Packaging design: 6 tips for an ideal brief | RAJA

Have you ever sent a brief for the creation of packaging to a service provider… only to find that you have to start from scratch? Unfortunately, this is the experience of many marketing departments, who forget key elements that need to be integrated.We interviewed Julien Mechin, co-founder of the CREADS platform, who shared with us a few essential best practices to follow when designing your brief for the creation of packaging. By applying them, you will save a great deal of time in discussions with your graphic designers and you will be sure of an optimal result. You will be able to create real personalised communication media, thanks to a fluid graphic and technical design!This article was updated in September 2020

1. Know the difference between packaging and packaging
2. Explain the context of the packaging creation
3. Draw up a comprehensive technical specification
4. Involve the different parts of the company from the very beginning of the brief
5. Give creative ideas that can influence the production
6. Do not forget potential regulatory constraints

1.

Know the difference between packaging and packaging

Before you start designing your brief, you need to know the difference between packaging and packaging

• Packaging is more of a logistical tool: it is the “primary packaging”, whose primary purpose is to protect the product.
• Packaging is a marketing tool, which aims to sell the product: it is a communication tool in its own right, which transmits the brand’s messages in a visual way.

the difference between these two terms is crucial

• On the one hand, with packaging, we are often dealing with purely technical design briefs, which aim to personalise a pure container to your brand values.
• On the other hand, with packaging, the briefs are usually more complex: they have to explain to the designer how the packaging can bring the brand experience to the customer, through a striking visual identity and graphic design.

however, the trend in packaging is increasingly similar to that of packaging. Companies are ‘serialising’ their packaging to make it unique to each product range, or even each order, and personalising the customer’s experience through bespoke designs. So be careful to know which object, packaging or packaging, you want to design

An example of primary packaging designed by CREADS, whose primary purpose is to highlight the branding by enhancing the product

le mot de Julien Mechin, co-fondateur de CREADS: “La conception d’un packaging sera souvent complexe pour le créatif, par rapport à l’emballage. Il ne s’agit pas uniquement d’apposer un logo sur un support, comme on le fait souvent sur un emballage. La packaging sert à sublimer le produit, et sert un objectif de marque. Le fait de bien se poser sur un brief est absolument essentiel. Cependant, un emballage lui aussi peut être fait sur-mesure et personnalisé, dans ce cas son brief a également toute son importance.”

Les explications ci-dessous s’appliquent donc autant à la rédaction d’un brief pour un packaging que pour un emballage personnalisé pour l’expédition.

2. Expliquer le contexte de la création du packaging

Le brief est là pour informer du contexte du projet. Il doit permettre au graphiste de comprendre quel est the objective of creating the packagingthis is why a good design brief must indicate the marketing constraints linked to the packaging to be designed. Remember to stipulate what message it must convey to the consumer, how it must defend the brand, etc. Do not hesitate to go into detail and create a marketing brief that is as exhaustive as possible

• How does this project fit into the company’s marketing strategy? Is the product in question a novelty, an event-driven reissue or part of an existing range?
• Is the product intended to take market share from the leader (and therefore needs to be more creative) or is it the absolute leader and tries to please everyone?
• What are the brand values to be conveyed?
• Who are the typical customers or targets?
• What are the benefits of the product? What is its added value compared to competitors?

also communicate as many details as possible about the product itself: its price, the planned advertising device, the places of sale… The more details the person in charge of the graphic design will have, the more you will ensure an initial rendering adapted to your needs.

An example of packaging, designed by CREADS, that makes the product visible even in a crowded aisle, and allows the brand to easily distinguish itself from competitors.

Customised packaging for Kenzo’s e-commerce orders.

julien Mechin’s words: “There are always marketing objectives behind the packaging. In short, a good brief answers the question Why can’t this product exist without this packaging?

