Packaging Design for Creatives & Entrepreneurs

Today’s startups and design creatives can take advantage of new design tools and short-run printing technology to bring packaging designs to life at a reasonable cost. This class will show you how.

What you’ll learn

Box style selection 
An overview of the different packaging types, with an emphasis on the most common packaging form, custom boxes!

Production techniques and materials
We'll highlight and compare a few of the different production techniques, including digital printing, offset printing, and flexo printing. We'll also cover some of the finishing techniques and varnishes that just might give your packaging that extra pizzazz it needs to pop off store shelves and into the hearts and minds of happy customers. 

How to set up your print-ready design using Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is the tool of choice for packaging designers, and we'll show you how to leverage it's powerful capabilities to set up your own designs and proofs using a 2D dieline template. 

Powerful tools to help you visualize the final product in 3D
We'll demonstrate some amazing tools like Packlane, LiveSurface, and Esko Studio that enable you to visualize the assembled packaging right as you're designing it on the computer. 

• Class Introduction
• Common Box Styles and Design Consderations
• Production Techniques
• A Brief Introduction to Finishing Techniques
• RGB vs. CMYK
• Swatch Books in Illustrator
• Introduction to Dielines
• Project Overview
• Illustrator Design Tutorial
• Studio Essentials for Illustrator
• LiveSurface Context
• Packlane Website Demo
• Closing Thoughts