Got a product on the shelf? Bring me the packaging. I’ll give you an honest outside perspective.
I’m offering free mini packaging audits to Exeter businesses. Limited to just 15 audits so I can put in the time and effort your packaging design deserves. If you make, sell or distribute a physical consumer product and you’re not completely sure whether your packaging is doing the job it should, bring it into my studio at Basepoint, Marsh Barton.
I’ll spend some time looking at it and produce a short document with my thoughts. No pitch. No obligation. Just some useful feedback from a designer who spends a lot of time thinking about brands, packaging and how products compete for attention.
What is a packaging audit?
Packaging has a difficult job.
It needs to communicate what a product is, make it recognisable, appeal to the right people and give someone a reason to pick it up. It also needs to work alongside everything else the brand is doing.
Sometimes the problem is obvious. Sometimes it isn’t.
Your packaging might look perfectly good in isolation but disappear when it’s sitting alongside competitors. Your brand might need some TLC. Important information might be difficult to find. Or the design might simply no longer reflect the quality of the product inside.
That’s what I’d look for.
I’ll consider things like:
- Shelf impact – does it stand out and get noticed?
- Brand recognition – is it immediately obvious who makes it?
- Hierarchy – can you understand the product quickly?
- Typography – is information clear, distinctive and appropriately presented?
- Colour – does the palette help the product compete and communicate?
- Positioning – does the packaging feel right for the intended customer and price point?
- Consistency – does it feel like part of a coherent product range?
- Differentiation – does it look meaningfully different from competing products?
- Digital use – will the packaging still work when photographed for websites, social media and online shops?
I’ll also point out anything that I think is particularly strong.
An audit isn’t about finding problems for the sake of finding problems. It’s about identifying where the packaging is helping the product and where it might be getting in the way.
What do you get?
I’ll create a short PDF document outlining my observations. It won’t be a 40-page brand strategy document. It’s deliberately simple.
You’ll get a few pages covering the things that stood out to me, with practical observations about what could potentially be improved.
Think of it as getting a second opinion before spending money on a packaging redesign.
Who is it for?
This is particularly aimed at consumer product businesses around Marsh Barton and Exeter.
Food and drink, is particularly difficult to get right. Coffee. Beer. Spirits. Sauces. Snacks. Confectionery. Supplements. Chilled products. Whatever you’ve got sitting on a shelf or heading towards one.
You don’t need to be launching a new product either.
It could be an existing range that hasn’t been looked at for years, a product that’s recently grown, or packaging that simply doesn’t feel like it represents the business anymore.
How it works
1. Contact me to arrange a time to bring your packaging down to me.
I’m based at Basepoint Business Centre in Marsh Barton, Exeter.
2. We have a quick chat
Tell me a little about the product, who it’s for and what you’re trying to achieve.
3. I take it away and have a proper look
I’ll review the packaging from a visual identity and communication perspective.
4. I’ll send you the mini audit
You’ll get a short document with my thoughts and observations.
5. I’ll give you a call to chat through it
That’s it. It’s free. There’s no requirement to commission me afterwards.
If you decide you want to do something with the feedback, great. If you simply wanted another perspective on your packaging, that’s fine too.
Why am I doing this?
Because packaging is one of my favourite areas of design.
It’s where brand strategy, typography, visual identity and physical products all collide. And unlike a website or social post, packaging has to work incredibly hard in a very small amount of space.
I’m particularly interested in working with challenger consumer brands that are growing and want their visual identity and packaging to reflect where the business is going next.
So if you’re based around Exeter and have a product you’re proud of, I’d genuinely like to see it.
Get some clarity on your packaging and brand
I’ll tell you what I think. For free. Contact Samuel to arrange your free packaging audit.