3. Draw up a comprehensive technical specification

Beyond the marketing aspect, one element is often forgotten in a brief: the technical constraints. To avoid going back and forth with the designer as much as possible, you need to include a well-crafted technical specification in the brief. In this specification, you can, for example, indicate

• Your budget
• The material to be used
• The type of support
• The desired size of the packaging
• The type of file to be delivered (a 3D file or just a flat)…

note also that these specifications will be very different, depending on whether you are starting from scratch or redesigning the packaging with an existing charter and more precise constraints concerning your brand imagele mot de Julien Mechin: “Les contraintes techniques du brief ne peuvent véritablement pas être sous-estimées. Il est possible de faire quelque chose de joli, voire d’extraordinaire, sur le papier… cependant, si ce packaging devient impossible à créer in vivo, votre brief ne servira malheureusement à rien.”

4. Impliquer les différents pôles de l’entreprise dès la conception du brief

On a tendance à confier un brief de packaging au marketing. La raison est simple : il est aisé de confondre le brief qui permet d’inspirer le créatif, de lui faire comprendre le message, et le brief à contraintes.

Le brief idéal doit comprendre ces deux facettes : d’une part, il donne les objectifs stratégiques de la marque, et de l’autre, il délimite le périmètre d’intervention du créatif.

C’est pourquoi il est recommandé de parler avec les différents pôles de l’entreprise concernés. Le marketing doit confronter ses idées créatives avec les exigences du pôle logistique, qui p

An example of a packaging design, made by CREADS, meeting both marketing objectives (branding) and logistical objectives (easy to store and carry box).

A custom-made packaging made by RAJA, whose first constraint was to integrate a foam padding, to protect a fragile product with high added value.

le mot de Julien Mechin: “Il n’est pas rare de se retrouver avec un projet de packaging complexe à mettre en oeuvre, lorsque les fonctions logistique et produit n’ont pas été intégrées au moment du brief. Communiquer en interne avant de transmettre le brief au créatif est essentiel.”

5. Donner des pistes créatives qui peuvent influencer la réalisation

Il peut parfois être compliqué d’expliquer par écrit ce que l’on imagine d’un packaging, d’un point de vue créatif.

C’est pourquoi il ne vous faut pas hésiter à intégrer à votre brief un moodboard, c’est-à-dire des pistes d’inspiration, tirées de la concurrence voire d’un autre secteur d’activité.

N’oubliez pas également de transmettre, en plus des éléments graphiques auxquels vous songez, votre charte graphique et vos anciens packagings si vous en avez. En expliquant comment le créatif doit s’en différencier ou non, vous lui faites gagner du temps, et vous économisez des allers-retours.

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A Lush packaging, created in accordance with the existing codes and values of the brand.

for packaging inspiration, check out the case study of Cheerz, a company that designed its own customised packaging and used it to drive growth.

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6. Don’t forget potential regulatory constraints

This advice doesn’t apply to shipping packaging (your packaging), but rather to the primary packaging, the one that comes into direct contact with your product. For certain types of products, it is mandatory toindicate in your brief the regulatory and legal constraints that must be applied to the packaging. On food products, the ingredients must be indicated, on alcoholic products, the mentions relating to alcohol consumption…

An example of primary packaging for a spirits brand, created by CREADS, which takes into account the signage and regulatory constraints in force.

Le mot de Julien Mechin: “Il faut pas hésiter, si besoin, à passer par un expert ayant une capacité de conseil spécifique à votre produit. En trouvant un créatif spécialiste du packaging alimentaire, par exemple, qui va penser à telle ou telle mention obligatoire, vous gagnez un temps précieux.”

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A propos de CREADS…

1ère plateforme de production de contenus créatifs spécialisée en graphisme, vidéo & rédaction, CREADS réunit des milliers de créatifs freelances experts dans tous les secteurs d’activité. Grâce à ses 10 ans d’expertise dans le domaine de la création, CREADS a packagé les offres de plus de 50 produits print & web avec des prix et délais standardisés (logo, création de nom, motion design, affiche, bannière web, webdesign, packaging, visuels réseaux sociaux, etc). Parmi ses 4 000 clients, startups, PME comme grands comptes et agences, CREADS a notamment travaillé avec AB Tasty, Drivy, Teads, Fauchon, Ax