Empowered Packaging Design Trends: A Powerful Strategy for Engaging Retail Consumers

By TED MININNI, President and Creative Director, Design power

There’s no denying that the toy aisles inside our favorite big-box retailers are one of the most visually confusing and ever-changing environments for consumers to browse. In this competitive retail environment, every toy and entertainment brand competes for the attention of parents and children. Keeping their attention while motivating their purchasing decision is no easy task.

As an expert in packaging design for licensed toy and entertainment brands, I understand the importance of understanding market trends and graphic approaches, and how to translate this insight into packaging design that actually sells. Let’s take a look at some existing and emerging trends in licensed brand packaging and how licensors can use them to create a look that stands out on store shelves and resonates with consumers.

Achieve breakthroughs through simplicity of design

Minimalist design has become a powerful packaging design trend adopted by many consumer product brands, and licensing brands are no exception. Licensing brands choose clean, uncluttered packaging designs that focus on essential design elements and communication, allowing brand identity and character art to take center stage. This approach creates a more refined, visually striking look that contrasts with the clutter on the shelves and grabs the consumer’s attention.

I found that licensed product packaging plans relied heavily on a single, solid, bold color that dominated the entire packaging design system. Marvel’s Spider-Man and his magical friends The packaging is predominantly white, which makes the action images of Spider-Man, Gwen, and Miles stand out, as well as the fun primary-color logo. The packaging procedure is super mario bros movie Licensed products feature a stylish black design for a premium appeal. Likewise, the logo and character art dominate the messaging on the packaging along with the product name. If you look closely, you’ll see some dot-painted game illustrations on a black background – a subtle design detail that doesn’t detract from the simplicity of the packaging. It uses a subtle light gray game image pattern on a white background when an insert or product field is required.

Storytelling with texture and pattern

Pokémon-licensed products have red, white, or gray Pokémon balls printed on their packaging. | Source: Basic Fun!

Pokémon-licensed products have red, white, or gray Pokémon balls printed on their packaging. | Source: Wand Company.

In addition to using character artwork and scenery to set the stage for storytelling, some licensing brands are also utilizing textures and patterns as the overall backdrop for their packaging schemes to transport consumers into the world of the hotel.

The backdrop of Paramount Studios is a slimy purple brick wall Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem The packaging takes us into the urban sewer environment. A dense, sparkling pattern of circles, stars, hearts and abstract cat paws forms the perfect teal and pink textured background for DreamWorks Gabe’s dollhouse Packaging program. Disney moved from packaging specific to each film to packaging representative of the entire series, and now uses a blue-and-white crystallized ice texture as the trade dress backdrop for its licensed product packaging freezing. Also, The Pokémon Company’s packaging Pokemon Licensed products feature a Poké Ball pattern in shades of red, gray, or white as an overall background or as a background behind product photos or actual products.

The combination of structure and architectural designnitrogen

Establishing a unique and ownable packaging design architecture is a fundamental aspect of our agency’s licensing product packaging design concepts. We employ this strategy to ensure that licensed brands can instantly connect with consumers across the entire retail environment (in every product category). When carefully conceived packaging design architecture is seamlessly combined with a strong structural design strategy, the packaging design system of licensed brands becomes more attractive to consumers.

dreamworks Trolls: unite The packaging features a faceted gem design architecture in bright colors ranging from yellow and green to magenta to purple and teal. Faceted Gem Architecture also defines the structural design strategy across packaging formats to make a strong brand statement at retail. Although its interpretation sometimes differs from one packaging format to another, the overall visual aesthetic remains cohesive.

Hasbro’s packaging from last year Dungeons & Dragons: Thief’s Glory The products utilize an ornate gold-plated framing device to define the front panel of each product package. Structurally, the corners where the front, top, and right panels meet are triangular wedges that contain Dungeons & Dragons branding elements. In this case, the structural strategy forced the frame design architecture to follow the 45-degree angle it was created to create, thereby establishing a unique design detail that ties the entire product line together.

packaging design as Buying motivation

For licensed toy and entertainment brands, adapting to new design trends and graphic approaches is critical to maintaining a competitive edge and sustaining consumer attention. Remember: the first point of contact between a licensed consumer product and its target audience is through packaging. It is the visual portal for consumers to enter the brand world. If the experience is captivating and engaging, it will leave a lasting impression and influence consumers’ purchasing decisions.