How Emotional Design Creates Mass Appeal of Your Product Packaging

Have you ever walked across an aisle in a supermarket or store and picked up a product because of its packaging? Probably, yes. This is the power of emotional design in product packaging. When you see the colors, logo design or slogan, something may get triggered inside. It could be happiness, joy, nostalgia or excitement.

Many SMBs and large corporations leverage emotional packaging to connect with consumers or potential customers and build loyalty as well.

What is Emotional Design in Product Packaging?

Emotional design in product packaging consists of certain design elements like color, stylized fonts and the overall appearance to make a strong impact on the consumer.

If you think about it, one of the biggest reasons why household brands are able to appeal to different generations is product packaging. It’s how customers identify and differentiate them from similar ones in the market. Great designs also appeal to people emotionally which is what helps makes the brand and businesses memorable.

Take the example of Tiffany’s iconic blue box here. I’m quite certain that you or anybody else would be able to recognize the brand and it’s product instantly from the packaging.

Image Source: Tiffany.com

Now, it’s no surprise that the blue box has been known to bring out feelings of joy, excitement and being loved as well. The brand symbolizes love and luxury, and its packaging represents all of that and more.

It is important for businesses and brands to pay a lot of attention to how their products appear. Here’s what it can do for you:

• Increase recognition with colors, slogan and logo
• Build and maintain brand consistency
• Emotionally appeal to potential customers
• Build long-term relationships with patrons and consumers
• Represent the USP or unique selling point of a brand

Before we move on the how emotional design creates mass appeal of your product packaging, let’s take a look at some of the factors that play into it.

Elements of Emotional Design in Product Packaging

According to Motista, 71 percent of consumers are likely to recommend a brand if they feel an emotional connection with it. In marketing and branding, emotions play a huge role in influencing people. And packaging design is quite an important aspect of both the strategies.

There are quite a few elements that you need to consider to create product packaging that appeals to consumers emotionally. Here are a few key ones that can make an impact on the viewers:

• Shape
• Color
• Visuals or Graphics
• Simplicity of Design
• Values or Brand Messaging

Now, you might be wondering, how can I forget one of the most important elements of packaging design, the brand symbol, here. Well, I haven’t. It goes without saying that a professionally designed logo is one of the first things that most people are likely to see when they pick up a product.

But here, I want to specifically focus on emotional design that can create mass appeal of your product packaging. And I will talk about the logo or icon too. But let’s wait for that.

Here, it’s crucial to focus on the key factors that can evoke all kinds of emotions from the audience. If you take the shape for instance, you will realize that sometimes, a simple play on common ones like a rectangular box or a sleek bottle can catch your eye immediately. It could bring out feelings of security, safety and trust.

Image Source: ZillionDesigns.com

In other cases, interesting and unique shapes like a pyramid cone or an animal shape is also effective for evoking excitement and curiosity. With product packaging, you can be as experimental as you want or just opt for a tried and tested. In the end, you need to draw focus to your brand and maintain consistency in brand messaging as well.

How Emotional Design Creates Mass Appeal of Product Packaging

Let’s talk business now. While I have given you a brief idea of the impact of emotional design in product packaging, you may still have quite a few unanswered questions. So, how about we dissect some of the major elements mentioned above and go into the details?

It’s already been established that product packaging plays a huge a role in building an emotional connection with the audience. Here are a few ways that certain design elements can create mass appeal of your products.

Bright or Soothing Colors

According to a research, 92.6 percent of consumers across the globe take colors into account when making a purchasing decision. Now, that’s a huge number. Its also one of the biggest reasons why brands like Cadbury or businesses like Ladurée have paid so much attention to color psychology in their product packaging.

Certain combinations and hues are known to be associated with positive feelings and can also create the right perception of a brand in the minds of the audience. When it comes to emotional design in product packaging, this is one element that has a huge influence on how people ultimately feel about the contents inside.

Now, it is a good idea to go with the brand colors to build recognition and maintain consistency too. You can always pick a lighter or darker shade, or contrast with neutrals for a strong visual impact.

Example

Pringles for example uses different vibrant colors for the packaging. The brand uses bright orange, red, green and purple to match the flavor of it’s classic chips. All these colors evoke happiness, excitement and energy among the consumers and create a striking contrast with the company name and mascot that appears on the packaging.

These colors can surely be considered a crucial element of emotional design and have helped create mass appeal of the product packaging.

Image Source: pringles.com

Pringles: Energetic, content and delighted

Now, this is just one example. Dorset Cereals is another company that uses bright colors to appeal to its audience emotionally. It’s product packaging is enticing and can make a shopper in the aisle stop for a second look. The various color combinations can instantly uplift the mood and bring out feelings of contentment and joy.

Image Source: bigfish.co.uk

Dorset Cereals: Experimental, excitement and satisfaction

Functionality

This is another factor to keep in mind for product packaging and emotional design. Most people prioritize functionality over everything else and if that’s missing, then even the most attractive packaging designs might fail to boost sales.

It’s essential to make sure that the product packaging is functional and does not confuse people. This does not mean that you cannot experiment with the shapes or be creative with the appearance. When it comes to functionality or practicality, you want to keep a few factors in mind.

