Ho-Ho-How-To: A Very Merry Breakdown of Christmas Packaging

With the holidays just around the corner, you probably would have started to notice a seasonal shift in the packaging of all your favourite products. From bottles of Coke, to cups of coffee at Starbucks, and even little twists of tinsel on the carriers of your favourite department store; everyone’s embracing the Christmas spirit. But… what you see is really only the end product. More than just mindlessly slapping red, green, and silver on everything, there’s a deeper level of branding and design that goes into creating memorable and festive packaging.

If you’re curious to know what goes on behind the scenes, and find out how brands ideate their designs for each holiday season – well you’re in the right place! A couple of weeks back, we asked our in-house, award-winning design team to create their own version of a Superminted-themed Holiday Edition Wine Bottle, and they knocked it right out of the ice-rink. To uncover their processes, we’re going through each vital stage to show you what you can learn!

The Idea

For this challenge, both our designers were issued similar briefs to design a Christmas-themed wine bottle, but their end products were completely different. And that’s where ideation, mood board creation, and storytelling plays a vital role in the design process.

Li Ying

In this case, Li Ying’s inspiration stemmed from wanting to shy away from the cliched Christmas colours. Breaking away from tradition, she opted to avoid the overused tones of red and green and took a fresh approach. She began by asking one simple question – how can we create a wine bottle that screams Christmas, without drawing from the typical colours we’ve become accustomed to associating with the holidays?

In her mood board above, we can see Li Ying’s inspiration as she drew from brands that leveraged mascots as part of their Christmas packaging.

Ha

On the other hand, our Art Director, Ha, went in the complete opposite direction. Believing that today’s holiday packaging had strayed too far from the traditional spirit of Christmas, he felt compelled to stick to the tried-and-tested red and green tones representative of the holidays.

Taking inspiration from other alcohol brands, he also included tiny details in the background and subtly melded Superminted’s branding as part of the packaging design while making sure that the Christmas spirit was showcased front and centre. This masterstroke subliminally exposed the audience to the brand’s logos while associating it with the feel-good vibe of Christmas.

The Idea

While both designers intensely researched industry norms surrounding the creation of seasonal and holiday-themed packaging, what’s interesting to note is the emphasis they placed on the consumers . While Ha took the subtle approach and chose to let Christmas themes speak for themselves, Li Ying chose to place Superminted’s mascots front and centre and developed the entire collection of bottles around them.

Ultimately, the way each designer brought the holiday-themed packaging to life effectively changed the way consumers would perceive the product. And that’s the power of effective product packaging.

Ha

Contrasting and comparing both designs, Ha’s bottle fits right at home on the shelf of any major supermarket chain, with its tasteful holiday themes all neatly embodied in a bottle. Add to that the little callouts and you have a bottle that’s perfect as the centerpiece for any festive get-together.

Li Ying

Conversely, Li Ying’s black bottle contrasted with a bright label and fun mascots gives it a more playful edge. With the FRESH Four mascots introduced as part of the Superminted brand last year, she blended the mascot imagery with Christmas themes, enabling her design to stand out in a row of wine bottles, uniquely and unapologetically, inviting consumers to pick it up and take a closer look.

The Lesson

So, all said and done, what lessons can we learn? Well, for one – it’s all about putting people in the right frame of mind. Good packaging design enhances the perception of your brand and helps shift the needle in the consumer’s decision making process.

The goal of all this, regardless of products, is to affect a change in emotional state. If you’re able to design something that helps your brand be associated with the merriness and cheer of Christmas, well we believe that’s a win!

Season’s Greetings, From The Superminted Tribe!

The holidays are a time to recharge and re-energise yourself. That’s precisely why Superminted, your go-to guides in all things brand management, is here to save the day!

Reach out to us today, and we’ll make sure your brand jingles all the way!

Daryl is a Copy Editor at Superminted, fueled by a love for bringing emotionally engaging stories to life. With  carefully selected words and a smart turn of phrase, he is devoted to helping brands shape their unique voice.

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