custom packaging

HP Showcases Limited-Edition Packaging at Cannes Lions 2018

HP continues to educate designers and other creative professionals about what’s possible with the latest advances in digital printing.

At the 2018 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, HP demonstrated how small runs of labels and packaging can be designed to create personal and lasting impressions. In collaboration with sculptural artist Karen Chekerdjian, HP created personalized and customized labels and packaging for Moët & Chandon MCIII premier champagne.

The limited-edition packaging was an artistically printed replica of a six-sided gold sculpture designed by artist Karen Chekerdjian. Each box includes her signature.

Each day of the five-day event, HP produced labels and packaging with the names of the winners of the coveted Cannes Lions Grand Prix awards for excellence in marketing communications. (Award categories ranged from mobile, outdoor, radio and audio, and print and publishing to industry craft, digital craft, film craft, creative e-commerce, entertainment, direct marketing, product design, PR, social and influencer marketing, and brand experience and activation.)

In addition, 300 award jurors received a personalized champagne bottle and 400 platinum-pass attendees received a digitally printed box with champagne and chocolates in a “toast to creativity.”

The luxury packaging was produced in collaboration with Barcelona-based print-service provider Serafi. The production team used an HP Indigo 12000 Digital Press, a gold metallized substrate, new HP Indigo silver ink, and an HP Indigo 6900 Digital Press for the labels.

To enable more festival attendees to see what’s possible with digitally printed packaging, the limited-edition packaging was displayed in a lounge of the Hotel Martinez in Cannes throughout the festival.

Package Your Creations and Gifts in Custom Boxes

Thanks to on-demand digital printing, you have the power to convert your art, photographs, and designs into all types of  marketable gifts, decor items, apparel, and fashion accessories. Plus, you can sell or ship your creations in custom boxes that are just as distinctive as your merchandise.

Custom boxes from buyboxes.com

One of the newest custom box printing services is Buyboxes.com. Operating as an independent company, Buyboxes.com has the full support and resources of its parent company Rand-Whitney. Based in Worcester, Massachusetts, Rand-Whitney is the largest independent packaging company in the Northeast. They offer more than 75 years of knowledge and expertise from the world of high-volume packaging.

Some of the benefits of ordering from Buyboxes.com include: zero set-up costs, no minimum order, and quick turnaround.

You can start with a single customized shipping box, mailing box, or gift box. As demand for your products grow, you can order quantities of tens, hundreds, or thousands of boxes as needed.

You can use the online design tool to create your own designs or enlist the support of an experienced team of packaging designers and structural engineers.

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With the online design tool, you choose a box style, decorate it with your logo, text, custom colors, and artwork. The experts at Buyboxes.com will check your final design, make sure everything looks good, and send you a proof for approval.

Boxes are printed on kraft or white corrugated or white paperboard.

For quality color reproduction on a variety of substrates, the company’s state-of-the-art digital printing system uses 6 colors of UV-curable inks (CMYK plus Light Cyan, Light Magenta, and White) and prints images with a resolution of up to 1000 dpi on media up to 126-inches wide.

An on-site team of skilled packaging engineers and designers can help you with any questions or unique package designs you might need.

“We do way more than just basic box styles,” says Stephanie Shamy of BuyBoxes.com “Our dedicated team of graphic designers can help create eye-catching artwork. We want to help you showcase what makes your products so special.”

Other services include structural design, packaging audits and consults, and kitting and fulfillment. Buyboxes.com can assemble your packaging and pack it with your product to be delivered to distribution centers or directly to your customers.

Project managers with years of retail packaging and marketing experience can provide one-on-one consults when you are ready to take your packaging to the next level.

“We are a group of creative-minded packaging professionals looking to change the way you package what matters to you,” said Shamy. “We have a passion for driving the new, the innovative, and the unexpected into the hands of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and everyday people who want a unique way to package their creations.”

Custom packaging isn’t just for products. You can create attractive, memorable packaging for events and award programs, product prototypes, promotional mailings, weddings, birthdays, and holiday gifts.

ThePaperWorker.com Helps Artrepreneurs Make Memorable Impressions

Building an identity for yourself as an artist, designer, author, or photographer is a challenge. Not only are you judged by the creativity and originality of your work, but you may also be judged by how creatively and professionally you present yourself.

Whenever you interact with fans and customers online (through your website, blog, and social media) and in real life (at art fairs, book signings, or photo exhibitions), every interaction adds up to make a memorable impression. (Marketers call these interactions ‘touchpoints.’)

How you package your products also speaks volumes about your commitment to your craft. Is your packaging bland, boring, and cheap-looking? Or do customers feel like they are receiving a wonderful gift to themselves when they receive a box in the mail from you.

