13 Emerging

Package Design +
Consumer Shopping
Trends of 2017
PRESENTED BY

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About The Report:
The Trends You Need To Know
Each year, we round up the best consumer package designs from The Dieline, and The Dieline Awards, examine
the state of the industry, the state of the times, and forecast emerging trends for the upcoming year. For 2017,
we are expanding the report to include an analysis of the shopping trends that will define commerce online
and offline in the years to come. Shopping trends and the dominant visual design elements develop hand in
hand. They are the method and the message. The way we shop determines the requirements for the structural
elements of a package, setting limitations and creating opportunities. Visual design elements then play a role
in accentuating the highlights of the experience and articulating the emotion we feel at first glance and touch.

In this special report, we analyze 5 visual design trends through specific case studies that lay the groundwork
for what will continue to define design in 2017. From there we extrapolate these learnings to explore 8 emerging
consumer shopping trends. These trends affect the way consumers experience and interact with a product
which, in turn, shapes how packaging is conceived and designed.

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About The Dieline:
The Dieline recognizes the absolute best in packaging design worldwide and brings awareness to the immense
value that lies in well-designed brand packaging. Established in 2007 by Andrew GIbbs, The Dieline believes
that impeccable packaging directly informs the success of a product or brand. As the premiere resource in the
industry, brand owners, consumers, marketers, agencies, in-house creatives, students, and enthusiasts around
the world turn to The Dieline for recognizable, trusted, and valuable design content.

As one of the worlds most visited packaging design websites, The Dieline highlights the importance and value
of packaging design for brands in todays world. By creating a platform where the community can examine
projects, learn more about the design process, and stay informed of trends, it encourages designers and
brands alike to question their own work and hold themselves to the highest standards possible. In addition
to TheDieline.com, The Dieline also runs The Dieline Conference in partnership with HOW Design Live, and
the annual The Dieline Awards, a worldwide competition that recognizes the worlds best consumer product
packaging design.

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About HP Digital Printing:
HPs mission is to engineer experiences that amaze by creating technology that makes life better for everyone,
everywhere. The HP Graphics division is empowering brands with new possibilities to reinvent their packs and
offers packaging converters the largest portfolio of digital printing solutions in Label Printing, Flexible Packaging,
Folding Carton, and Corrugated applications such as boxes and displays. These cutting edge solutions help
brands refresh their engagement with the consumers increasing brand loyalty and preference at the moment of
purchase. Brands can also optimize their supply chain, increase product security, and speed up time to market
while becoming more agile in a fast changing world.

LEARN MORE

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Visual Design Trends:
Idealism Inverted
When analyzing the trends present across the increasingly dynamic design landscape, there was one unifying
idea. Despite the diversity of styles exhibited, the different messages and slogans, and the variety of products,
they were all connected by a similar philosophy. As each movement rebels against the one that came before it,
we gain an understanding of what fuels these trends. We also learn more about our culture and the spirit of the
time as it is expressed by some of our most important visual communicatorspackaging designers.

The theme uniting the diverse range of designs is idealism. But this is not simply optimism, not just a celebration
these designs possess a longing as if they are a vain attempt to preserve a portion of the world that is lost, and
the designs themselves are merely an echo. Perhaps it is the state of our times but there exists an underlying
escapism in the mood of designers. From the point of view of their designs, almost anywhere looks better than
here: childhood, nature, the past.

Idealism is two-sidedon one side it implies discomfort with the present but on the other it implies hope. It is
not defeatism but it is not elation. It is flux tinged with aspiration, more interested in beauty than truth.

As we analyzed the top designs of the year, they fell into five distinct categories. The designs were dominated
by aesthetics referencing, in a fully idealized way: nature, the past, minimalism, childhood, and identity.

