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The Dieline Awards: four lessons from this year’s winners

Every year, the Dieline Awards celebrate the best product packaging designs from around the world, with categories including Sustainability, Studio of the Year and Fresh and Prepared Foods all represented with individual awards. This is where the cream of the crop gather, so print designers can learn a thing or two from the stupendous designs on show. With the winners announced back in May, the PMG team thought we’d take a look at some of our favourite designs and see what lessons we could glean from their success…

Capture the zeitgeist

Just like fashion, architecture and product design, packaging design can be accurately aged and placed to a specific era through trends. Tapped Birch Tree Water swept up the Dieline Best in Show Award with a range of exquisite package designs, all based on bark patterns from real birch trees. The designs are strikingly modern, and very on trend. Conforming to current trends can help to catch the attention of potential buyers – as well as the Dieline judges!

 

Match packaging to product

The Neenah Paper Award Winner – Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Whiskey – shows the importance of matching packaging design and execution to the product itself. This bourbon is a premium product, and the packaging reflects that – the materials are of the highest quality, the typography is thoughtful and well executed and the overall design fits in with the brand’s old-fashioned, traditional image. The end result is desirable and effective – there’s no way it would have worked as well with an inferior paper stock or lesser quality printing.

 

Innovate

We’re talking about the best product packaging in the world here, so simply dialling it in won’t cut it. To win a Dieline award you need to innovate, as runners-up Getbrand did with their packaging designs for Domilovo Eggs. We all know what egg cartons are supposed to look like, but these designs broke the mould entirely with their ornate 7-egg cartons. They look simply lovely, and really stand out from the more predictable designs of competitors. Consumers will be prepared to pay a little more for products that come packaged in a way that truly draws the eye.

 

Don’t underestimate illustration

Minimalism is all well and good, but it pays to remember that product packaging is more than just a vehicle for information and a means of protecting your goods. Together Design – winners of the Confectionery, Snacks and Desserts category with their packaging for Fortnum and Mason Chocolate-Covered Biscuits – opted for a variety of colourful, playful illustrations that perfectly sum up the products within. A good illustrator can be worth his or her weight in gold for those who want to build brand recognition.

 

Strong packaging designs like these can help to boost sales, enhance brand recognition and build brand loyalty, but it isn’t easy to come up with designs as strong as those featured in this year’s Dieline Awards. Here at PMG, our dedicated design studio can help you to develop and create your own winning packaging designs, from ideation all the way through to execution. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help.

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