Your product packaging is part of your branding strategy, as well as protecting your products. Some packaging essentials tend to change minimally, such as what information to include on the packaging and the general shape of the packaging. Other things, however, tend to change regularly with trends that bounce between minimalism and cluttered design, bolds and neutral colors, and other extremes.
In addition to keeping track of the trends that you want to incorporate into your product packaging in 2020, it is also wise to pay attention to those that should be avoided. In some ways, these trends amount to prevalent mistakes that many companies seem to be making. The following are some of the trends that you do not want to follow.
Using Too Much Packaging
In some ways, it is easy to justify using more packaging than you need to. It adds to the protection for your product and helps ensure it gets to its destination safely. You would rather spend a little more on extra packaging than waste money on constantly damaged products.
Using too much packaging is particularly tempting now with additional health and safety measures in place. People like the idea of being able to immediately remove a layer of packaging to keep germs out of their homes but still have the product being protected.
While there are certainly some positives, using too much packaging has more negatives as well. To start with, if you take this too far, you are wasting money. If the extra packaging truly makes a difference in terms of product protection, then it is likely necessary. However, you do not need to go overboard. If you are not sure whether you can safely reduce the packaging, order a short run to see how the packaging and product inside fare.
There is also the issue of the planet. Increasingly, consumers are looking for companies to take environment-friendly actions, and reducing the use of materials is one of these. You will likely bring in more customers by minimizing your packaging material, assuming you frame it properly. Additionally, sometimes reducing your packaging material can help your product stand out from the crowd if the industry trend is to overuse packaging in the same way.
Sacrificing Protection for Eco-friendliness
The opposite of using too much packaging is also a common trend thanks to the push towards eco-friendly packaging. As mentioned, you do not want to waste materials, but you still need enough to protect your product. Additionally, some newer eco-friendly materials may not be as protective or sturdy as the materials they are alternatives to.
Luckily, overcoming this trend is as simple as taking the time to test your packaging before you place a large order. Make your planned eco-friendly changes and then check with a short run to confirm the packaging still fulfills its purpose.
Taking Minimalism to the Extreme
It seems minimalism is always a trend, but this is a situation where you do not want too much of a good thing. Minimalism can help your product sell, but do not take it too far. If you fail to include “emotion” on the packaging or do not provide enough information about the product, it will not sell.
Instead, make sure you incorporate minimalism in the way that it should be used to convey important information in a way that does not make your package look busy.