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1. Nature: Idealized
The aesthetic of the natural world is a rich place for inspiration. Especially in our urban lives, glimpses of nature that sprout through
the sidewalk or float overhead between skyscrapers take on an other-worldly feel. The color palettes, textures, shapes, and
proportions speak the language of the outdoors. So in the crowded aisles of the supermarket, on the sparse shelves of curated
stores, or in the scroll of online shopping, designs inspired by nature worked to pull the viewer to another place.

Working in hand with this design is the shopping trend of less but better. The Pantone color of the year is Greenery, which evokes
the start of spring and of new beginnings. This color, along with products in simple packages trimmed with light floral illustrations,
paint an idealized picture of the world out there. This works because that is how we experience nature today. We shop for a
purified version of the natural world, one that is insta-ready, clean, and well-composed. We dont actually want nature and we dont
actually have time for it; instead, we want an idealized experience that we can opt in and opt out of when we get the urge. This is
nature, pre-packaged.

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2. The Past: Idealized
Remember way back when? Wasnt everything so much simpler then? Back then we had corner stores selling local goods with
ingredients you could pronounce. Boxes were printed with vintage block type contrasted with hand lettering. Blind embossed
background patterns. Ornate crests. Lithographic illustrations. Todays version of this aesthetic is a refined, selective look back, not
giving the full truth of the past. It is an idealized version. Driven by nostalgia, these designs fetishize hand-crafted, rugged, intricate
ornateness. This trend looks back at a past when you had time to spend on painstaking details, setting type, carving woodblocks.

Interestingly, this trend appears repeatedly in food and beverage brands. Consumer desire drives this design trendit is born
out of the customer yearning to have a connection to their food. It is a fantasy that hands touched it, not just machines. We long
for simpler times in our present day, hyper-processed food world, and we feel nostalgic for an age where a plethora of small
producers knew and cared for their products. Many brands have picked up on this desire and have painted their product and
packaging to elicit these emotions. Some brands have even delved deeper than surface level packaging and have rediscovered
the craft of producing goods that are indeed good.

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3. Less: Idealized
Born out of our always-on, notification driven lives which are spent in ever-smaller living spaces, we have a serious need to
curate and cut through the noise. There is a direct response design movement to the consumer desire for less. But not just
lessless, but better. Thus these designs are not the same old minimalism approaching zero, but they take some of the ideas of
minimalism and dress it up a bit. It is a premium, glamorized approach to minimalism. It still draws on the less is more ideology
but turns it into something new, something more. The designs of this group speak to an over-saturated, over-medicated,
overwhelmed audience with large text, small words, simple sentences. They know you are on the edge and they do not want
to be the thing that pushes you over, so they work to calm you. They stand out by standing back, they catch your attention by
shrinking away and speaking more softly. Listen closely to these next designs.

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4. Innocence: Idealized
There exists a world where the grass is greener, the sky is an unbelievable blue, and all of the faces you see look familiar.
Of course, this is not a real world but rather an idealized version of innocence. Through illustrations, animated scenes and
characters, handwritten lettering, and simple colorful patterns, these designs evoke the simplicity of a childrens book. They work
to capture the viewers attention by appearing unintimidating, approachable, and familiar. Beneath the surface, the generation
of millennials currently reaching adulthood drives this visual design trend of 2017. As aspirations clash with reality, we witness
a yearning to return to childhood. There is a reaction towards an idealization of youth and simpler times, and consumers
seek comfort in glossy memories, basic shapes, color, and animated faces. The difference between good and bad is readily
apparent, and happiness is within reach. Clarity is key so that in our complex lives these designs can cut through by speaking
in a language that our inner child understands.

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5. Identity: Idealized
There is a level of peace to these designsa peace that has forsaken trends and style. They imagine a world that doesnt have
to fight for your attention. They dont shout; they dont speak hurriedly. They focus on clarity and color and boil down to the
essential elements of their brand and message, using simple words and shapes. They utilize a limited color palette and rely on
color as their primary means of communication and use the texture of their materials as a graphic element. Everything these
designs do attempts to get out of the way and let their brand show through. This is identity idealized. They say: I know who I
am. I am this and nothing else.

