The beauty industry stands out among lifestyle spaces.
Women have long relied on cosmetics for their beauty needs. Nearly everyone keeps them nearby and within reach at all times. Beauty products have always been ubiquitous, Whether in purses, backpacks, bathroom cabinets, or office desk drawers.
The industry was lucrative but fairly straightforward.
However, the cosmetics industry is expanding into new areas today.
First of all, it's no longer just for women. It is widely believed that looking and feeling attractive go hand in hand.
In addition, cosmetic lines include more than lipstick and eyeliner. Although beauty is still dominated by make-up, the industry today is just as much about personal care and hygiene as it is about beauty.
Here's an abbreviated list of what's considered beauty or cosmetic products:
- Skin, eye, and mouth coloring, creams, powders, and masks
- Body soaps, body washes, exfoliators, or any other cleansing product
- Hair shampoos, conditioners, lotions, oils, dyes, and bleaches
- Lotions that moisturize, protect, or tan the skin
- Nail polish, color, and lotion
- Deodorants, antiperspirants, body sprays, perfumes, and other hygiene and aromatic products
- Products for oral hygiene, such as toothpaste, mouthwash, teeth bleaching, or teeth whitening
- Cosmetics include even baby care products such as powder, ointments, creams, and similar items
Why do we need a history lesson?
This means one of two things: A) you currently run or own a cosmetic brand and are wondering how to differentiate yourself from the crowded market; B) you're considering entering the cosmetic business and want to know how to stand out from the crowd.
Your product will always be the most important factor in determining whether consumers buy and remain loyal to your brand. However, the packaging of your cosmetics can also lure them in.
Packaging, that's what I mean.
Consumers need to latch onto brands. They prefer brands that they feel are relatable and understand their needs. Product reliability, accessibility, and value are all important to them. Both brands' mission and messaging should be consistent. Ultimately, they are looking for a trustworthy brand.
Your brand's packaging is crucial in catching a consumer's eye and inviting them along for the ride. Customers often notice your product's packaging before trying it out.
The right packaging will make them want to grab it from the shelf and try it themselves.
People gloss over a poorly packaged product in favor of the one they prefer.
So, how do you design great cosmetic packaging? Let's get started.
Designing Cosmetic Packaging: The First Steps
Designing your Brand's custom cosmetic boxes begins with a few basic tenets: How do you define your Brand? Do you know who your brand appeals to? What is the best way for consumers to acquire your product?
By answering these three questions, you can determine the type of packaging you'll need to succeed.
How to Design Cosmetic Packaging That Sells, Step-By-Step
Isn't it simple? Describe who you are and what you represent.
In some cases, it is. For others, it can prove the most taxing exercise of the entire project. We recommend you start with the product or products you intend to sell, regardless of where you fall.
Is it exclusively for women? How do I care for my hair? Is there a skincare line? Is it a combination of cosmetics?
Your product shapes the future of your brand. It not only influences your brand's identity but also guides your messaging and design choices.
If you sell high-end cosmetics, for instance, it makes sense to incorporate upscale materials and a luxe experience. Marketing pregnancy or baby care products requires a lighter, more nurturing touch. Personal care for men requires a different approach and a highly health-conscious approach.
The next step is to define what you want your brand to represent. This decision will shape your brand's identity. Will it be luxury with an edge? Glamorous? Accessible, offering relatively low-cost high-end products? Or perhaps eco-friendly upscale?
Lastly, your brand will drive Almost all of your initial packaging design since you'll need it closely tied to your product line. Developing loyal customers requires consistency, but you can still use creativity to distinguish your packaging.
Your company logo, color scheme, messaging, and other building blocks are part of your brand's cohesive uniformity. This guide recommends that you consider all of these factors as the first step, as your role is crucial in this process.
Whether you're a startup, a company rebranding, or an established company seeking to expand your appeal, defining your brand will make packaging design easier.
What Is The Target Audience For Your Beauty Brand?
Just because you sell upscale polishes, lotions, and face creams doesn't always mean your customer base is wealthy.
Your fingernail polishes might attract young female professionals. There may be no lipstick brand with more mature shades than yours. There's a good chance that a lotion you sell will be popular with athletic men and women of all ages.
It's crucial not to assume that what initially appeals to one demographic won't attract others. Understanding who is buying your products is key. If you're already established, studying purchase patterns can provide valuable insights. If you're just starting out, market research is essential to understand buying patterns and habits.
