A packaging brief is not a mood board. It is the document that lets a designer, a structural engineer and a factory all work towards the same object, and the quality of the brief decides how many rounds you spend getting there. Most projects that drag through five revisions were briefed in three lines and a Pinterest link.
What absolutely must be in a brief? The product, its dimensions and weight, what it is made of, whether it is fragile, liquid or food, the channel it sells through, the quantity for the first order and the annual volume, the budget per unit, and the date stock must be in the warehouse. Everything else is refinement; those nine items are the foundation.
Why do product dimensions matter so much? Because every structural decision follows from them. A 2mm difference in product height can change the box style, the pallet pattern and the freight cost per unit. Dimensions should be measured on the packed product, in millimetres, with any protrusions noted, rather than taken from an early CAD model that will change.
What does “channel” change? Almost everything structural. Retail shelf packaging must present and protect and fit a shelf depth; e-commerce packaging must survive parcel networks and be easy to open and return; club-store packaging must suit pallet display. The same product in two channels usually needs two packs, and briefs that do not specify a channel get a design optimised for none.
How detailed should the budget be? A range with a target is more useful than a single number, because it lets the designer trade finishing against structure intelligently. Saying “around 0.90 dollars per unit at 5,000 pieces” permits a real conversation about lamination versus a heavier board. Saying nothing usually produces a beautiful concept that cannot be made at the volume you need – the cost structure behind those choices is explained in the packaging cost breakdown.
Should I include references to other brands? Yes, but describe what you like about them. “Like this brand’s box” invites imitation of the wrong feature. “Like the way this lid lifts with a ribbon, but stiffer board” gives a designer something actionable and avoids copying a protected design, a risk covered in the design service and copyright FAQ.
What about brand assets? Supply the logo in vector format, the colour references in Pantone or CMYK, any mandatory marks and their approved artwork, and the brand guidelines if they exist. Missing assets are the most common cause of a stalled artwork stage, and they delay production rather than design.
Which constraints do designers forget? The filling line, the warehouse, and the retailer. A box that must run on an existing cartoner has a narrow range of board stiffness; one that must stack six high in a warehouse has a compression requirement; one going into a specific retailer may have a shelf-ready specification. Naming these constraints early prevents a design that is lovely and unusable – the line side is covered in the box assembly and machines guide.
Who approves, and how many rounds are normal? Name one approver with authority to sign structure and artwork, and expect two to three concept rounds plus a sample round. Rounds multiply when feedback arrives from several people with different priorities, so collect comments into one response rather than forwarding each opinion as it arrives.
Does a brief need to specify the structure? No, and usually it should not. Describe what the pack must do – protect in transit, present on shelf, open pleasantly, hold a booklet – and let the structural proposal follow. Buyers who specify a structure in the brief often specify the wrong one, then pay for a redesign. What to include when you do have a structure in mind is set out in the RFQ buyer’s guide.
Send the nine essentials and we will come back with a structure and a price at our Wuhan plant, or tell you what is missing before we quote. Start on the quote request page.
Chengtop develops cajas de regalo rígidas, cajas plegables con cierre magnético, cajas plegables and custom inserts from our plant in Wuhan. Message us with the product and the channel and we will take it from there.
