Preparing for a packaging design project? Discover what to include in your brief, from product details and brand direction to suppliers, budgets and production.
A packaging project often starts with an idea about how the finished product should look.
You might have collected examples you like, noticed that your current packaging feels dated or decided that a new product needs a stronger introduction to the market.
Those are useful starting points. But before a designer can develop an effective solution, there are some practical questions to work through.
What needs to fit on the pack? Where will it be sold? Who is manufacturing it? How many products are involved? And which decisions have already been made?
A clear brief brings those details together, helping everyone understand what the packaging needs to achieve and what it will take to produce.
You don’t need to arrive with every answer. Knowing what to prepare—and what still needs resolving—can make the project easier to plan.
Before collecting visual references, explain what has prompted the packaging project.
Launching a new product is different from refreshing an established range. Preparing for retail distribution brings different considerations from updating a mailer for online orders.
Your designer needs to understand what is changing and why.
Consider questions such as:
Be specific about the problem where possible.
“Customers struggle to tell our product variants apart” gives the project a clearer direction than “we want something more modern”.
That context helps establish what a successful outcome should look like.
Your designer needs to understand the product beyond its name and dimensions.
What does it do? Why do people choose it? What might they need explained before purchasing? How familiar are they with the category?
A product aimed at experienced trade buyers may need a different information hierarchy from one being introduced to consumers for the first time.
Useful information might include:
Samples can help too.
Handling the product and its existing packaging may reveal details that are difficult to communicate through a written brief, such as how it opens, how much space it occupies or how customers use it.
Packaging needs to work in the environments where customers encounter it.
On a retail shelf, a customer might initially see only the front panel among competing products. Online, the pack may first appear as a small image in a product listing. After delivery, the opening experience becomes part of how someone experiences the brand.
Explain which sales channels matter to your business.
These could include independent retailers, supermarkets, wholesale, your own online store, marketplaces or direct sales.
If a retailer or distributor has supplied packaging requirements, share those early. Include any relevant display arrangements, shelf dimensions, outer-carton requirements or submission deadlines.
It also helps to distinguish between the packaging customers buy and the packaging used to ship or display it. A product carton, delivery mailer and retail display tray may each need their own design and production scope.
If your business already has an established identity, provide the files and guidance needed to apply it properly.
This may include:
Explain which elements should remain consistent and where there is room to explore.
For an established product, familiar colours or visual features may be worth retaining. For a new range, the brief may need to address how it relates to the wider brand.
If those foundations are unclear, a conversation about brand development may be useful before detailed packaging work begins.
Visual references can help communicate preferences, but explain what you find useful about each example. It might be the clarity of the information, the material, the typography or the way variants are organised.
A label, sleeve, pouch and folding carton each present different design considerations.
Where possible, identify your packaging supplier or manufacturer before final artwork is developed. Ask for the current production specifications and the correct dieline.
A dieline is the template showing the packaging’s shape and relevant cutting, folding or other production guides.
Working from a confirmed template helps the designer understand the available panels, their orientation and the areas that need special treatment.
Share any supplier guidance covering dimensions, materials, print processes, colours, finishes and file requirements.
If the format or supplier hasn’t been selected, make that clear in the brief. Exploring those options may need to form part of the project.
A concept shown on a mockup can help communicate direction, but production artwork still needs to be checked against the supplier’s confirmed specifications.
Packaging layouts depend on the information they need to contain.
A short product name and a few lines of copy create a different layout challenge from lengthy instructions, multiple languages or a detailed information panel.
Gather the available content early, including:
Depending on the product and market, additional information may be required. Identify who in your team or among your advisers will confirm those requirements and approve the final wording.
Your designer needs to know what content is approved, what remains provisional and who is responsible for checking it.
Avoid leaving substantial copy decisions until the final artwork stage. A late change can affect several panels or need to be repeated across the entire range.
If the project covers multiple products, prepare a simple range list.
Record each product, variant, size, packaging format and the information that changes between them.
For example, a range might share a common layout while requiring different product names, colours, imagery, barcodes and instructions.
This helps establish the true scope of the work. Designing one initial pack and extending it across twelve variants involves more than replacing a product name.
It also creates an opportunity to plan for future releases.
How will customers distinguish between sizes or flavours? What happens when another product is added? Which elements should stay consistent?
Our Fitness Outcomes packaging project involved updating and creating 22 meal sleeves within an established visual identity. Across a range of that size, consistent layouts and careful management of product information become a significant part of the work.
Packaging design and packaging manufacture are connected, but they need to be budgeted for separately.
Explain what your available budget needs to cover.
The design scope might include concepts, artwork across multiple products, illustration, photography, prototypes or supplier coordination. Production costs may involve tooling, materials, printing, finishes, samples, freight and minimum order quantities.
Knowing the intended quantities and likely reordering pattern can also help guide discussions with your supplier.
If you have a target packaging cost per unit, share it early. It gives the team a useful constraint when exploring formats and finishes.
Where costs are still uncertain, obtain supplier estimates before committing to a direction that depends on a particular material or production technique.
“Ready for launch” can mean several different things.
It might mean approved artwork, packaging delivered to a manufacturer, finished products ready for photography or stock available for sale.
Be clear about the milestone you are working towards.
Our Maxfli Noodle golf ball packaging project is a good example. The range was scheduled to reach shelves in October 2026, but the factory needed final artwork for its production deadline at the end of May. The original programme allowed approximately two weeks from commencement to final artwork handover.
That meant progressing quickly through wordmark recreation, two packaging variants and the production files required by the manufacturer, months before the products were even due in stores.
The production deadline set the pace for the design project. Working backwards from the retail launch date alone would have missed the milestone that mattered.
Allow time for design, feedback, content approval, artwork preparation, supplier checks, proofs and manufacture. Shipping or retailer submission dates may also affect the schedule.
Identify who needs to review the work and when they will be available.
A nominated decision-maker can help consolidate feedback, while product specialists check the details relevant to their area.
Before production, agree on the proofing process with the supplier and clarify what each proof allows you to assess. A screen mockup, physical sample and production proof can serve different purposes.
A useful brief should make the project easier to understand.
It doesn’t need to be a polished presentation or an exhaustive technical document.
A short written overview, an organised folder of assets and a product spreadsheet can provide a practical starting point. Mark unresolved questions clearly so they can be discussed during discovery.
The most helpful preparation gives your designer a clear picture of the product, the audience, the scope and the decisions still to be made.
From there, the project can move forward with a shared understanding of what needs to happen.
At Spacey Studios, our packaging design service supports product launches, range extensions and packaging refreshes.
Whether you have a detailed brief or are still working through the early decisions, we can help clarify the design scope and next steps.
Let’s connect and tell us about your product.
Whether you’re refining your brand, improving your website or looking to grow your business online, we’d love to learn more. Share a few details with us and we’ll help you explore the next steps with clarity and confidence.
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