6. The Holiday Packaging Design Trends of 2022 I’m Loving

In this episode, we’re talking about how to design product packaging for maximum shelf presence. Are you wondering what shelf presence is and why it matters? We’ll cover that too.

• What makes for an exciting holiday shopping experience

• Kelley’s holiday shopping traditions

• Holiday packaging trends we’re already seeing

• The one Holiday product and packaging trend you can’t get away from

• The big idea that we think will be everywhere next year

Hi, and welcome to Product Packaging and Profit, where we help product-based businesses turn packaging design into a competitive edge to attract customers, grow sales, and boost profits.

I'm Kelley Kempel, After 20 years of designing packaging for national retailers, I founded Hidden Path Creative, a graphic design studio that supports entrepreneurs with branding and packaging to get their products seen and sold. I'm sharing the secrets that launched big brands so your products can stand out.  Let's get started.

This episode of Product Packaging and Profit is sponsored by the Packaging Printer List.

If there is one question I've heard from almost every product entrepreneur I've talked to, it is, where can I get my packaging printed?

No, really, If we were on Family Feud, this would be the answer at the top of the board. The Packaging Printer list is a curated directory of over 45 packaging printers and suppliers across various product categories, packaging types, and locations.

I've handpicked all of the entries so you can be sure you're starting with a vetted shortlist. To grab your copy of the packaging printer list, head over to www.hiddenpathcreative.com/packagingprinterlist.

Hello and welcome to Product Packaging and Profit where we help product-based businesses turn packaging design into a competitive edge to attract customers, grow sales, and boost profits. I'm Kelley Kempel. After 20 years of designing packaging for national retailers, I founded Hidden Path Creative, a graphic design studio that supports entrepreneurs with branding and packaging to get their products seen and sold.

I'm sharing the secrets that launched big brands so your products can stand out. Let's get started. This episode of Product Packaging and profit is sponsored by the Packaging Printer List. If there is one question I've heard from almost every product entrepreneur I've talked to, it is, where can I get my packaging printed?

No. Really, if we were on the Family Feud, this would be the answer at the top of the. The Packaging printer list is a curated directory of over 45 packaging printers and suppliers across various product categories, packaging types, and locations. I've handpicked all of the entries so you can be short.

You're starting with a vetted short list. To grab your copy of the packaging printer list, head on over to hiddenpathcreative.com/packagingprinterlist.

Hi, friends. Happy December. I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and spent some time with family and gobble up all of that great good food. As I was thinking about what to chat about for today's episode, I really wanted to talk about holiday shopping. It's the one that's going on right now and the one that we can bring to our customers in December and the holidays.

They're such a, they're a magical time. They're also a really busy time. This is, this is really the time of year where I feel like I blink and all of a sudden it's January 1st and the next year. I always kind of wanna slow it down and savor those moments with friends and family, those traditions that we've created.

But at the same time, I know that this month is just gonna go by so fast. So as you are taking care of your own families, taking care of your own businesses, because you've got a product-based business and this is your biggest selling time of the year. I just wanna cover some of those holiday things to look out for.

One of the last episodes we talked about how to do a competitive shop and take note of what your competitors are doing. And this is one of the best times to do that because this is the holiday. Holiday gifting season is when everybody brings out their best. Ideas, whether that's on pricing, whether that's on a new product idea, a new way to bundle products together, a new packaging idea.

This is it. This is, this is when you try those new ideas and this is when you spot them. So today I'm gonna, I'm gonna share a little bit about things that I'm already seeing out in the market this holiday season. And some things that you can take note of and file away for next year. And maybe I'll share some, some insights into something that you, you're already seeing.

Maybe I'll share something and you'll go out shopping over the weekend and you'll see it and you'll say, Hey, that's what she was talking about. Either way, I just want you to have this, this information. But at the same time, I also wanna talk about that experience of. shopping. You know, we kick off the holiday season with Black Friday shopping and yes, I know it's getting earlier each and every year.

You know, last year the supply chain encouraged everybody to shop earlier, or rather, it wasn't the supply chain, but the issues with the supply chain. caused product makers and manufacturers and retailers to encourage people to shop earlier so that they could get what they wanted and get what they needed.

