What Should Be Included in The Packaging Design Brief?

Hi there, you guys! We hope that you really liked reading our previous blog and that you are very excited to check out what we have got for you guys in our today’s blog especially if you are someone who happens to work on writing briefs for packaging designs or if you are working as a client services manager at an advertising agency. And we will share everything that you guys need to know about how to work on a packaging design brief or how to decode one but before we do that, we would like to take a brief moment to thank you all for your love and support that you send our way and for always helping us improve and keep creating the stuff that we love to create.

If you guys are in the design industry or are running a business that requires you to pack and package your products so that they can be delivered to your customers without any damage, then you would fully know the importance of packaging design and how it can also help you stand apart from your competitors. With your packaging, you not only get to secure your products, etc. attractively but you also get to tell your brand story too and if you know how to do it creatively, then you have already won the game.

Image Credit: be.net/mentabranding

For any successful packaging design that exists, there was a packaging design brief that was worked upon by a group of creative people and then it was sent out to another set of people who were supposed to make that brief a reality. This whole process involves all the stakeholders from the ones who own the business to the brand managers, the creative and design agencies as well as the vendors who happen to actually print and manufacture the packaging.

WHAT IS A PACKAGING DESIGN BRIEF?

A (packaging) design brief is a document that consists of all the major and minor pointers which will help the designers understand what you expect from them so that they can make stuff that complies with your instructions. To explain it in detail; we are going to be sharing the anatomy of a packaging design brief. Make sure that you read the blog till the end to understand the document better!

WHAT DOES A PACKAGING DESIGN BRIEF INCLUDE?

Company Profile and Overview

There are chances that you will work with an agency on a project base – meaning that you will have to share all the details with them that can explain who you are as a business. But there are also chances that your retainer-based agency has a new hire who would need to know about you in detail so it’s always a good idea to include your company profile and overview in your design brief.

Project Overview (including Competitor Packaging)

Giving your designer an overview of the project will help them understand what you envision and what they need to deliver and it’s important to have everyone on the same page too so that there are no issues at any end. In addition to providing the agency, etc. with the project overview, you must also include competitor packaging in the brief so that they know how to create new designs.

Goals and Objectives

Give your designers realistic goals and objectives so that they can be at peace while working with you. Also, don’t overburden them with deadlines that are not humanly possible to manage otherwise they will end up creating things that you might never approve of.

Target Audience

No one can know your target audience better than you do so ensure that you talk about them in your design brief in order to help your design team better understand the brief and what they need to create to cater to the needs and demands of the potential customers.

Design / Material / Dimensions:

Always ensure that you clearly communicate the design requirements keeping in mind all the things that matter and the ones that don’t so that you only receive what you are expecting to receive instead of making changes after seeing the work in your review meetings. Do not forget to mention the material of the packaging along with the dimensions. Some mandatory details such as manufacturing information, ingredients, barcode, and precautions should also be included in the design brief.

Budget and Schedule

In addition to mentioning all things technical, you also need to mention the budget of the tasks and when you would like to see them too. You can break the schedule into several phases depending on the scale of the project and also the urgency.

Here is a perfect example of the packaging questionnaire

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