The packaging design process can be challenging. Packaging must be appealing and functional. It must align with a brand’s aesthetics and messaging. The design is a customer’s first impression of a product. You must know what your audience needs, prefers, and expects before you design packaging. Many simple yet effective tools are available today that can enhance your packaging design skills.
The Right Design Software
You need to use the right packaging design software. Adobe Illustrator is usually the go-to software for package designers. However, other options like Canva that are easier to use are becoming popular. Canva’s Magic Studio has accessible AI packaging design tools. If you want to visualize your packaging designs you can use tools like the Esko plugin or the 3D Revolve tool in Illustrator. Designers often choose to work on a Mac.
When doing your packaging design, you may find Spotlight slows down your Mac. This can happen during the indexing process. Mac Mds_stores is an internal process the Spotlight app uses. The MDS store high CPU usage can reduce your system’s speed. When you face mds_stores issues you may find you can fix them if you reboot your Mac, disable Spotlight, or temporarily stop and restart Spotlight. You can also use various third-party tools for purposes such as monitoring your Mac’s CPU.
Cutter Templates
You should never start a packaging design without making sure you have the right cutter guide from the client or printer. A cutter guide (die-line) is a template that shows the layout of the package. A set of dotted lines tells the printer where to cut or fold. The die-line will show trim, bleed, and any seal or glue areas. If you have to create your die-line there are various websites that offer design packaging templates.
At DieCut Templates, you will find free and paid templates for different packaging shapes. At Packly, you will find design packaging templates that you can customize with your dimensions.
Color and Font Tools
You need to work with CMYK if you want the colors to render accurately in print. In Adobe Color you are able to explore color palettes and create your own. Coolers is another good site where you can create color palettes in seconds based on your input. It also has many pre-set palettes to explore.
Fonts on the packaging must be readable and memorable. MyFonts is a digital library with over 270,000 fonts you can explore and buy for your projects. WhatTheFont is a font finder. It can identify a font in an image. This is helpful when you want to use a particular font but you don’t know its name.
AI Tools for Packaging Design
There are many AI tools you can use today for packaging design. You can even get an AI label generator.
Midjourney uses text input prompts to generate images. It can help in the brainstorming stage of packaging design. You can choose from different images and generate mock-ups. You do need to pay for a subscription to use Midjourney.
Fotor is another AI tool that allows you to generate various innovative packaging designs in seconds. In the free version, you get credits to explore the platform.
Adobe Express Generative AI has an interesting component relating to package design. You can choose from different material types, including metal and fabric.
Inspiration and Feedback Tools
Design websites can be an endless source of inspiration and reference. They can also allow you to showcase your work and receive feedback.
- The Dieline is a global design community that offers updates on design trends, eco-friendly packaging, etc.
- Packaging of the World allows you to explore packaging designs by categories, materials, countries, etc.
- Miro allows you to collaborate on iterations of your designs with clients or teams.
- On Behance and Dribble, you can showcase your designs and gather feedback from creative professionals.
- Pinterest can provide you with design inspiration and help you to organize your ideas.
Conclusion
Every packaging design you do will help you to enhance your skills. The more you experiment and keep your mind open to new inspiration, the more your skills will grow. Knowing how to use the above simple tools can help you to create a unique packaging design.