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Some people think that corrugated packaging is just a brown box. However, for packaging engineers and marketing professionals, a “Brown Box” is an essential tool that performs critical functions, promotes the brand, and protects the products. Additionally, how you design this box makes a world of difference to how customers perceive your product. 72% of American consumers agree that packaging design significantly impacts their buying decisions. 63% specifically look for products packaged in paper or corrugated board.
Corrugated packaging design is an essential component of your brand, an experience you provide your consumers, and a medium for a successful product lifecycle. Besides the aesthetic appeal, your company must invest in strategic packaging design for several reasons:
- To keep your product safe during delivery
- To quickly identify what your product is
- To effectively market your brand identity
- To attract customers at first glance
- To influence purchasing decisions
- To encourage top-of-the-mind recall for your brand
Read on to uncover the essentials of corrugated packaging design, including best practices, processes, and expert strategies, as we answer these key questions:
- What Vital Corrugated Packaging Design Best Practices Should Your Business Follow?
- Why Should You Consider Custom Corrugated Designs for Point-of-Purchase (POP) Displays?
- How Does York Container Create Corrugated Sheets for Packaging?
What Vital Corrugated Packaging Design Best Practices Should Your Business Follow?
There’s a saying that goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But what's on the outside matters when it comes to your products.
Customer psychology suggests that the key to drawing customers to your brand is a packaging design that captivates, communicates, and connects with consumers on a practical and emotional level. From an operational standpoint, it's equally important that your packaging design provides protection, ease of transport, and user convenience.
To truly maximize the potential of corrugated packaging, you must understand the nuances of its design and how it impacts consumer perception and satisfaction.
1. View Packaging as a Component of Your Product
Most manufacturers naturally put their focus and expertise on refining and perfecting their products while pushing packaging decisions to the final stages.
Incorporating packaging into the product development process from the beginning makes your packaging consistent and synergistic with the product. You can customize packaging to fit the product’s form factor, align it with your brand, and fulfill functional requirements. Early planning also allows for thorough testing and necessary adjustments before the product reaches the market.
"Packaging should be considered an integral part of the product, not an afterthought. Many companies think, 'Okay, now we need a box,' without considering how the product and its presentation affect the packaging. When working with clients, we ensure the packaging matches their requirements because we understand how good packaging impacts a product's success in the market.”
- Kyle Welker, Structural & Graphic Designer, York Container Company
2. Adopt Sustainable Packaging Best Practices
Plan your packaging design by focusing on its function, aesthetic and marketing value, and environmental impact. Sustainability is vital to the corrugated packaging industry, with many products made from 100% recycled materials. If sustainability is a priority for your brand, choose sustainable packaging materials and partner with a packaging company with eco-friendly production methods and equipment.
As part of the Atlantic Packaging family, York Container operates on a culture of sustainability and uses 100% recycled containerboard paper mills that have been operating since 1945. We proudly source and utilize materials from reputable suppliers to provide our partners with renewable, reusable, and recyclable packaging. We also employ innovative gluing techniques that can reduce fiber usage by up to 30% as part of our sustainability practices. York Container's packaging engineers redesign complex packages to guarantee logistical efficiency and strategic material use.
3. Ensure Consistent Quality in Production
Maintaining consistent quality in packaging design requires careful attention to every detail, from materials to production processes. Selecting suitable materials is essential for packaging to endure handling, storage, and shipping while keeping the product safe and intact. Advanced production technologies, like precision cutting and automated assembly lines, deliver uniform and accurate packaging to reduce defects, waste, and returns.
4. Select Appropriate Packaging Materials
Packaging undergoes a variety of challenges, including extreme shipping conditions, before it hits the store shelf. Choosing a packaging material that can withstand these demanding conditions is essential.
Corrugated packaging comes in various board grades and thicknesses. Heavier options can withstand more pressure, resist damage, and keep products pristine during transit.
5. Design for Practical and Visual Appeal
Every company aspires to build strong brand recognition. Make your packaging stand out by selecting the logo, colors, and design elements that create a strong connection between your brand and consumers. You can think beyond the box and incorporate easy-open tabs, resealable closures, or custom designs to encourage customer interaction.
York Container's Digital Printing Solution delivers high-definition graphics for boxes, displays, and e-commerce packaging with fast turnaround times. Our industry-leading printing options include multi-color flexo printing to deliver vivid colors, intricate details on corrugated surfaces, and litho labeling for sharp and photo-quality visuals. Advanced printing equipment powers these solutions, delivering exceptional quality for various media and indoor merchandising applications.
Custom Corrugated Packaging Design from York Container
Besides quality printing, corrugated packaging must be designed to handle rigid transportation demands and protect products throughout the supply chain cycle. Achieving this involves selecting high-tensile strength and impact-resistant materials to withstand handling, storage, and transportation demands. It's also important to prioritize packaging that supports and protects heavier products or items that need stacking.