With that data, you can design packaging that appeals to your core audience while attracting outliers.
Can You Tell Me Where Consumers Order Your Cosmetics?
As part of your pre-design task list, you should consider where your cosmetics will be sold.
Should your packaging stand out among similar product Stores like grocery stores and big box retailers? Are you planning to sell your products in beauty-specific stores like Ulta or Sephora? Do you plan to sell your products in a boutique or specialty shop like a nail or hair salon? Do you plan to sell exclusively online?
Your brand's engagement with consumers impacts how you present your product. Where it sits alongside competing brands, packaging in a store environment must attract attention.
Remember to take into account the store itself. A boutique shop might need to package products together or dress up the outer shell more than a pharmacy.
When you make purchases online, you have more flexibility. Consumers are less concerned about getting noticed with your e-commerce packaging than about the overall experience with your brand.
Your branding should be consistent across all points of sale, even if your products have different packaging.
Cosmetics Industry Market Understanding
The cosmetics industry is crowded, hyper-competitive, and on a rapid upward trend. It is soon to be valued at $532 billion. Before committing to your packaging designs, take a comprehensive look at the market you'll be entering (or reintroducing your product line).
Research is not just important; it's a non-negotiable part of this process. Whether you sell online or in-store, thorough research is a must.
Pick five cosmetic companies that will directly compete with your brand. Your products should be similar to theirs.
Choose three direct competitors from the brands you choose for your research: one brand considered a step above, and one brand considered a step below. The latter two choices help you gauge the difference between being a premium brand and being considered a budget brand.
Find out what each company does well and poorly, how they engage with their customers, and what weaknesses your brand can capitalize on. Visit their website, online stores, social media accounts, and any stores that carry their products.
Observe how their cosmetic packaging boxes are designed and if any product or line sells better.
Ultimately, your research should help you understand where your brand fits within the market. By understanding your competitors well, you can position your brand for long-term success.
Find Inspiration For Your Product Line.
Now that you've addressed those basic but very important first steps, it's time to move on to the really fun stuff.
Before proceeding with the design process, you should determine what you like, what you don't like, and what's in between.
Create mood boards or style sheets for each of your product lines based on other trends in cosmetic packaging (or even beyond).
A mood board is a great way to capture your overall themes, styles, or ideas. If you have individual product lines, you can create mood boards for each one using style sheets (or style guides) to work out the specifics of your branding or packaging.
Find out what works, what doesn't, and what different design styles could work for your brand by searching the web, reading magazines, and walking the aisles of stores.
Take a look at the colors, fonts, and shapes. Observe trends and look out for gimmicky and classic design schemes. It would help if you focused on the former, creating a modern and timeless design. It's also proven to be the most effective way to appeal to consumers over time.
Your mood board or individual product style sheets should contain what you like or what seems to work. Note bad design choices to avoid making the same mistakes during your design process.
Remember, you're not aiming to replicate others. A style sheet serves as a unique visual guide for your product packaging design, helping you carve out your own distinct identity.
Packaging Containers for Custom Cosmetics
Cosmetic packaging design begins with the container you'll use for your products. Your design will already be based on the products you intend to sell.
The most common types of containers are Boxes, compacts, droppers, jars, packets, palettes, pumps, sprayers, tins, and tubes (glass and plastic).
The degree of variation is limited to a certain extent. The lipstick comes in tubes, and shampoo and conditioner are usually packaged in plastic, squeezable bottles.
Feel free to try different variations. Yes, they must remain reasonably practical and useful. Consider them if they enhance your appeal and are something consumers might respond to.
Many beauty products require custom packaging in addition to the product container. Compacts or lipstick tubes can stand independently, secured with plastic or foil wrapping. An essential oil or perfume bottle of glass may require an exterior box for the packaging presentation.
Additionally, many cosmetics brands in boutique retail stores have their exterior bags. Additional retail packaging may be less personalized at grocery stores or big-box retailers. You'll want to know which packaging works best for your products in any given environment.
Online sales provide greater packaging flexibility. If you receive such orders, you may want to consider packaging that enhances the consumer's brand experience.
Contact companies with experience producing cosmetic packaging boxes to guide you through the design and ordering process.