• Accessibility
• Company Information
• Guidelines or Instructions
• Safety Messaging

With the competition in the aisle getting tougher every day, you need to make sure that your product packaging stands out and instantly draws the consumer in. So the company logo, name or tagline has to be prominent and any additional instructions should also be prominent on the packaging. Good functionality can make a good impression on potential customers and influence their emotions too.

For instance, people may be likely to trust your brand if they come across product packaging that is attractive, displays the relevant details and gives easy access to the contents.

Example

Take a look at the very interesting packaging design from Qinlai Farm below. The primary product is eggs which come from an organic farm and do not contain any harmful chemicals. This pouch that is in the shape of a hen can instantly catch the eye of potential customers. It’s functional as the eggs can be carried around easily and is reusable as well.

Image Source: packagingoftheworld.com

Qinlai Farm: Security and Contentment

I would say, it’s a great example of emotional design creating mass appeal of product packaging. I mean, I feel like I would immediately trust this brand, feel excited to try out their products, and promote it among family and friends too.

Similarly, there is another great take on packaging design that I also discovered during my research. Molocow created milk bottles with flying sauces at the top. The design is created to evoke emotions of happiness and joy within children and is quite practical as well.

Image Source: behance.net

Molocow: Cheerful, excited, and curious

Visuals or Patterns

Now, it’s one element that you see on the packaging. How does the image or pattern make you feel? While some companies go with minimalistic stripes or lines, others might choose elaborate visuals or illustrations. In the end, it’s about what is relevant to your brand and sends out the right message to your audience.

Visuals have the power to bring out both positive and negative feelings depending on context. Here, I am going to focus on the good ones. Like how Wendy’s smiling can make you feel relaxed and peaceful too!

Example

Lush Cosmetics is one brand that is proud of its sustainable packaging and makes sure that people know about it as well. The design is fairly simple and draws attention to its pitch-black color and stylized fonts. While there’s not a lot to look at, the audience still feels connected to the brand.

This is mainly because of elements like the logo, typography, and appearance of certain products like their bath bombs. Lush has created packaging that is designed to make people feel secure and rely on the company for value.

Image Source: atnjz.com

Lush Cosmetics: Trust, value for money, and exclusivity

Interestingly, the other example I found here is a bit different from this one. Babees Honey thought, how can I make honey attractive to consumers? And this is what they came up with. I’d say it’s a win! The unique packaging which is designed to look like a bee could evoke excitement, energy, and love for the product too.

Image Source: packagingoftheworld.com

Babees Honey: Joyful, energetic, and excited

Transparency

Most consumers take this very seriously, both literally and figuratively. If you think about it, a lot of people like to see what they are buying, and transparent packaging can allow them to get an insight into the product. Here, transparency also applies to the information that appears on the packaging.

For business or brand owners, it is critically important to feature instructions or safety measures for consumers. Many companies also include a list of ingredients on food products so that people who have allergies can be aware of what to eat and avoid.

Transparency in packaging is more common in bottles and beverages. Smirnoff for instance, is known globally for the transparent design that is recognized by the label and company logo.

Image Source: smirnoff.com

Example

While it’s easier to maintain transparency with beverages, you can also get creative with solid products. I found this great packaging design for Good Hair Day Pasta company that not only shows the product very creatively but also has important information displayed prominently. You can see the different types of pasta from the packaging and name.

Image Source: behance.net

Good Hair Day Pasta: Imaginative, excited, and confident

Who wouldn’t feel compelled to pick it up off the shelf and buy it? This is one way that emotional design creates the mass appeal of your product packaging. It immediately grabs their attention and makes them feel satisfied and happy with their purchase.

Brand Positioning

Last but not least is the element of brand positioning. Now, this is fairly easy to understand. It’s how your packaging design positions your brand among the competitors. Look at it this way. Why should people choose your product over another company’s? This is where you have to pitch your USP and highlight the core values with the packaging design.

These two elements can appeal to people emotionally and make it easier for them to pick your products over similar ones in the market. The logo, typography, and brand messaging can form an entire experience for a potential customer. Most people factor in such elements when deciding if they trust a brand or not.

Example

Take a look at the packaging design of Milgrad’s milk products here. It creatively promotes the brand and can make a good first impression on shoppers as well. They will likely come back for a second look or purchase the product again as well.

Image Source: depotwpf.ru

Milgrad Dairy: Delighted, optimistic, and nostalgic

You can also consider one of the most famous examples of brand positioning with packaging design here, Nike. I mean, the swoosh on the box, can make people feel powerful, confident, and good about themselves.

Image Source: iStockphoto/kontrast-fotodesign

The brand has used its icon to connect with people around the globe and position itself above competitors in the industry.

The Bottom Line

Emotional design plays an important role in creating the mass appeal of your product packaging. When you are thinking of designing different packaging for your products, it’s important to consider the factors that can shape their perceptions of your brand and bring out positive feelings. Think of elements like colors, fonts, and functionality (the rest you can find above) and incorporate emotional design to build lasting relationships with your audience.

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