Product packaging design is the work of choosing the pack structure and materials, drawing the dieline, laying out the brand and mandatory information on it, and preparing print-ready artwork that a converter can produce at your order quantity. A good pack does four things at once: it protects the product through the whole supply chain, it is recognised and chosen at the point of sale, it carries the information the law of each market requires, and it costs what the margin allows. Design that ignores any of these is redone later, usually after stock has been printed.
This guide covers the design and production side. The legal content by market is in our separate guide to packaging and label requirements on the blog.
Start with structure, not graphics
Decide the physical pack before anyone designs a logo on it. Structure sets cost, MOQ and how much space you have for the brand.
| Format | Typical uses | Strengths | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Folding carton | Cosmetics, supplements, small electronics, toys | Good print quality, flat shipping, many finishes | Needs inner protection for fragile items |
| Corrugated box (shipper or mailer) | E-commerce, heavy goods, outer cases | Strength, standard styles, recyclable | Print quality lower than cartons unless pre-printed liners are used |
| Rigid box | Premium gifts, fragrance, sets | Perceived value, reusable | Hand assembly, higher unit cost, bulky to ship empty |
| Flexible pouch or bag | Food, coffee, pet food, refills | Low weight, barrier options, efficient transport | Plate or cylinder costs for long runs; recyclability depends on the material structure |
| Bottle, jar or tube with label | Cosmetics, food, household | Stock containers available, label carries the brand | Label area is small; compatibility of container and formula must be tested |
For corrugated boxes, the FEFCO code of designs gives each standard box style a number (0201 is the common regular slotted case), which lets you request comparable quotes from different suppliers. The code describes style only; dimensions and board grade are specified separately.
Dielines: the drawing everything depends on
A dieline is the flat technical drawing of the pack: cut lines, crease or fold lines, glue areas, bleed and safe zones. The converter normally supplies it for their machine and board, and the designer works on top of it. Rules that save reprints:
- Get the dieline from the actual supplier, in their board thickness, before artwork starts. A generic template from the internet will be slightly off.
- Keep text and barcodes inside the safe area, away from folds and glue flaps.
- Mark panels by function: front of pack, back, sides, top, bottom. The legal text needs a fixed home on every size variant.
- Ask for a white sample (unprinted mock-up) and test it with real product, including closing, stacking and opening.
- Version-control the dieline with the artwork. Mismatched versions are a common cause of print errors.
Mandatory information: plan the space
Most categories require information that takes a lot of room: product name, net quantity, ingredients or composition, warnings, the manufacturer or responsible person, batch, dates, recycling marks, barcodes and, in many markets, more than one language. Designers often leave this to the end and then shrink it below legal size.
Food in the EU is a good example of fixed limits. Regulation 1169/2011 requires mandatory particulars in a font with an x-height of at least 1.2 mm, or 0.9 mm where the largest surface of the pack is under 80 cm². On a small sachet with three languages, that requirement alone may decide the pack size. Other categories have their own rules: cosmetics need the full ingredient list, textiles need fibre composition, and under the EU General Product Safety Regulation the manufacturer’s contact details must appear on the product or its packaging. Check the list per market with the compliance stage before artwork is final.
Barcodes come from GS1: you license a company prefix through your national GS1 organisation and create a GTIN for each sellable item. Place them on a flat panel with the quiet zone the standard requires.
Print methods and MOQ trade-offs
The print method sets your minimum order and cost per unit more than the design does.
| Method | Fits | Set-up | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital | Short runs, many variants, test launches | No plates | Higher unit cost; colour can vary between runs and machines |
| Offset (sheet-fed) | Cartons and labels in medium and long runs | Plates per colour | Low unit cost at volume; set-up makes short runs expensive |
| Flexographic | Corrugated, labels, flexible packaging | Plates | Efficient at volume; fine detail is harder |
| Gravure | Very long runs of flexible packaging | Engraved cylinders | High set-up, consistent quality; only worth it at large volume |
Ways to keep MOQ manageable for a new brand:
- Use one printed outer design for several variants and differentiate with a sticker or a printed band.
- Use stock containers and print only the label or sleeve.
- Limit special finishes (foil, embossing, spot varnish) to one, or to the first premium line.
- Start digitally for the test run, then move to offset or flexo when volumes are proven, and plan the artwork for both from the start.
- Print packaging for the quantity you can sell, not the converter’s best price break. Obsolete packaging is a common write-off after a label change.
The private label page explains how pack MOQ interacts with the factory’s product MOQ, which is often the bigger constraint.
Packaging for e-commerce
A pack that looks good on a shelf can fail in a parcel network, where it is dropped, stacked and sorted by machines. Design for e-commerce separately:
- Test drops and compression. ISTA test procedures are widely used for parcel shipping. Amazon’s packaging certification programme uses ISTA 6-Amazon tests for its tiers, including packs that ship in their own container without an Amazon overbox.
- Right-size. Empty space increases damage, shipping cost and complaints. In the EU, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, applicable since 12 August 2026, includes packaging minimisation rules, so oversized packs are a growing compliance question as well as a cost.
- Design the thumbnail. On a marketplace the pack is first seen at a small size. Test whether the brand and product type are legible in a square image a few centimetres wide.
- Plan the unboxing without excess. A printed inside lid or a simple insert gives a branded moment without adding layers that buyers throw away.
A sequence that avoids reprints
- Confirm product, formula or specification, and the markets.
- Choose structure and material with the converter; get the dieline.
- Collect all mandatory text per market and assign panels.
- Design the brand system on the most constrained pack first (the smallest size).
- Check legal text and claims with the person responsible in each market.
- Approve a printed proof or pre-production sample with real product inside.
- Release the print order only after the trademark application is filed.
Our identity and packaging stage follows this order, working from the dieline and the label text rather than from a mood board. To see how pack cost affects your margin, use the margin calculator.