Designing Good Cosmetic Packaging
Walking down any cosmetics aisle in any store is bound to be overwhelming because of the infinite array of colors, patterns, textures, and shapes. In contrast to most other product segments, cosmetics and personal care packaging is distinctly creative.
I completely agree with you.
These products are designed to make the customer look beautiful and feel fantastic. If you want them to try them, you have to convince consumers that your lipstick, bath wash, or body lotion will take them on a blissful journey.
Furthermore, certain aesthetics are often used to create lasting, timeless packaging designs that impact consumers. Your overall branding scheme may influence the actual packaging colors, but you can integrate specific Maintaining your product lines while utilizing specific techniques consistency.
Be mindful of several key elements when seeking inspiration for your design and during the design process itself. It would help if you always looked for new and creative ways to differentiate your brand's packaging.
A few proven strategies help you craft an excellent design representing your brand and appealing to customers
. A color scheme
The design of cosmetic packaging is heavily influenced by color, which is no surprise. The industry utilizes a wide range of colors by nature, and the same color schemes keep popping up again and again.
Black and white will always be standout choices for packaging, regardless of industry. Black is considered a power color. It embodies luxury, sophistication, and timeless elegance. Additionally, it gives brands a brooding edge.
For its part, white is often associated with minimalism. In addition to its starkness, it also portrays sophistication and elegance. Applied as a base layer, it softens heavier hues while defining lighter ones. The classic color combination of black and white is always a winner.
Why are pink and purple two of the most common colors on cosmetic packaging? Purple evokes feelings of love, romance, beauty, and femininity, as well as a sense of calm. Luxurious, royal, and wealthy are associated with purple. It symbolizes extravagance, independence, and even mystery.
These two colors capture the essence of the beauty industry, which is why they are used over and over again. You may find it difficult to differentiate your products from those trying to capture a similar vibe. If you must, it is best to use either color in conjunction with another color. While paving your branding path, you can still capture that feeling of beauty and extravagance.
The pale hues of primary and secondary colors are pastels. A pastel color scheme is most often associated with Easter and early spring. It reflects a soft, gentle mood. Pastel colors symbolize tranquility, openness, femininity, and rebirth (spring) and are extremely popular in cosmetics packaging.
Despite their pastel names—mint blue, pistachio. They are most commonly found in seafoam green, plum, and antique white and are known by light or pale names (light pink, pale yellow). You can distinguish your brand by finding a new, unique twist on popular colors like pink and purple.
In addition to these three categories, there are many other color schemes to choose from. These are the most common colors used on cosmetic packaging, but other options are available. Red, yellow, orange, and pink are used in warm tones to evoke enthusiasm, energy, and optimism.
Colors with a cool tone - predominantly blue, green, purple, and similar hues - convey calm and relaxation. The neutral or earth tone can be any shade of brown or closely related tones, such as auburn, gold, or tan. These hues evoke nature in association with black, white, or gray.
Consider mixing your brand's overall color scheme with different mixes in your packaging, even if you prefer your brand's overall color scheme to take the lead. Lavender and light purple, for example, are often associated with relaxation. It might be beneficial to feature lavender in your custom bath bomb boxes if your line includes soaking bath salts or bath bombs, even if it's not part of your branding.
To appeal to a consumer's senses, you must use color effectively.
Do you have environmentally conscious products and packaging for your brand? Would it be more urban, attracting the black-tie set that attends charity balls and dinners?
Try out different combinations. Build a loyal customer base with those who entice your ideal consumer and enhance your brand.
Typefaces
As with colors, fonts, and typography (the visual rendering of your fonts) convey their feelings and emotions. Approximately half a million fonts are available, so take your time.
Choosing the right font isn't nearly as difficult as you might think. With a basic understanding, you can confidently select the perfect one for your brand.
Lettering has some basic tenants. Serif fonts are the most traditional font options and convey a sense of class or being established. Modern fonts are sans serif. Lettering is both straightforward and simple.
Italics and cursive fonts convey sophistication and elegance (and femininity). Using bold or all-caps letters conveys a strong, aggressive brand (often found in men's beauty care products).
Remember, your text must be easy to read, regardless of the font and typography. When determining your text scheme, always consider the type and size of the packaging. This will ensure your message is clear and accessible to your audience.
Pick what best represents your brand, is unique, and stands out from your competitors. Your brand can be artistic, whimsical, bold, brash, elegant, and sophisticated. To create your identity, you must separate yourself as much as possible.
