Packaging Design Trends 2021
This pandemic has ushered in a wave of behavioral changes in the consumer world as a whole. With the rolling out of the vaccine, there are hopes of respite but also a sense of prudent optimism. These new behavioral responses have given marketers and brands the chance to reposition their products in the light of this pandemic. As a result, several packaging design trends have emerged to narrate the brand stories in beautifully unique ways.
Here are packaging design trends dominating in the year 2021:
AR Enabled Packaging Design
AR-enabled packaging is a powerful, impactful, and illustrative depiction of your brand story that unifies design with technology. It makes your brand story stand out by breathing life into your package design. Your packaging design shouldn’t be just a plain mesh of fonts, typography, good visuals, or great colors. It should make the best first impression of your product while persuading the consumer to make the purchase. AR-enabled packaging design does all this by superimposing virtual information on design elements.
It gives your packaging the ability to talk about the product’s features, product’s benefits, the origin story of your brand, and your brand values through the use of 2D and 3D animations, graphics, and aural elements. The customer gets to access all this interactive content by just scanning a code on the package using their mobile phone camera. It gives a new virtual dimension to your store displays, labels, and packaging by transforming them into digitally augmented experiences. The post-pandemic world is experiencing a digital boom in all fields of online interaction. This generation is heavily consumed by digital media and technology. Marketers can take advantage of this boom and tap into the limitless potential of AR through AR-enabled packaging design. It makes your packaging memorable and its impact on the consumer’s mind becomes everlasting.
AR can be used to dramatically enhance the product-buying experience by animating characters depicted on the packaging design.
The characters narrate the story of the brand to the viewer and draw them into the brand story. This makes your product experience interesting and worth cherishing.
The product packaging can be repurposed in several ways with AR integration. The package can be used as a screen to display videos about the product features, its story of origin, and the brand's purpose. The packaging can also be used as a portal that opens up a new interactive world that the user can engage with while panning around their camera. Packaging can be repurposed to provide additional utility such as AR-based recipe books(for food products), AR-based manuals, and tutorials. Marketers can also gamify branding elements on the packaging to provide customers a gaming experience keeping their brand world in the backdrop. This builds a digital narrative that is fine-tuned to the vision of your brand and allows users to immerse themselves completely in the experience.
AR-based packaging can be applied in many product categories including food & beverages, alcoholic beverages, household products, skincare products, hair care products, confectionery & bakery products, and so many more!
Packaging With Nature Inspired Elements
Sustainable living is rising across the globe. People are moving towards brands that are closely connected with nature and take their pledge towards sustainability seriously.
As a result, you’ll see that more and more brands are opting for eco-friendly packaging materials along with design components that represent their commitment to nature and its conservation. The design components make use of soft earthy tones, natural textures, and a nature-inspired color palette that represents nature in its raw untouched form.
Packaging That Narrates The Brand’s Story
“Facts tell but stories sell” is an age-old adage that speaks volumes about the importance of storytelling over telling pain and boring facts. Creative visual storytelling is a wonderful way to strike the emotional chords of your target market and lure them towards buying your product. This makes them resonate with your brand story and creates a beautiful connection between them and the product. It ceases to be just a physical product. It becomes a bundle of stories that the consumer can identify themselves with. Storytelling on packaging can include scenarios from our daily lives. Usually, brands use their mascots in known scenarios to trigger the emotions of the customer and make them imagine themselves in that scenario using the product. In this way, Mascots live out your brand story on the packaging itself, and the packaging design delivers memorable stories right away.
Packaging With Transparent Windows
After the pandemic, customers have become more cautious and selective about their purchases. Consumers are increasingly becoming more conscious about their health. They’re willing to buy those products that depict product information and composition clearly with transparency. Transparent packaging windows are a response to this consumer preference. They give the customer a sneak-peak into the product right at the time of the purchase so that there’s no chance of misleading product packaging. Brands have come up with fun and playful ways to stylize these transparent windows to showcase the product. This type of revealing packaging design builds the consumer’s trust in the brand as nothing is hidden. Eventually, it reassures them about the authenticity of the brand and creates a positive impact on their purchase decisions.
