In the consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) world, getting attention is arguably the most important "job" of package design; after all, consumers can't purchase products they don't notice. We’re always told not to judge a book by its cover, but consumers like to throw those words of advice straight out the window when it comes to the packages they’re plucking off the shelf. Judging a product based on its taste or functional benefits comes later, after the product has been purchased—but judging based on looks is fairly unavoidable when deciding which product to purchase in the first place.
So how do you make your product pop in a competitive context? Here are five strategies that have consistently proven successful at grabbing consumers' attention, based on the hundreds of package designs we've tested to date across CPG categories.* (These insights are included in our recent report, 16 Ways to Win With Design.)
Countless academic studies have validated that symmetry holds a certain appeal to the human eye—in nature, in faces, in architecture, and so on. In addition to being attractive, symmetry has attention-getting power, at least in the context of package design. In the flavored-malt-beverages category, the three top-performing designs on this metric all have well-balanced, symmetrical compositions, while many of the designs that perform average or below-average utilize asymmetrical compositions.
to attract attention; take Imagine’s partial soup bowl, Pedigree's scalloped blue ribbon, or eos' signature oval chapstick. All the packages below rank number-one in their respective categories for attention-getting power. The common thread? The inclusion of prominent geometric shapes.
With so many products vying for consumer attention these days, standing out from the pack can be challenging—but utterly critical for securing a spot in consumers' limited consideration sets. The strategies outlined above have consistently helped brands to boost their standout performance; however, standout success depends largely on the category and competitive context, and it can be difficult to predict how a particular design will fare with consumers. For brands considering a redesign to boost visibility, be sure to begin with a data-driven assessment of the category.
*The principles shared here are based on the hundreds of package designs that Designalytics has tested to date. However, none of these principles always holds true. As all designers know, there are no universal rules for developing effective designs. Design success depends heavily on the specific category and competitive context, as well as a particular brand’s positioning and design objectives.