The Patterns
Patterns are the final major design element of cosmetic packaging. If you visit your nearest cosmetics or beauty store, you will discover that the world is truly at your fingertips.
Cosmetic boxes, which can be customized for lip gloss and foundation, often exhibit the predominant design styles you see elsewhere. Among the basic underlying styles are minimalist, geometric, Art Deco, floral, traditional, contemporary, modern, natural, and abstract. Plenty of brands combine elements to make their mark.
We suggest that hand-drawn florals or bold industrial geometrics can prove successful, depending on the brand's goals and consumers' reactions.
In an industry and marketplace where most brands seem to be mirror images of one another, the value of uniqueness cannot be overstated. It's the key to standing out and making a lasting impression.
Your product packaging should incorporate all of these design elements. It's crucial to create a cohesive presentation. This ensures that your brand is accurately reflected, making it more engaging and appealing to your target demographic wherever your products are acquired.
Element(S) Of Additional Information
The packaging may also require some additional components in addition to your brand logo, copy, and graphics. This is to comply with FDA regulations regarding cosmetic labeling.
You may need to include ingredients, expiration dates, and government warnings on your product's label. Moreover, if your product is cruelty-free and not tested on animals, we suggest indicating that on your custom packaging.
Let's Get Started
That's fine. You're now ready to put it all together.
After you've added, removed, and tweaked your mood board and style guides, you should have a good idea of where your design is headed.
We recommend hiring a professional designer unless you have a team of in-house designers. Besides handling the heavy lifting of bringing your ideas to life, they are valuable partners in perfecting the design before it's sent to print.
When designing cosmetic packaging, keep these things in mind:
The front of the packaging is what consumers notice first. What do you want to accomplish? Do you sell products or build brands? Your approach depends on the answer. Brands should emphasize their logos and messaging. Keep the specifics on what makes the product so great if it's a product.
Make sure your label answers your consumer's most immediate questions about the product: its description, contents, who it's for, how to use it, warnings, and instructions.
Describe any particulars that make your brand or A product worth buying eco-friendly, cruelty-free, containing special ingredients, or providing specific beauty or charitable benefits ("a percentage of your purchase will go to...").
It should be clear, concise, appealing to your ideal consumer, and entice everyone else. Think about the following questions:
- Is it possible to identify the product? Is there a clear understanding of what it is and what it does?
- What brand is selling the product?
- What kind of impact will it have on a shelf? Would it be better to blend it in with the competitor's packaging?
- Are consumers likely to be excited about it if they pick it up? Does it provide an online ordering experience?
The most important question is: Does the design match your brand vision and products? During the design process, make sure to create physical mock-ups of packaging designs. This way, you can experience what a consumer would experience in a store or during an unboxing.
Lastly, even though most of your packaging costs are associated with the actual containers, boxes, and bags, consider your design costs as well. It will cost you more if they are elaborate. To get the cosmetic packaging you want at an affordable price, you'll need to work with vendors across the project - designer, printer, and logistics.
Lastly, I Would Like To Say
Take a look at how you got here:
- Creating a brand identity
- Are you appealing to a particular demographic?
- The way consumers acquire your products
- Getting to know the market
- Taking inspiration from
- The packaging and containers that are used
- A color scheme
- Typefaces
- A variety of patterns and designs
- Information elements not listed above
- Getting your designs into reality (ready, set, go)
- A quick recap of your packaging design process serves as a reminder. The purpose is not to overwhelm you but to remind you that the entire process is interconnected.
- Your packaging will struggle to be cohesive if you don't know who your brand appeals to.
- It is possible to be overlooked or blend into a crowded marketplace if you don't craft cohesive packaging.
- If the container is mismarked, poorly packaged, or sloppily designed, consumers will not seek out your product in a store or trust anything you post or sell online.
- You need to pinpoint the elements that inspire you to create packaging or brand identity that inspires others to try your products.
The idea is clear.
In our previous article, we pointed out that the cosmetics industry is highly competitive and offers plenty of opportunities to make your mark. The first impression you make with your packaging is crucial. Make your brand and products stand out, or become a one-stop beauty shop.
Give the packaging design process the attention it deserves. Explore the market, find your inspiration, and envision your brand's market potential that others cannot. Once that message has been determined, design packaging that reflects it.
When the packaging is great, people will know how great the product is inside.