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One company that can help you make a consistently first-class impression is ThePaperWorker.com.

Through ThePaperWorker.com, you can use online templates and digital design tools to order as many boxes as need, whether it’s 5, 10, 20, or 100, or anywhere in between. At the same time, you can order presentation folders, tabletop display signs, or banners that you can take with you to events where you will be selling your works in person.

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“Our packaging has detail and dimension, we have created ways to make the process easy and straightforward for our customers, regardless of their knowledge of custom packaging,” said Todd Anson, president of ThePaperWorker.com “Pricing is broken down simply by quantity, product descriptions are detailed, templates are provided in PDF/EPS formats, and 3D PDFs are available to view on every product.”

If you prefer to have an experienced package designer create your packaging graphics or review the designs you have uploaded, you can request those services on ThePaperWorker.com website.

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If you deliver files on DVDs or thumb drives, you can create presentation materials that remind clients of why they should continue to work with you.

Expertise from The Colad Group

All of the products available through ThePaperWorker.com reflect the deep expertise of The Colad Group, a company that has been developing custom presentation materials and packaging for more than 60 years.

Until five or six years ago, The Colad Group could only serve customers who needed at least 250 boxes. That’s because their printing processes required making plates for each color of ink and dies for cutting and scoring the box designs on a die-cutting press.

Digital printing and cutting technology has changed all that. Orders submitted through ThePaperWorker.com are produced on automated digital presses and finishing equipment. Full-color photographic images can easily be printed on the boxes without the extra time and costs associated traditional offset printing.

For more information about the benefits of custom packaging, see the infographic posted on The Colad Group blog.

More about The Colad Group’s commitment to using and recycling environmentally friendly packaging materials, is available on their website.

 

Packlane Serves Creative Entrepreneurs Who Want Custom Packaging

If you sell your own branded products online, consider custom packaging. It can set you apart from competitors and make a big impression on your customers.

According to a 2016 eCommerce Packaging Study by Dotcom Distribution, the quality of your packaging can play a role in fostering customer loyalty. In their survey, 40 percent of the respondents said they would be more likely to purchase from an online retailer again if the product they ordered came in gift-like or premium package.

Thanks to companies such as Packlane, you no longer have to be a high-volume seller of products to afford great-looking packaging.

Packlane custom boxes

Whether you need a few small cartons or large printed shipping boxes, Packlane can help you create full-color, customized packaging that will get your customers excited about what’s inside.

In addition to ordering as few as 10 boxes, you can choose the graphics, the size and type of box, and the type of materials used.

When it’s time to re-order new boxes, you can adjust the design to include seasonal messaging or update your branding. You won’t risk being stuck with hundreds of boxes with outdated graphics.

Types of Boxes

Packlane offers three main styles of boxes: a classic carton, a mailer box, a shipping box. Each type can be sized to snugly fit your products. You won’t have to stuff a box that is too big with extra material to keep the contents from shifting around.

Types of Materials

When you place your order, you can choose to print the graphics printed on stocks ranging from thin, flat paperboard to thick corrugated graphics. You can specify whether you want your graphics printed on brown Kraft paper or a crisp white paper. The brown paper is fine for simple graphics with muted colors. The white paper is ideal for bright colors and designs that include images.

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Design Tools

The website includes tools that make it easy for you to create and preview your design in 3 dimensions.

Or, you can request a 2D dieline for the box style and size you choose. A dieline is flattened outline of the box design that shows where the folds and cutlines will go. Just follow the Artwork Guidelines, and Packlane will take care of the rest.

For quantities from 10 to 2,000, you can get an instant quote. (If you need larger quantities, you can request a quote.)

Design Training

To help creative entrepreneurs get the best results from their packaging, Packlane has developed a free 36-minute Skillshare course: Packaging Design for Creatives and Entrepreneurs.

The video series discusses  box styles, design considerations, production and finishing techniques, dielines, RGB vs. CMYK color, how to use Illustrator, and tips for creating or uploading your design on the Packlane website.

Additional Insights

On the Packlane blog, you’ll find interviews with some of the entrepreneurs who have ordered boxes from Packlane. Michael Kushner, of Stefans Head explains why he is using custom-designed boxes to ship his company’s limited-edition T-shirts.

Another Packlane customer is a start-up that sends a curated selection of Paleo-friendly snacks to subscribers every month. He says, “A professional image is extremely important to start-ups. Custom packaging sets us up for success from the very beginning.”

The Packlane blog also contains tips such as How to Choose the Right Packaging for Your Product.