfire’s packaging design experience will help streamline your packaging process to not only promote appeal and reason to buy, but also work functionally in the supply chain.

With years of packaging experience we have built relationships with great packaging manufacturers and suppliers so can offer a full print and packaging procurement service.

March 11, 2015 - No Comments!

Sustainable Packaging through Design

It’s not about waving magic wands but being knowledgeable about choices and substrates available to be more sustainable when designing sustainable packaging. The packaging industry has been vilified over the years, not least on the subject of plastic bags. Yet brands have always been looking for ways to reduce materials and maximise packaging for both environmental and financial reasons.

We’ve helped companies and retailers improve the environmental impact of the packaging they use by:

  • Designing packaging that is made from sustainable materials. For instance using cardboard and papers from FSC forests instead of unknown sources.
  • Redesigning without material combinations so that packaging can be easily recycled. For instance making bottle lids from the same plastic as the body.
  • Changing the way packaging functions so that it improves the sustainability of the whole system it is part of. For instance, designing shelf ready packaging that means less materials are used in transit and at point of sale.
  • Using printers with vegetable inks and recycling processes in place to create more sustainable packaging brand stories.

March 11, 2015 - No Comments!

Eight golden rules for Packaging Design

Whether you are looking at new packaging design or refreshing and updating packaging, here are eight golden rules we take into consideration.

  1. Understand your market. We conduct a thorough packaging audit of all competitors in your market before we start, and make sure we understand their respective positioning and attributes.
  2. Trends. We look at what is happening with packaging in other markets, e.g. if you are just considering the NZ, what is happening in Australia, the US, EU or Asia that might give you a point of difference?
  3. Personality. We ensure you are different and ensure your packaging has its own visual equity and has a strong personality and attitude.
  4. Life Cycle. We make sure your packaging works at all stages of its life cycle, from leaving the factory to ending up in the user’s hands.
  5. Protection. We recommend you protect your packaging and design in terms of trademark law and copyright and make sure you’re not infringing your competitors’ rights.
  6. Pop Out. We ensure the packaging and design works and will mock up how your pack would look alongside your competition. We also try and test your packaging design in store and make sure it really does pop out at point of purchase.
  7. Future Proofing. We design with tomorrow in mind. We design and create packaging that is in keeping with current market trends and future trends.
  8. Testing. We promote doing some pre-market testing to make sure your packaging will find a willing audience. Bearing in mind we are careful how we test it as consumers never quite know what they are looking for until someone shows them something new. Henry Ford once said: ‘If I’d listened to what people wanted I’d have built a faster horse!’

March 11, 2015 - No Comments!

Designing Packaging Graphics

packaging-graphics

With packaging, designers have two key tools to grab the consumers’ attention, graphics and structure.

Packaging graphics must do more than simply look pretty. They must work to cut through the clutter and white noise that is the crowded retail shelves, and attract a potential buyer. Once they attract a buyer’s attention, packaging doesn’t stop working. We make sure the design conveys information about their contents, why they should potentially pay more for it, the ingredients they contain, how to use the product and why the product is unique.

Packaging is also the medium many businesses exploit to convey their brand and often, is the only brand “touch-point” that most consumers engage with. By this we mean they only really see and engage with your brand at point of sale- so packaging is vital.

Important elements for packaging graphics and packaging design include; colour, tonality, illustration, photography &  visuals, typography and information hierarchy. Get this right and you are half way there. The rest is up to how good the product performs for the price paid.