Packaging Design
Packaging lives in the customer's hands, not on a screen.
What is packaging design?
Packaging is the first physical thing a customer holds, so it has to sell, inform and survive production at once. I design to the actual dieline — bottle, box, pouch or bag — and build the back panel properly: ingredients, directions, net volume, barcodes and recycling marks, all inside the printable area.
- Packaging concepts
- Labels
- Boxes, pouches and paper bags
- Print-ready artwork
- Packaging mockups
- Product presentation
01Deliverables
What you get.
- 01Front-of-pack design on the supplied dieline
- 02Compliant back panel: ingredients, directions, net contents, barcode
- 03Variant system for the rest of the range
- 04Mockups for listings and marketing
- 05Print-ready artwork with bleed, dielines on their own layer
- 06Editable source files
02Specs & files
Sizes, media and files.
| Item | Typical spec | Files you receive |
|---|---|---|
| Dieline | Supplied by your converter, kept on a separate non-printing layer | CDR + PDF |
| Resolution | 300 dpi at final size, 1:1 wherever the file allows | PDF/X-4 |
| Colour | CMYK, plus spot channels where the job needs them | Separated proof |
| Barcode | Placed at full size, quiet zone respected, never scaled disproportionately | Vector |
Sizes vary by venue and vendor — specs are confirmed with your printer before artwork starts.
03Process
How it runs.
- 1
Dieline
Nothing starts until the converter's dieline and material are confirmed.
- 2
Front of pack
Hierarchy first — brand, product, variant, claim — then the visual treatment.
- 3
Back of pack
The unglamorous half: legal copy, icons, directions, batch and volume, all legible at real size.
- 4
Preflight
Separations, overprint, bleed and minimum text size checked before it leaves.
04Scope
Timing and terms.
Typical turnaround
1–2 weeks per pack, faster for variants of an approved design
Revisions
Two rounds; legal copy changes are not counted as revisions
Needs from you
Dieline, material, final copy and any regulatory text
Handover
Print-ready artwork, mockups and editable sources
Quotes are in PKR and depend on scope, sizes and deadline. Send the brief for a written quote within one business day.
05Proof
Where this has already shipped.
06FAQ
Common questions.
What do you need before packaging artwork can start?
The dieline from your printer or converter, the material and finish, the final copy including any regulatory text, and the barcode number. Designing before the dieline exists almost always means redrawing.
Can you design the whole range, not just one pack?
Yes, and it is cheaper that way. I build the first pack as a system with the variant rules defined, so the rest of the range is production rather than fresh design.
Do you supply mockups?
Yes — photoreal mockups on the real pack shape for listings, social and pitch decks, kept clearly separate from the print artwork.
Further reading
Guides for this service.
Blog · PackagingBlog · 9 min read
Packaging That Sells: What Goes on the Front, and What the Back Has to Carry
Guide · PrintGuide · 9 min read
What Is a Print-Ready File? Bleed, CMYK, Fonts and PDF/X for Pakistani Printers
Resource · BriefsResource · 8 min read