And that's, then it's carried over a little bit this year. We don't have the same supply chain issues, but I think people started shopping earlier. I think there was a, a little bit of a satisfaction of not rushing around at the end of the holiday season. But Black Friday is still an important day and I think, you know, just like how retail's changing, black Friday's changing too.

But some of my favorite holiday shopping memories are going out on Black Friday. Now I don't live close to my parents and my extended family right now, but for many years I would travel out to, my parents for Thanksgiving and you know, we'd have the great big meal and then after dinner, after dessert, we would sit down with those circulars and flip through them, see who is gonna have the best deals or something interesting to go take a look.

and pick out a few stores that we wanted to hit up the next day and super early. I'm talking like 5:00 AM with a to-go cup of coffee. My mom and myself, and sometimes my sister and my best friend Jen and her mom, Dottie, would all hop in a car and head to the mall to start our Black Friday shopping.

It was always a really fun experience because we did it together. We'd have a list of places to go. We'd start on our shopping lists. We would head to the department stores to see who was giving away a coupon or a snow globe. Yes, we were here to shop, but we were also here to see, you know what, what everybody had in.

Because this store's put out, you know, beautiful displays and they have gift ideas that they would put in tables in the aisle way as you were making your way through Macy's to the mall itself. And then we'd get out into the mall and see what stores had enticing windows, who had an idea that was drawing us in who had a display that was drawing us.

And as you think about, as I, as I think back on it, I think about those stores that always did something kind of magical. I feel like Bath and Body Works was always a mall store that, you know, they'd change up their display, they'd change up their packaging just for the holidays and we'd go in to see what it looked like.

And also to see, you know, is there anything new? Can we stock up on candles and hand soap? For the season and we'd make our rounds at the mall. You know, every once in a while you'd have a store that you didn't expect that had a really fun display in their window that would draw you in. We'd take all the goods that we bought, toss them in the car, and maybe head to another store.

Carter's was always on the list. If you have nieces and nephews, if you have kids, if you have grandkids, you know that Carter's always on the Black Friday list. And then we'd stop and get breakfast. I mean, this is an event, Black Friday, you know, we're getting stuff done on the list. But the idea, but the getting to spend time together and experience it together is the thing that I will always.

And after breakfast was always Kohl's. And if you've been following along, you know that that's my alma mater. I was working there prior to starting Hidden Path Creative, but Kohl's was always a black, good, good Black Friday shop. They always had some products that were just available on Black Friday.

Could always get some extra Kohl's cash on Black Friday. So making it really special. And then it was just always fun. Always fun to get home before lunch and have another coffee in that, that pumpkin pie before taking a nap. So remember, as you're crafting your holiday shopping experience, whether that's on your online store, or in person at markets, you want to bring something new and exciting to draw people.

You wanna keep in mind that yes, you've got shoppers that are out on a mission to buy all their gifts, but a lot of times this time of year people are out to enjoy the company of their loved ones and make memories alongside that shopping. What can you do as a brand, as a product, and as an experience to add to?

And whether you know, it's a mom and a daughter shopping together, sisters shopping together, or friends shopping together, what do you have that can be a conversation piece for them? What do you have that can be something that they can share on their social media? Is it something you add to your display? Do you add an Instagram backdrop?

Do you add a special product just for the market that you're at or the day of a certain sale, do you have a little giveaway or a contest? Giveaway? But think about that. Think about that experience because so much of the holidays are about tradition and experience and the people that you're experiencing things with, and you have such an opportunity to.

Create that with your brand, create that with your product, and then have your customers share that. That's what builds connection.

So that is my Black Friday story, and those are the memories that I really enjoy looking back on because I've always loved that experience of shopping and sharing it with friends and family. So if you have any favorite shopping memories, or any favorite memories of going to see store displays or windows or lights, I would love for you to share.

Holiday Product and Packaging Trends of 2022

So after spending some time shopping the weekend of Black Friday, both in-store and online, and since then, there are quite a few trends that I'm already seeing in 2022 in terms of holiday products and holiday packaging. And while you may not be able to implement any of these ideas for this year, these are ideas I want you to file away and think about for next year.

Advent Calendars

All right, so I wanna run through some of the highlights of some product and packaging trends and ideas that I'm already seeing this holiday season. One of the biggest trends that I've noticed over the last couple of years, and I feel like it's really hitting, it's hitting that like it's hitting that point where it's just everywhere is Advent calendars.

