And why is packaging so important?

A product's packaging may be the first time a customer interacts with what a business is selling. In a crowded marketplace, it’s important that the packaging catches a potential customer’s eye, and conveys the quality and craftsmanship of what's inside.

In the ninth episode of our hit series, Building a Brand, the design team at Blind move onto the next phase of the rebrand for Hamilton Family Brewery: designing the beer can packaging.

Josh and Crysten of Hamilton Family Brewery plan to take their homegrown brewery into retail stores, and want the beer’s packaging to reflect the same experience customers have in the tap room.

The design team faces another challenge as they’re tasked with designing a beer can package that reflects the attributes of the Hamilton brand.

Below are our main takeaways from the package design process:

Identify What Needs to Be Communicated

In the discovery session, both Josh and Crysten shared the attributes of their brand. As a family owned brewery, the Hamiltons pride themselves on their connection with their community, as well as the fun beer flavors circulating their taproom.

Josh wants to maintain a level of transparency with potential customers and give them a glimpse into what makes Hamilton’s beer so unique.

The beer packaging needs to reflect a strong sense of craftsmanship, quality, and fun that is present in the taproom. Since Josh and Crysten won’t be on the shelves with the cans, it’s important that the packaging clearly communicates who they are.

Presenting the Designs

Similar to the Stylescapes presentation, you don’t want to show the client too much or too little when it comes to the packaging.

In this case, out of 12 potential package designs put together by designer, Jieun, Ben and Matthew shared only three mockups to the Hamiltons.

How you present the work can make all the difference in getting approval from your clients. We recommend using high-quality mockups to make sure your designs garner the right attention.

Triple Check the Print

Yes, everyone learns from mistakes, but when it comes to printing the packaging, that’s the one thing you can’t afford to mess up.

When Ben and Matthew noticed some discrepancies and confusion with printing the new designs, they called up the printer right away to make sure they wouldn’t encounter any potential printing errors.

Make sure the barcode on the packaging is correct, and the print will come out as desired. If you’re unsure, call the printing company and get clear on how the final product will come out.