When it comes to brands, whether you’re selling apparel or other merchandise, perception and personality are everything. Community building and customer engagement are both important for building a good image of a brand, but sometimes, something as simple as packaging can go a long way in affecting your clients’ views of your products. That’s why having great printed packaging has been proven to positively influence clients’ satisfaction and behavior. 

But there are only so many ways you can differentiate your packaging from competitors, right? And the costs of packaging can be rather high when done carelessly. Luckily, there are many affordable ways you can invest in printed packaging without breaking the bank–let’s look at some of them.

1. Colored Boxes

The focus of branding is selling style, not just clothes or regular products. This element is shown through every aspect of a product, including packaging–and having colorful boxes is a simple and inexpensive way to go about things.

The colors you choose should be suitable to your brand’s identity and visual language, of course. If you’re still undecided on what colors suit your brand the most, take a look at our guide on how to decide your brand’s general identity first. Here are a few ideas to help you decide:

1. Modern streetwear: Something bold and saturated, like bright reds or oranges, can help solidify the youthful look of your packaging. Asphalt grey (similar to urban landscapes) can also work depending on your brand’s personality.
2. Feminine apparel: Soft colors are often used as a shorthand for womanhood. Pinks are great, though light blues and cream colors can also work. If your brand leans more towards the bold, bright reds are ideal.
3. Masculine apparel: Blacks and blues all around, with the occasional dark greens. If you’re angling towards a younger audience, red accents can help as well.
4. Sustainable merchandise: Go natural with greens and browns. You can also consider using recycled brown boxes to push the look further. 
5. Elegance & Luxury: Blacks and whites with gold foil trims are a signature for luxury printed packaging. You can also consider purples, royal reds, and deep blues.

2. Decorated Paper Bags

While boxes might be great for bigger packages shipped across long distances, sometimes you need something lighter and more tote-like for a store. Skip plastic or cloth bags and consider paper ones. They’re more affordable, less of a hassle, and have a distinct natural or sustainable flair to them that can go a long way.

Plus, they’re easily customizable. You can opt to print patterns on them and ship it wholesale, or just put various stickers on the front (more on the stickers later). Their shape and texture make retaining different designs more straightforward than other types of lightweight packaging. 

These are a few of the more popular paper bag types to consider:

1. Kraft Paper: These often come in brown or white variations, though the brown types are used more often. They’re sturdy and can hold quite a bit when attached to a durable handle.
2. White cardboard: These bags are made from a firmer material with a smoothened finish. They’re commonly used in luxury or high-end shopping, and they tend to be tougher than the kraft paper variants.
3. Recycled paper: A sustainable variation of kraft paper, these paper bags are processed in a way that makes them more durable than kraft paper but softer than white cardboard. A good in-between solution for eco-friendly brands in particular.

3. Sleek Stickers

It’s not hard to see the appeal of stickers. They don’t cost much to print in large sheets, and you can put them just about anywhere–plastic, paper, glass, boxes, and sometimes even cloth. However, keep in mind the different types of sticker materials and where they’re best used:

1. Vinyl: Commonly used for its durability and flexibility, vinyl is great for almost all packaging and even sticks to wooden, plastic, or metal products.
2. Paper: Paper stickers are lighter, biodegradable and have a nice texture to the touch. However, they don’t last very long and are best used with other shorter-lived packaging like paper bags.
3. Holographic: These styles of stickers are mostly gimmicky and fun to look at, though they come at a higher cost. They give plain packaging or boxes an attention-grabbing quality, so using them for brand logos in particular is worthwhile.

4. Customizable Sleeves

Most customizable sleeves are made of paperboard materials, which are strapped or glued over the initial packaging. You can also consider using corrugated cardboard as a sleeve–while more expensive, they’re also more solid, have a better texture, and last longer than paperboard. 

A sleeve is a sheet that covers your box or other type of packaging. Some sleeves cover nearly the entire perimeter of the packaging, while others simply lock over the middle or side and leave room for the rest. The general effect, however, is to add a layer of depth to an otherwise plain package–and more charm, too.

Whichever material you choose, a customizable sleeve can showcase as many brand visual traits as you’d like. You get to choose the color, the shape, your logo placement, and even some small design flourishes on either end. 

5. Interior Prints

If you’re going for a plastic or printable paperboard material for your box, consider decorating your box’s interior. A plain exterior and stylized interior provides a nice contrast that highlights the product inside quite effectively.

Generally, these interior prints will be repeating patterns–often with a symbol repeating in a diagonal, checkerboard-style pattern. These patterns can be involved in your logo, a part of your brand’s visual language, and even have encouraging notes or personalized messages attached on the undercover. 

Any and all combinations of the above prints can significantly enhance your clients’ experience with your apparel or products. Branding is often like an orchestra–there are numerous instruments to keep in mind when creating a harmonious experience. Whether it’s in your product, your social media, or even your printed packaging, all of these things can be great opportunities for you to send a brand message–and stand out from the crowd.

Looking to enhance your brand’s perception in other ways? Check out our guide on affordable ways to turn your merch into a premium brand, or contact our brand ambassadors.