Identity: Idealized is another response to the overwhelmed consumer, a design trend born of minimalism. Though it uses bright
colors, it still has a minimalistic approach to design and branding. These designs take color theory and composition and rather
than running away from it, they embrace and amplify classical elements of graphic design. These designs build holistic brands
that seek to perfect the elements of their identity through specific but limited shapes and colors. The designs here almost have
a generic feel, but by approaching this they establish their brand and cement its unique flavor. By stripping everything away
except the core pillars of the brand, they own their aesthetic.

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Shopping Trends:
Shopping for Answers
Driving many of the visual trends is a series of shifts in consumer taste, how consumers shop, and what they
are truly shopping for. The visual trends seek to meet consumers where they are, to speak their language, to
understand their desires, and position their product as the solution to these as yet unmet needs. As brands
continue to play larger, more intimate roles in our lives, the way we think about shopping changes. Brands sit
next to our friends in our social feeds. Brands remember our birthdays better than actual acquaintances. We
confide in them, get inspired by them, learn from them. This is a new development in consumerism, so naturally
the tastes and expectations for the shopping experience have grown in parallel to these new forces.

Several categories emerged as we sifted through the emerging shopping trends of 2017, but they were all united
by a larger theme: shopping for answers. Partly due to the total availability of goods today, the brands that cut
through can speak to us on a deeper level. Thus an expectation has emerged in the mind of the consumer that
brands sell more than products. In some cases, they are selling purpose, in others peace of mind. Some brands
sell experiences, some sell trust or social connection. Whatever it is, consumers today are shopping for more.
They are shopping for answers to the larger questions in their lives and look to brands to help answer them.

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1. Purpose
We live in an age of companies built for social good. To some it is merely a trendy marketing gimmick, to other brands,
it is a genuine guiding philosophybut consumers can tell the difference. Consumer taste in this realm of shopping is still
undersaturated, but weve noticed an insatiable desire for the types of brands that have a deeper purpose. Consumers today
think of the clothes they wear and the products they own as extensions of their values. Thus they want to know the beliefs and
principles of the places they shop. Further, many consumers who dont know what they value look to brands to inform them. To
an extent, they are shopping for values and for a purpose. They want to know that their lives are meaningfuland they want
other people to know it too. So it helps if the logo on their chest can say it for them.

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2. Peace
Many brands want to appeal to todays consumer desire for peace. This trend has steadily grown in the last few years, and it
shows no signs of slowing. Peace is presented as less but better. Importantly, this is still a means of selling something, but it
gets positioned as a remedy for an overwhelmed customer living in an overflowing space. Instead of buy one get one free, this
says, Buy this one, get rid of two. Brands here say, We know you have too much stuffbut this item isnt an addition, its a
subtraction.

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3. Consumer-Centric
If you want to be interesting, be interested. This is the maxim driving another strong trend. Newly enabled and amplified by
the intimate interactions we have with companies online, brands are honing the consumer-centric approach. By listening and
learning, they are able to understand the most pressing pain points of the customer, philosophically as well as experientially.
They can converse with them individually or in public forums (Twitter). Customer service continues to be elevated to an art, a
white-glove experience. This is a focus on the me in consumer. It combines many other prevalent needs: less, better, clarity
but thoughtfully answers needs through both graphic, structural, and experiential changes.

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4. Experience
Brands also seek to stand out by providing an experience. Whether by creating a more engaging shopping experience through
social, mobile applications, immersive online experiences, in-store gatherings, or tactile packaging, the desire for experiences
will continue to dominate. The brands that can offer the most integrated, engaging experiences will be the ones who succeed.
Experience also has come to set standards for the customer life cycle, from initial online engagement to product selection,
to sharing, receiving and unboxing. The process of simply ordering and opening the product is being elevated to theater. We
expect that each and every interaction with a brand will impart impact, value, and something shareable.

