We quickly went through several websites related to packaging design. It was clear that many packaging designers are making wild guesses based only on past packaging industry conversations. It is also influenced by what their clients are doing in recent years. We also include some fashion references and deep insights into the future of retro look.
Most packaging designers will continue to follow the trend to do whatever the client requests and keep their lives interesting by creating backstories and trends that link their work with the cosmos. The sites and forecasts we looked at and quoted and misquoted below are – Creative Boom, RanPak, and 99 Designs. Try to understand this stuff. Our advice is to eat only what is local and in season.
- Packaging evolves at lightning speed, just like everything else. Now that small players can compete with the big guys’ thanks to digital printing, standing out from the crowd is a must.
- Consumers want packaging trends that offers a sense of calm and, in some cases, even nostalgia for a time when things didn’t feel so chaotic. Shopping should not be a stressful process; there’s enough of that everywhere else. To escape the chaos of traffic, some people go to the supermarket.
- The design industry is embracing typography as the central piece of their designs. Designers have experimented with deceptive depth. This is a technique that produces 3-dimensional graphics on 2-dimensional surfaces. Others forecast a year filled with typographic scrawls and cartoon charm.
- Minimalism is another option for packaging design. The packaging used to have to be bold and use big colors such as orange or electricblue for years. Really.
- Words matter. One of the most critical aspects of Google’s new algorithm is that it pushes quality content over a paragraph stuffed with keywords. Really!! People get tired of hearing the same buzzwords over and over again, so packaging is taking off. I don’t believe it. Instead of using many catchy phrases and words that don’t mean anything, packaging is moving toward getting to the point and building trust through a quality product rather than big promises. Let’s hope this is really a new thought and that it comes true.
- All you need is a QR code away. After the pandemic, iPhones were able to scan QR codes. But now the QR code is everywhere. Brands can use the QR code to allow consumers to enter their world by sticking it on the back of their packaging.
- Continual options are coming for eco-friendly packaging, and that’s only a good thing as laws are passed worldwide to battle climate change.
- The world of luxury packaging design is full of itms. Maximalalism is a trend that is predicted. It is making waves post-pandemic. A burst of color, pattern, and things that don’t quite go together but somehow work, this is a joyful response to the lockdowns and gloom of recent years. It is a flurry of energy that has seen it enter the luxury market more than ever. You can see the difference between anarchism and it below.
- Informatism refers to the design that reveals all lab details and provides every bit of data, numbers, or diagrams. These designs are often informative and text-heavy, and describe the experiments and explain the hypothesis. You can also see wordism or words matter.
- Anarchism. How can designers break with the norm and create unique packaging for luxury brands. One option is to abandon the entire rulebook. Also, see maximalism above.
- Virtualism. Luxury packaging design will be inspired by the incredible advancements in AI and VR. We’ve seen so much progression over the last 12 months that designers would have to be living in a cave not to appreciate their dominance. AI and VR work best when they are in caves.
All the best for the new year! Naresh Khanna