So you're probably familiar with the idea of an advent calendar. Traditionally they've been, you know, boxes. Little candies or little trinkets for 24 days in little windows numbered one through 24. And you know, as kids you would get one and you know, they'd be little, they'd be little chocolates or something and you'd open one window a day for 24 days leading up to Christmas.

And they were always really fun. And you know, it's like a nice little. One of those things to just get you ready for the holidays, get you into the, get you into the spirit and help you with the countdown. Well, advent calendars have been popping up all over product brands for the last few years, and I feel like we've really reached like a maximum capacity.

Maybe that's not the right phrase, but we're seeing so many of them. I feel like I. . I can't scroll through my Instagram without seeing an ad for an advent calendar for another brand, but let me tell you, I'm here for it because they are so much fun. Brands have taken super interesting approaches to an advent calendar.

They're not all 24 days like they traditionally were. I love. Olive & June does, an advent calendar and then a Hanukkah count countdown calendar. There are a lot of brands that offer a 24 day or a 12 day advent calendar, which is also interesting because I think that some of these, these advent calendars, particularly in the beauty space and in the jewelry space, They're priced a little higher than your traditional gift.

It's not something that you're gonna hold onto and you're gonna buy and hold onto and then give to somebody for Christmas or Hanukkah or whichever holiday that you celebrate. They almost seem like they are gifts to yourself. So I'd be really curious to see the data on who is purchasing Advent calendars and are they gifts?

Are they gifts to yourself? But either way, they are so much fun. I am, I've pulled together a collection of some of my favorite advent calendar designs from this year, and I've included those pictures in the show notes, but like I mentioned, they're so prevalent in beauty and I get why they're such a great kind of bundle.

You can essentially take trial sizes or travel sizes and bundle them together into this box format. and get them into the hands of your customer in a really fun way. And from a packaging perspective, advent calendars are amazing to work on. They're so creative because you get to incorporate all sorts of different graphics and illustrations, different shapes, window shapes, how the windows all come together as somebody goes from one to 24.

I saw some this year that have drawers instead of windows. So they're a little bit more constructed. And the other thing from a graphic standpoint is this is holiday packaging, but it's got a very short shelf life, right? Like this is something that somebody's gonna buy and use throughout the month of December.

So you can be really specific with your graphics. You can be really trend-driven with your graphic. Pura Vida, the jewelry brand. I am gonna include the photo of theirs and their show notes. I really loved how they just went all in on a graphic trend for theirs. It's got this really beautiful ombre celestial type, radiant.

Paired with that really trendy, mystical style font. Something that if you used for a brand, it might seem a little out of date in a year or two, but because this packaging is essentially gonna be in and out, you can really double down on those trends and building off of admin calendars.

Ornaments

The other thing I'm seeing are a lot of our ornaments, and I don't mean like graphics of ornaments on packaging, although that's something that you'll pretty much always see throughout the holidays, but actual packages that are in the shape of ornaments. So they're three dimensional packages that have product in them, and this is typically like a really.

Gifting item, which is why I love these, like the packaging is then so fun. The fact that it's in the shape of an ornament, it immediately looks like a gift. And then that, that shape of that ornament can frame and highlight the product. So again, this is something that Pura Vida did and Olive & June did as well.

And then I also saw Burt's Bees. Do it. So this is really a packaging format in that ornament shape that can be used by any type of business at any price point. And what's great about it? You can just change the material that it's made out of the shape that it's made out of how it's constructed based on the price point that you have.

And these are the types of products that are like really great stocking stuffer gifts, small gifts, things that you might give to somebody that you work with or have on hand is an extra gift for somebody that that shows up with a gift. But those really like small. Those smaller pieces, but the way that their packaged makes 'em feel super special.

Modern Patchwork Graphics

Another thing that I'm seeing a ton of this year is what I'm calling bold, modern patchwork graphics. Okay, so what do I mean by this? But it's essentially a pattern that is based off of square. And each of the squares has a different color, and then each of the squares has an icon in it. And it essentially starts to look like a, a really modern take on a patchwork quilt.

And because the graphics are so flat, and usually it's a really tight color palette, it looks modern, it looks festive but it doesn't look overly cartoony. But I would say, again, this is something that I'm seeing. I saw so much of this year I actually had an image similar to this in a blog post that I did earlier this year called Three Festive Ideas for Holiday Packaging.

