What We Do > Licensed Product Package Design
Licensed Product Package Design For Toy And Entertainment Brands
Package Design That Stands Out in Every Consumer Product Category
At Design Force, Inc., we’ve spent over 35 years perfecting the art and science of licensed product package design for toy and entertainment brands. We understand that packaging for licensed brands goes far beyond visual appeal. At its core, it’s a modular challenge that must accommodate any potential packaging configuration and be immediately recognizable in every category throughout the retail environment. Our proprietary approach ensures that every packaging program we develop is not only visually aligned with the licensed brand, but also scalable and visually cohesive. The packaging programs we create maintain brand consistency while making a powerful impact at retail.
Modular Design Solutions That Maximize Shelf Impact
Licensed product packaging isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Each licensed property brings its own unique identity, voice, and target audience. And, each licensee’s product or product line may require a completely different, and potentially unconventional packaging format. From action figures to apparel, home goods to collectibles, every product is unique with its own set of marketing challenges. At Design Force, we specialize in creating packaging programs that are visually cohesive – but also flexible – allowing licensed brands to maintain a consistent look and feel while properly highlighting each product’s unique benefits and features.
Our licensed product package design philosophy is not only built around modularity and adaptability, but also around being highly-recognizable from one category to another as consumers navigate the retail environment. This is achieved through the integration of distinctive package design architecture – a design asset that embodies something emotive and unique to the brand – something that every fan would instantly identify as representative of the brand, and all that it means to them, when they see it on pack at retail. When used in conjunction with the property logo, package design architecture is the first thing that resonates with consumers. Therefore, it’s a powerful and impactful visual differentiator in the crowded and chaotic environment at retail.
But, great licensed product package design isn’t complete without standardization guidelines for its implementation. Every packaging program we create – whether it’s presented to licensees as a stand-alone guide, or it appears within a brand’s consumer product style guide – is thoughtfully and carefully standardized so that even the least design-savvy partners can successfully create packaging for their licensed products.
Our Licensed Product Package Design Expertise Includes
- Brand and current package design system evaluation
- Evaluation of package design systems of top competitors within the category
- Retail environment and category evaluation
- Development of modular package design systems that can accommodate any packaging configuration and function across multiple product categories
- Package Design Asset development and standardization
- Packaging Template development and standardization
- Step-by-step written standardization guidelines development
- Packaging guidelines document design and production
Our Process for Scalable, Licensee-Ready Package Design Systems
Every licensed product packaging project begins with a deep dive into the brand, its current package design system, the packaging of key competitors and the retail environment within the brand’s category. Using the insights achieved from this pre-design research, we develop a modular package design system that’s built around distinctive, highly-recognizable package design architecture that will capture the attention of consumers throughout the retail environment. Additionally, we address every other point of on-pack communication, including the product name and descriptor, call-out violators for benefits and features communication, inset photos, character art and product imagery usage, and structural design strategy.
Once the package design system is approved by all brand stakeholders, we create the standardization guidelines document for licensees to follow during the packaging implementation process. The guidelines document introduces licensee partners to each individual Package Design Asset in a linear manner, while showing how each panel of the package design is built. This allows them to become familiar with the packaging program’s building blocks. The document then introduces licensees to Packaging Templates for a variety of packaging formats, each with instructions within the margins that cross-reference the Package Design Assets. This approach to standardization has been evolved, tested and perfected, and ensures that licensees can accurately build visually-consistent, retail-effective packaging for their licensed products.
Build the Packaging Architecture Your Brand Deserves
Let’s create a structural design strategy that differentiates your brand, excites your audience, and works seamlessly across every format in your product line.
