5 Modern Packaging Design Traits That You Need to Execute

Modern-day product packaging has seen a paradigm shift, thanks to increased technology as well as consumer awareness. Sustainability and convenience have now become the focus of the market. Modern packaging is now much more sustainable. They sport minimal designs, are built with eco-friendly materials and make use of bold colors. Here are the top five modern packaging designs that will inspire you.

1. Simplified Design

One of the biggest shifts in modern packaging designs is a move towards minimal and simplified versions. Packaging now uses bold colors and clean labeling that puts the product in the front, and not the brand. Even though the use of bold colors have often been associated with the packaging of children’s products, colors and now a key part of all modern packaging design. Moreover, sticking to a certain color palette also helps to unify the different products of the brand, and makes the brand more noticeable on the shelf.

For instance, Teabox uses simple white product packaging, accentuated with bold colors that can easily allow consumers to understand the variant of tea. Breakfast muesli packaging by Yogabar shares the same philosophy where the entire product line-up uses a palette of pastel shades that allows the end user to conveniently understand exactly what is in the packaging without reading the labels.

Learn more about simple packaging here!

2. Cleaner Labelling

Cleaner labeling is convenient. Large sized capitalized texts showing exactly what is in the packaging makes consumers more aware of what they are buying. With the increase in veganism, as well as food tolerances, brands are ensuring that they communicate with their consumers as clearly as possible. Furthermore, clean labels are also a sign of transparency and something end users will appreciate. The Yoga bar cereal bars are the perfect example of clean labeling that states concisely exactly what is contained in the bar.

Wish to know more about the benefits of a good label design? Read up how a label upscales a brand identity!

3. Sustainability

Excessing packaging has always been quite frustrating. The create a lot of waste. Places like Iceland has already started taking action against redundant packaging. For an instant, the box that comes with toothpaste serves no additional purpose. It simply makes the product look better. That is why the country is now selling toothpaste without boxes.

The 360 paper bottle is the perfect example of sustainable packaging. The packaging is made from palm leaves, bamboo, and other natural plant products and uses an extremely thin polylactic acid layer for barrier properties. PLA is highly degradable, just like the other natural counterparts. Once the seal is broken, the paper cap can be clipped onto the bottle to reduce litter.

A lot of brands are also looking forward to making plastic more sustainable. Even though a lot of plastics can be recycled, it is hardly done. Procter & Gamble recently announced that their Head & Shoulders shampoo bottles will be made from recycled plastic. The plastics will be collected from beaches around Europe and then will be recycled.

Void fill options such as Styrofoam will also be replaced. A brand called Eco-Cradle is making void fill options from mushrooms. Styrofoam often make up 25% of the landfill in the US. The new alternative is made from agricultural byproducts – such as corn husks or soybean husks that are inoculated with mycelium. The husks are then placed in molds where the mushroom grows and takes shape. The biodegradable void fill has similar properties to that of Styrofoam, including impact resistance and fire retardation.

Brands are also switching to recycled paper packaging. Recycling paper has much less carbon footprint. A lot of computer hardware come in packaging made from recycled corrugated boxes that are printed with soy ink.

Reduced packaging has also gained a lot of traction. Brands are selling refill pouches more instead of bottles. A lot of products such as window cleaners, shampoos, and other liquids come in refill-packs that allow users to refill their existing plastic bottles instead of buying new ones. Pouches use much less plastic than the bottles. Brands like Heinz have already made pouches that offer the same function of bottles with reduced material in their modern packaging design. Pouches take less space on shelves, they are microwavable, and can often, they can be resealed too. Spout pouch, amongst others, is a popular packaging format for edible oil brands.

Read more about how brands are shifting towards sustainable packaging.

4. Convenience Features

In many cases, the packaging is a part of the product itself and not something that is to be thrown away. Brands are making reusable packaging with added convenience features that allows the end users to keep the packaging for safe storage. For instance, a lot of breakfast cereal brands, brands selling dry fruits and health drinks are shipping the product in reusable metallized zip pouches that retain the freshness of the product for a very long time.

Pharmaceutical companies are now providing child safe bottles that physically challenged or aged people can conveniently use. For example, Creative Mechanisms have come up with a child resistant cap design that can be opened using one hand.

Foods and pharmaceuticals now make use of smart packaging that come with low cost sensors in the packaging itself. These sensors can be used to check if the product is spoiled or not. For instance, a milk carton cap designed at UC Berkeley can show you when the milk goes bad.

Johnny Walker has partnered with the Norwegian electronics company ThinFilm for embedded NFC tags in the bottles that can certify if the bottle is authentic or not. The craft brewer from New Zealand, Yeastie Boys, has QR codes printed on their bottles that, when scanned, will provide with brewing instructions.

5. Unconventional Designs

Even though we are now used to the standard designs available in the market, unconventional designs of packaging allow products to stand out of the crowd. They also allow manufacturers to explore different forms and see which one is more sustainable. For instance, the Method hand wash bottles use a slightly unconventional design that allows it to stand out on the store shelves while providing a familiar feel when it comes to functionality. The Tetra Evero Aseptic bottle is another example where the carton is turned into a cylindrical bottle. This gives 360 degrees of printing surface. The bottle is also much easier to grip than the carton.

Brands are also exploring unconventional materials when it comes to modern packaging designs. The craft beer company Saltwater Brewery is making edible six-pack rings for their beer cans. The edible rings are made from wheat and barley and not only naturally degrade, but also can be consumed by aquatic animals.