And the example that I shared there was for the brand cocoa black by the design firm round, and, you know, high contrast, really modern, really fun. It almost seems like a little bit more of an adult take on a holiday pattern. Well, I went out shopping the weekend after Black Friday this year, and I was in Target and they had these gift cards that include wine in them.

If you have not seen these, go look them up. They look brilliant. They are a perfect hostess gift. But they had different versions of a pattern like this. They had one for Christmas and one for Hanukkah, and one for New Year's. I even saw some brands in the grocery store that had a, that had a similar aesthetic to this.

I'm seeing this all up and down the board, so I'd be interested to see how this particular trend translates into next year. If it's something that maybe has reached mass, so now it may downtrend, but there's something really modern and fun about it that I think it may have another year to it before, it falls out of favor.

Artist Collaborations

And the last thing I wanted to point out that I was seeing that is just so fun is artist collaborations. So there are a few brands this year that collaborated with illustrators or artists to create the holiday graphics that they're using on their products and on their product. On the high end, Jessica Hische really accomplished illustrator and typographer.

Her work is beautiful, and if you don't know her name, you've probably seen her work. She partnered with Neiman Marcus. Neiman Marcus had her design graphics for their entire holiday giftable line from pajamas to the tins for the giftable cookies and candies and popcorn. Her work is across all of it, and it looks stunning. Stunning.

The other one that I saw was Cleo Wade for Bert's Bees. And if you're not familiar with Cleo Wade, she is a poet and then, and an artist, her Instagram. So inspiring and she did a line of illustrations and pattern work that Berts Bee's is using across giftable products at Target. These are two different style brands, two different styles of products, but that collaboration with an artist brings a new perspective.

To their products and to their product packaging. The other thing is that you get some cross-promotion there. You get the artist promoting for the products and for the brand as well as the brand promoting for the artist. So the artist gets exposure to more communities and more people. So the artist collaboration, I would say. Probably one of the big ideas that I saw this season that I expect to be a bigger idea in 2023.

Wrapping Up Holiday Packaging Trends

So that is definitely one to watch and like always I saw more bundles of products being pulled together to create gift sets. And then there was a shop small, so I was so excited to see how. Small makers and product-based businesses were participating in holiday sales and doing special drops to have products that really created a unique experience and, you know, have that kinda create that buzz so that customers look forward to something new and having something to bring people.

Bring people back. So those were the really big ideas that I've seen so far. I'm sure there will be more and we can check back after the holidays to kind of wrap it up. Looking forward a little bit, I talked a little bit in the beginning of the episode about how we're just starting December and this is a busy month. And this podcast is no exception.

December on Product, Packaging, and Profit

It is gonna be a busy month here at Product Packaging and Profit. I am so excited because I've got a lineup of bonus content for you this month, and I, you know, it's the holidays. I just, I wanna give you guys some extra support and extra information. Next week we have our very first interview on product packaging and profit.

We have Lauren Filter of Filter Unfiltered. She is a designer and a design educator. And we are gonna be chatting all about DIY design tips that you can use and, you know, really kind of digging into. What you need to know if you are DIYing your own brand design or packaging design. I've got some other guests joining me in the next few months and I'm really excited about all of the information they have to share with you.

We've got someone coming on to talk about planning and goal setting. We'll also chat with a few lovely ladies about community and collaboration. I can't wait to share it all. Interviews with you and something really exciting for me is that I am going to be this month dropping a couple of video tutorials on YouTube wanna share with you how, how to approach designing packaging in Adobe Illustrator.

But we'll talk more about that in a future episode. But definitely stay tuned. So keep your eyes out this holiday season while you're out shopping with your friends and family. Take some photos, and file those ideas away so that you can pull them out when you start thinking about holiday packaging for 2023.

Thank you so much for listening to Product, Packaging and Profit, A podcast for product entrepreneurs looking to level up with package. We hope you'll join us next time to hear more about how packaging can help propel profitable product businesses. If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review us wherever you are listening.

And be sure to come back next week for our next episode and our very first interview. Until then, this is Kelley Kempel of Hidden Path Creative. And don't forget what's on the outside matters too.