Branding is a fast-revolving, ever-evolving business. At the core, every brand has creativity, differentiation, and a unique identity that must be nurtured. For top-tier marketers and creative agencies, simply keeping up with the latest trends isn’t enough. It’s all about staying one step ahead of those trends and being on the cutting edge.
The turn of the calendar to a new year brings with it a “blank canvas” for designers to work with – particularly in the realm of packaging design, where innovation moves at the lightning-fast pace of consumerism. That said, here are three packaging design trends to keep an eye on going into 2016.
Minimalism
Packaging has never, ever been a one-size-fits-all art form. But more so than ever, brands are creating their product visuals to appeal to super-select audiences. For example, Miller Lite recently went retro with its short-neck bottle, which was originally discontinued in 1989. Amid the craft brew craze, MillerCoors recaptures the minds of consumers by evoking a sense of nostalgia and tapping into the old school, minimalist nature of just plain drinking a beer.
Arrows
Arrows have long been a favorite for subtle messaging in logo design, with global companies like FedEx and Amazon using them to symbolize their respective missions. Parallel, we’re seeing arrows hit the target on store shelves, like in the new Arm & Hammer “Clump & Seal” box that Duggal Packaging Solutions recently created television comps for.
On that note, here’s a cool collection of 30 lesser-known, arrow-inspired logos to illustrate how design-prominent the arrow has become.
Foil
Foil effects have been historically challenging to achieve in packaging. As designers create on a computer screen, it’s difficult for them to envision and specify how colors will translate to foil. What appears yellow on a screen, morphs to gold when printed on silver foil. But, advanced technology is making foil more controllable and predictable for packaging design agencies.
Duggal Packaging actually has a 4 color process color consultancy chart to increase the color palette on foil. Check out the flawless foil comp we produced for Deborah Lippmann’s “Empire” nail polish set.
While we’re anticipating these three concepts to lead the way in 2016, we’re certainly excited to see what else the New Year brings to the world of packaging design. Cheers!
