27/05/25 – BY APRIL BUTTEN
Shelf appeal is social proof
- The Psychology of Packaging: Why People Judge the Book by Its Cover
- From Utility to Theatre: Packaging as Experience Design
- What Most Brands Get Wrong About Packaging
- Packaging as a Business Strategy
- Designing Packaging That Earns Its Keep
- Where Packaging Is Heading Next
- The Quiet Power of Great Packaging
Why packaging design is your silent salesperson
In the hierarchy of brand assets, packaging often gets underestimated. It’s rarely as glorified as the campaign or as hotly debated as the logo. But ask any founder navigating the beauty, wellness or lifestyle space, and they’ll tell you: shelf appeal isn’t decoration. It’s survival.
We’re deep in an era where aesthetic discernment is second nature. Call it post-Instagram intuition: consumers can decode brand value before reading a word. They don’t just browse, they scan, assess, and align. And in this hyper-saturated marketplace, packaging isn’t an afterthought. It’s a micro-strategy. Every curve, snap and crease is a brand decision.
More than a visual asset, packaging is a semiotic powerhouse. It signals status, values, function and taste – often before a single marketing touchpoint is engaged. A certain box shape whispers exclusivity. A lid that hisses when opened evokes indulgence. A label that feels hand-printed triggers nostalgia. These cues aren’t random – they’re experience builders. They embed the brand into sensory memory, and in doing so, extend its presence far beyond the shelf, or polymailer.
The Psychology of Packaging: Why People Judge the Book by Its Cover
Humans are pattern-seeking, tactile beings. We associate visual and physical cues with quality, desirability and trust. A heavy lid signals luxury. A matte finish implies sophistication. A spray pump instead of a dropper says: this isn’t precious – it’s practical.
In a sea of brands claiming to be clean, conscious, refillable, recyclable, organic, sustainable and soul-awakening, packaging is the consumer’s first filter. The eye sees before the mind decides.
Let’s take it a step further: packaging isn’t just the handshake. It’s the seduction.
And like all good seduction, it’s psychological.
- Cognitive fluency: Does your packaging align with what the customer subconsciously expects from the category? (Think: the visual shorthand of pastel = gentle, black = premium, glass = natural, foil = efficacy.)
- Memory encoding: Does the shape, closure, or unboxing process create a moment sticky enough to remember, and good enough to want to repeat?
- Social signalling: Is the product ‘a conversation starter’ – aka something customers want to leave on the kitchen bench, or post about without being prompted?
Design that satisfies all three is more than aesthetic. It’s instinctive.
From Utility to Theatre: Packaging as Experience Design
The smartest founders don’t just invest in packaging because it “looks good.” They understand it as a form of storytelling. Every choice is a message.
Think of Flamingo Estate’s tomato candle. It comes in a jar that’s more farmer’s market than luxury department store, and yet it radiates exclusivity. The thick glass, the slightly irregular wax top, the deep red paper. It all whispers: you’re holding a piece of Eden. No wonder it becomes a weekly ritual, not a one-time burn.
Or Ghia. The saturated colour palettes. The chunky bottle. The unapologetically weird typography. It doesn’t try to emulate existing liquor brands. It builds its own world: modern, Mediterranean, non-alcoholic and anti-performative. The packaging tells you exactly what tribe it belongs to—and who it excludes.
This is what we mean when we say packaging is story architecture. It’s not just containing the product. It’s contextualising it.
What Most Brands Get Wrong About Packaging
- They design for approval, not obsession. Focus groups and founder friends are often the worst barometers for packaging success. Why? Because they filter for consensus, not desire.
- They copy the category instead of shifting it. Too many brands play safe by echoing what already exists. But true shelf impact comes from considered contrast. How does your product look next to its competitors? That’s the metric that matters. Go stand in the makeup section of Priceline, and then Mecca, and wonder if you really are all that different.
- They treat it as an endpoint, not an entry point. Your packaging isn’t the end of the customer journey—it’s often the beginning. Especially in DTC and retail, it’s your first impression, your Instagram feature, your TikTok unboxing. Don’t skimp.
Packaging as a Business Strategy
Here’s the part that gets glossed over in most design blogs: packaging affects margins, operations, and perception at scale. It’s a commercial decision.
- Retail placement: Buyers judge your seriousness based on your packaging. Can it hold its own on shelf? Is the copy FDA/ACO compliant? Does the barcode scan properly?
- Unit economics: The right packaging can improve product lifespan, reduce breakage, increase perceived value—and ultimately allow you to charge more.
- Reorder rates: Thoughtful packaging improves UX. If the lid clogs, the bottle leaks, or the box doesn’t reseal, you’ve lost a customer regardless of how good the product is.
The takeaway? Packaging isn’t just design. It’s operational strategy, financial leverage, and long-game marketing—all rolled into one small, tactile moment.
Designing Packaging That Earns Its Keep
So what makes packaging unforgettable? The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all. But the most effective designs share five traits:
- Emotional resonance – It connects to a deeper narrative or brand mythology.
- Tactile distinction – It feels different in the hand, not just the eye.
- Sensory layering – It uses scent, sound, closure or texture as a ritual hook.
- Shareable symbolism – It looks good in a flatlay, but even better in a hand.
- Functional integrity – It works. Over and over again.
Whether that means a glass jar with an embossed lid, or a refillable pod system with magnetic clicks—it all adds up. When packaging becomes a ritual, the brand becomes irreplaceable.
Where Packaging Is Heading Next
We’re seeing three major shifts:
- Sensorial storytelling: Expect more brands to lean into scent, temperature, sound and haptics to create layered brand memories.
- Sustainable intimacy: Less about recyclable claims, more about reusability and product longevity. The new luxury? Guilt-free indulgence.
- Cultural craft: Brands will draw more from local artisanship and material culture to anchor global products in deeper context.
These aren’t just trends. They’re shifts in how consumers interpret value.
The Quiet Power of Great Packaging
If there’s one idea to take away from all this, it’s that packaging isn’t passive. It performs. And in many cases, it persuades.
The best packaging doesn’t just reflect the brand, it reinforces the belief system behind it. It becomes a gateway into a worldview, a lifestyle, a set of shared values.
This is why, at BOAST, we design packaging before the logos are finalised, before the website wireframes are drawn. Because it forces clarity. It sharpens the story. It reveals where the brand lives and how it wants to be held, displayed, remembered.
We see it not as the finishing touch, but the founding proof. A stress test for your positioning. A litmus for desirability. A physical argument for why your brand deserves to exist.
Because in an era of algorithmic sameness, packaging still holds the power to stop time. To cut through. To make someone feel something real, before they even unscrew the lid.
That’s the kind of power worth designing for from day one.