2021 Packaging Design Trends
A confusing year is coming to an end, and 2021 is just around the corner. Along with the hope of welcoming a new year that’s a little better than 2020, there’s also a renewed determination to adapt to a changed environment. The packaging design industry is also seeing fresh winds ahead in 2021, with changes that feel unlike anything before....
A confusing year is coming to an end, and 2021 is just around the corner. Along with the hope of welcoming a new year that’s a little better than 2020, there’s also a renewed determination to adapt to a changed environment.
The packaging design industry is also seeing fresh winds ahead in 2021, with changes that feel unlike anything before. At first glance, they may seem so different that you might wonder whether this is what a “trend” looks like. So, shall we take a look at the packaging design trends for 2021?
10 Packaging Design Trends for 2021
- Mini illustration patterns that explain the contents
- True vintage unboxing experiences
- Ultra-minimal geometric patterns
- Fine art turned into packaging design
- Delicate pen illustrations
- Organic color blocks
- Product names placed right at the center of the package
- Perfectly symmetrical packaging
- Storytelling packaging design with cute characters
- Color accents
From simple shapes to highly intricate illustrations, these trends may seem inconsistent. But look more closely. The common thread among 2021 packaging design trends is a move away from plain, purely “commercial” product packaging toward designs with a more artistic presence.
Why is that? The rise of e-commerce is the answer. No longer is the in-store experience the only thing that matters. The goal for the new year is to bring a more captivating brand experience into packaging design for the online spaces where current and future customers are spending their time.
Compare it with 2020 packaging trends
1. A New Packaging Design Trend: Mini Illustration Patterns That Explain What’s Inside
Patterns and illustrations are more than just decorative elements. Illustrations on packaging can serve as a perfect way to describe what’s inside the box.
In 2021, get ready to see tiny illustrations on packages — and get ready to guess what’s inside by looking at those little drawings. Try designing an illustrated package of your own using Packative’s design DB!
Source: Gamal Assy
These illustrations often use simple, abstract imagery, conveying the product in a more artistic and sensorial way rather than trying to depict it exactly. For example, if the package contains nacho chips, it may use a triangle shape that evokes nachos rather than showing a literal tortilla chip.
In 2021, packaging designs that create such cute, indirect associations through illustrations are expected to become a major trend. Rather than overwhelming consumers with complex and difficult visuals, the idea is to gently communicate what’s inside through clean, abstract imagery.
2. 2021 New Packaging Design Trend: True Vintage
Vintage-inspired packaging has been a trend for quite a long time. So what’s different in 2021? It’s not just a retro vibe — the packaging itself looks so authentically old that it feels like it has been pulled straight out of another era, creating a true sense of time travel.
Source: Giocovision
In 2021, packages that simply look “vintage” won’t feel fresh anymore. We’ve already been exposed to retro collaborations and similar aesthetics for so long. Instead, designs with a truly old-school look — the kind that makes you feel as if time has been turned back completely — will start to stand out. Packaging that feels as though it was brought back from the past in a time machine your great-grandmother might have used will be back in style.
Source: cakamura / Source: Giocovision / vintage gin, syrup package
This means not only the logo and label, but also the texture, shape, materials, and imagery of the packaging will all need to feel vintage. It’s no longer about evoking nostalgia through a few retro details; the packaging itself becomes an experiential tool that gives the sense that time has been frozen in the past.
Use vintage packaging with a rich story in your brand storytelling: Use crowdfunding
3. Packaging Design Trend for 2021: Extremely Minimal Geometric Patterns
Design: Ed-Creative
One packaging design trend you’ll often encounter in 2021 is a concept that uses extremely restrained yet bold shapes.
Box design by Monostudio
You’ll often see bold polygons made up of large, clean lines and sharp angles, along with vivid colors that add edge to the packaging design. As with the illustration pattern trend mentioned earlier, this design serves as a guide to what the product is. But unlike patterns and illustrations, it conveys something more abstract and sensorial rather than fully explaining what’s inside. Try designing extremely restrained geometric patterns yourself!
Bottle design: Exsenz, chocolate package design: 01001101
Conveying this kind of mood can transform simple packaging into a memorable medium that leaves a deep impression.
Learn more about minimalist design in packaging design.
4. Packaging Design Trend: Wrapping It as a Work of Art
The new packaging trend for 2021 is, quite literally, to put a piece of art into the package. You might think this trend starts with high-end products, but it will actually become more mainstream than expected. Inspired by artworks and brush textures, the main design concept blurs the line between packaging design and fine art, showing that everything can be beautiful.
There may be artistic packaging inspired by classical masterpieces, like the cheese package shown above, but in fact most “artistic” packaging trends are born from abstract art or painting techniques. So rather than taking inspiration from a specific artist’s work, we recommend designing based on texture.