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5. Uniqueness
In our mass-market, multinational-led world, the consumer remains an individual, and as brands grow, the level of connection to
the individual diminishes. The basic human instinct to be social and connected does not dissipate in commercial transactions.
Naturally, we all want to feel connected to the brands we patronize and the products we use. To satisfy this desire without
losing scale, brands continue to seek ways to offer variety. Whether by combining interactive user-interfaces to give the effect
of customization or merely by offering a series of packaging SKUs so you end up with a differently designed box than your
neighbor, brands work to offer uniqueness as a competitive advantage. This trend will only grow and the brands who cannot
offer this level of touch will quickly lose out to those who do.

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6. Personalization
Personalization takes this a step further. Of course, if uniqueness is a desire, the more unique the betterand personalization
is the ultimate uniqueness. It creates a sense of intimacy with the brand. As of right now, mainstream brands rarely offer
personalization to products, so when they do they consumers covet them. Many product startups build loyalty by offering
higher levels of customization than their larger competitors. The challenge, as always with unique touches, is making it scale.
However, technological improvements are enabling this trend and larger brands have the capital to invest in the improvements
required for high-tech lean operations. 3-D scanning and printing, on-demand digital printing, and augmented reality in social
applications that feed instantly into the shopping experience will all continue to excite consumers, which will continue to push
brands to make personalization a standard experience.

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7. Brand-Centric Extensions
Brand is more important than ever, and those who have strong brands will continue to capitalize on this value by extending into
other areas. This is really about trust. Consumers today take their time to trust a brand and will quickly spurn them. If a brand
can build trust, which largely can be initiated visually (but must be proven through real customer experiences), then customers
are willing to follow them to new places. Since trust is so hard to earn, those who have it will continue to test it and stretch it to
new limits.

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8. Social Connection
Customers today are shopping for something bigger. We not only patronize brands, we follow them, we listen to them, we talk
to them. We connect with them because we want to connect with something bigger. Smart brands realize thisthey build tribes,
not simply customer bases. There is a strong desire for individuals to connect to something bigger, to find common ground. We
want not only to connect to causes (as mentioned above), we want to connect to society and groups of people. We want to be
a part of conversations. We want brands to connect us to other individuals who share our values. We seek community. Not only
do we shop for another widget, but we shopp for that widget because it is a symbol we hope will unify and unite us with others.

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These are the emerging trends of 2017.
Design and shopping habits develop in tandem, these are the 13 emerging visual design and consumer shopping
trends we will see more of in 2017. As consumers expect more from brands, shopping experiences will continue
to change. They will grow in these specific ways. The ones who succeed will be the ones that satisfy the
consumers desires on the deepest level, and as always, designs role is to communicate this.

The best brands will unify their marketing strategy and their design strategy. They will need to have a compelling
story and they will need to communicate it clearly. Focus on purpose, the essential, the internal state of your
customer, and provide them with a shareable experience that connects them to something larger. Design with
an understanding of your customers mental and emotional state. Have an understanding of their levels of
saturation and why they are coming to you: to add to their lives or to help them clear away the clutter.

As always the task of the designer goes much deeper than the surface level details of graphics and text. It
must begin and end with an intimate understanding of the spirit of the times, and it must build trust and be built
on empathy and understanding. This is what is exciting about design, today more than ever. The year ahead
promises to provide ever-greater opportunities and more holistic challenges to shape the lives of customers in
meaningful ways. The trends are clear. Consumer desires are clear. The only the left to do is get started.

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 Written by Grant Wenzlau
Research by Andrew Gibbs
Published by The Dieline
Edited by Theresa Christine
Layout by Natalie Mouradian

Copyright 2017 Dieline Media, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including recording, photocopying, or any information storage and retrieval system, without
prior written permission from the publisher.

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