Protective packaging solutions extend beyond your boxes. The York PACK Program collaborates with nearly 200 trusted suppliers to provide your company with a full range of packaging supplies and equipment to optimize your supply chain and safeguard your products throughout transit.
Why Should You Consider Custom Corrugated Designs for Point-of-Purchase (POP) Displays?
A Neilsen article suggests that while some consumers and specific high-involvement categories genuinely "engage" with companies they purchase from, most consumers aren't deeply engaged with most brands. They're simply making purchases. If you only have 13 seconds to grab a customer’s attention among hundreds of packages and messaging, you must design packaging and displays that could instantly make a positive impression.
Consumers are willing to spend 9.7% more to support brands that prioritize environmentally responsible practices. That’s why businesses are turning to corrugated point-of-purchase (POP) displays as a smart way to combine sustainability with effective in-store marketing.
Sustainable corrugated POP displays provide valuable promotional billboard space at retail, making it easy to showcase bold graphics and brand messaging. From a functional standpoint, corrugated displays' lightweight yet durable design simplifies transport and setup, providing an impactful solution for manufacturing and retail spaces.
Creating corrugated point-of-purchase (POP) displays might seem straightforward, but there’s more to the process than meets the eye. Several considerations exist in producing effective point-of-purchase (POP) displays, including size, material, placement, design, sustainability, and cost.
Experts will suggest various corrugated boards to build quality POP displays according to your product. A C-flute, with 38 flutes per foot, is ideal for sturdy brown box shippers, but B-flute and E-flute are often used for the displays. E-flute is a popular choice for high-quality graphic printing due to its smooth surface, which works well with printing or lithographic labels. It's excellent for headers or graphic elements, but its thinner structure lacks durability under heavy stress.
B-flute strikes the perfect balance for custom corrugated displays, providing a surface suitable for brand-specific graphics while strengthening the display's structural parts.
Custom Point-of-Purchase (POP) Display from York Container
While the goal is to drive fast buying decisions, designing and producing corrugated packaging and displays requires specific knowledge and expertise. Partnering with custom packaging experts is the best solution for product manufacturers and distributors. Packaging experts deliver high-quality printing and oversee the entire display production process. You can rely on leading corrugated display designers to apply their expertise to develop the solution you need for your specific product.
How Does York Container Create Corrugated Sheets for Packaging?
Most people rarely think about how corrugated packaging is made and only expect it to arrive on time. Yet, the process behind creating high-quality packaging at a corrugated container company is both intricate and fascinating.
Here’s a quick look at York Container’s production facility and process to see how we thoughtfully and meticulously create your packaging solutions.
Materials
Corrugated sheets contain at least three layers of paper, including an inside liner, a medium, and an outside liner. The paper is available in different thicknesses or weights. York Container offers various paper types to accommodate specific performance requirements.
The advantage of having a broad range of paper is combining different weights for specific applications to customize your packaging according to its function. Having a corrugator on site makes this customization simpler and more efficient.
Cutting Process
The design and purpose of the packaging dictate whether rotary or flatbed die-cutting is used. Rotary cutting is faster and suited for high-volume production, while flatbed cutting offers precision and is ideal for intricate designs and smaller runs.
Assembly
Once the boxes are manufactured, they are transported stacked flat. Special machines called case erectors or formers assist in assembling the boxes. Depending on the packaging design, this is done in several different ways.
Optimize Your Corrugated Packaging Design Strategically With York Container
Well-crafted packaging can positively impact your company’s marketing performance and revenue. A thoughtful packaging design brings value to your brand, protects your products, enhances supply chain management, and boosts your bottom line.
York Container will provide the appropriate packaging solutions if you’re ready to redesign your packaging and reimagine your brand’s value. Our Strategic Packaging Optimization Team (SPOT) will review packaging to identify opportunities to improve packaging efficiency, optimize cost allocation, and address safety challenges. Here’s how SPOT works to deliver results:
- Customized Packaging Solutions. York will conduct a SPOT discovery interview to understand your packaging challenges and objectives so we can create solutions according to your requirements.
- Collaboration for Innovation. Our team will work with your production, design, and sales teams to develop creative corrugated packaging and supply chain strategies based on our findings.
- Cost and Safety Optimization. We’ll analyze data from site visits to help you reduce costs and address safety concerns effectively.
- Transparent Communication. We’ll present clear, actionable proposals to your supply chain team to facilitate better decision-making.
- Ongoing Support. We’ll stick with you through every step of the process, from managing purchase orders to offering on-site training.
- Customer Value. We deliver real value by helping your business innovate and maximize your packaging investment.
Transform your packaging into a powerful tool for brand recognition, functionality, value, and revenue. Partner with York Container today!