Can: Andrea Leon, box: Tatiana Ilina, package: Emir Alcic
If you want to check whether artistic packaging suits your brand: Checklist before custom box production
5. Packaging Design Trend: Delicate, Anatomical Pen Illustrations
Package design: Martis Lupus, package design: G@rry, package design: Goosebump
By now, have you noticed the pattern? Overall, the packaging design trends coming in 2021 focus more on artistic and sensorial moods than on commercial graphic design. Beyond geometric patterns and artistic textures, you’ll begin to see highly detailed and unusual illustrations in packaging for a variety of products — illustrations that feel almost like engineering blueprints.
Explore more packaging types: Macaron package design
6. 2021 Packaging Design Trend: Using Irregular Color Blocks
Graphic design using color blocks is actually a fairly common choice. But have you often seen packaging designs with fully organic color blocks moving across them?
monostudio / monostudio
The difference between the long-running color block trend and the new “organic” color block trend is that this newer approach emphasizes texture, unique color combinations, and stronger variation in the weight of each block. The Mondrian-like color blocks that achieved balance and harmony within a perfect grid are now giving way to experimental, imperfect color blocks. Packages that feel like wild gardens are beginning to catch consumers’ eyes.
Design: Jian Branding
There’s no single right answer for the new color-block trend! Use colors freely, and experiment with swirl shapes or curled design elements that resemble small pasta shapes to find the look you want.
There’s no single right answer for the new color-block trend! Use colors freely, and experiment with swirl shapes or curled design elements that resemble small pasta shapes to find the look you want.
Learn more about Memphis design
7. 2021 Packaging Design Trend: Put the Product Name Front and Center!
Instead of making the main point of packaging design an illustration or logo, more brands are recently making the product name itself the focus of the design. In these cases, placing the product name right in the center creates an opportunity to show tremendous creativity in typography! The names printed for each product can feel like works of art while also giving each item its own distinct personality.
Package design: Pepper Pack Design
Packages built around the product name send a clear message about what the product is, making them perfect for brands that pursue a product-first strategy. In this case, the typography of the product name should shine brightest, so be sure to treat other design elements as supporting details that help the name stand out.
Package design: Igor Kovalev, Mila Katagarova
8. Graphic Design Trend: Perfect Symmetry in Packaging
Although this trend goes in the opposite direction from the organic color block trend mentioned earlier, one of the packaging design trends arriving in 2021 is a mandala-like design with perfect symmetry. Let’s take a look.
Package design: Mj.vass, Sisia Du, Raluca De
Whether the spacing between design elements is tight or loose, delicate or bold, multiple patterns create symmetry, balance, and harmony by aligning evenly across the top, bottom, left, and right. This kind of design brings a sense of stability to the overall package, helping it feel more professional and trustworthy.
9. Graphic Design Trend for Packaging: Bringing Stories to Life with Distinctive Characters
The first step in effective branding is storytelling. And in 2021, we’ll see that storytelling firmly extend into packaging design as well.
Drawziart design / St. Pelmeni design
In the packaging designs of the future, you’ll see characters that go beyond simple mascots and seem to live and move within the package itself. Like a scene lifted from a comic, they move with energy and convey a message to consumers. With these new packages, consumers will be able to understand the brand story behind the character through the packaging itself, even without visiting the brand website or seeing an ad on TV.
Design: K. Art
Characters on packaging help make a brand’s story more tangible and give consumers a fun, upbeat feeling as they read the package. For example, the packaging for the Peachocalypse can below feels like looking at a comic where a giant peach attacks a city.
Learn about brand storytelling in packaging
10. Packaging Design Trend: Standing Out with One-Color Packaging
Point color package design: Yand, Archangelo
In addition to colorful packages reminiscent of comic books, simple single-color packaging will also stand out in 2021. Think it might look too quiet compared to other packages? Not at all. Single-tone packaging can be just as impactful as the other examples mentioned above. A single color can say everything on its own. The image will make that clear at a glance.
Design: Eva Hilla, Vitalfuerze, Anamolly
One thing you can notice about these packaging designs is that they all use bright, bold colors. Instead of cold white packaging that might make you think of a MacBook, they use fresh, light tones. Even if the color itself isn’t especially bold, you can still speak to consumers with a mood that catches the eye and harmonious colors that draw attention to the text on the package.
If you’d like to learn more about one-point-color packaging: From Pantone to spot colors
Are You Preparing New Products for the New Year of 2021?
As the new year begins, are you getting ready to grow your brand even further? Or are you planning to launch a new product? If you want to give your brand a fresher touch, why not try applying the packaging design trends we looked at today?
Great packaging design gives consumers a strong first impression before they even open the product, and it also adds a greater sense of delight. So why not prepare your new packaging today with Packative’s design editor?