Top 3 Ways to Design Custom Cereal Boxes For Your Brand

‘Delight in every bite,’ ‘Where taste and pleasure meet,’ or ‘Savor the flavor, savor the moments;’ cereals certainly live up to all these slogans. They’ve been popular among the masses since the last century, and this fame is only growing with time.

One of the main reasons behind the remarkable success of cereal is its packaging. As the printing technology advanced, brands started making their boxes more colorful and added catchy labels and graphics which appealed to the customers. However, with the inception of custom printed cereal boxes, the scope of packaging alteration has expanded. So, let’s see how you can modify and create your own cereal boxes that sit well with the market demands and also intrigue your target audience.

Designing the Finest Cereal Boxes

Let’s look at different ways you can design your own tailored cereal boxes that resonate with your customers:

1.      Play with Colors

Cereal boxes have always been about the bold use of colors. The first reason is that vibrant packaging gives fun vibes and excites customers to check out the item inside. Secondly, kids are among the major consumers of cereal. Therefore, using different colors is important as it appeals to their senses.

If you want to design your own cereal box then work on the color scheme first. Pick different colors that look good together and print them on the boxes in a specific ratio. To decide on the colors and their ratio, you have to consider certain factors i.e., color psychology, brand identity, target audience, and cereal types. Let’s have an overview of each in turn:

• Color Psychology: As the name implies, every color has its unique impact on the viewer’s psychology. So, you’ve to decide first what impact you want to create on your client’s mind. Based on this information, you can decide on the color and its ratio on the boxes.

• Brand Identity: It’s possible that the color scheme and ratio you chose, might already be used by another brand. So, conduct market research first. Although, it’s a plus if your color scheme slightly matches popular brands. However, if you want to create a unique identity, bring slight changes to your color ratio and designs. This will help you create an overall distinct outlook that will resonate with your brand’s identity.

• Target Audience: Conduct market research and analyze what your target audience is. If it’s adult, then you can use simple or minimum colors. However, if you’re targeting children, then colorful packaging is the go-to choice. If it’s both, then a balanced approach is a sensible option.

• Cereal Types: Pick the colors based on which cereal types are you selling. For instance, fruity loop cereals come in different colors. Thus, making their boxes colorful can better justify what’s inside the box. If it’s corn flakes, that are all brown, you can perhaps go minimal i.e. two to three main colors.

Similarly, identify which type of cereal resonates with which audience. Some cereals are only popular with kids, some with adults, but most are famous among both. So, identify the niche your cereals attract and choose your colors and ratio accordingly.

2.       Use the Power of Graphic

We can’t emphasize enough the role graphics have played in making cereals popular over the years. From catchy and bold labels to interesting background designs and playful graphics, cereal boxes have acted as a canvas for artists to attract the audience with their creativity.

Looking at the pattern of branding elements added to the boxes, three of them have proven to be successful to date i.e., mascots, logos, and slogans. Let’s discuss each briefly:

• Mascots: From Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam to Elmo the Elephant and Cap’n Crunch, mascots have been the most engaging graphic elements to be printed on cereal packaging boxes. Whether it’s the modern child or kids from the 70s, all of them relate to the iconic mascots of their particular times.

Cereal brands are also aware of this fact and that’s why they have kept many iconic mascots the same while also introducing new ones for young generation. The nostalgic and recall value of mascots have thus, played the most important part in making cereals a regular household product.

• Logos: One thing that has remained the same about cereal logos is that they are printed in bold and big fonts. However, there is only one specific color used for the logo which mostly differentiates from the other colors on the packaging. Printing big and bold logos is another graphic design choice that has worked well for cereal brands.

• Slogans: ‘They’re greeeattt…’  ‘Silly Rabbit, cereals are for kids,’ ‘The Breakfast of Champions’; most Gen-X people and millennials can still remember these iconic lines. Bringing back memories of the past, these slogans have been an interesting graphic choice to print on boxes along with the mascots they relate to. Like logos and mascots, these slogans have also added to the recall value, compelling cereal lovers to buy their favorite products time and again.

Analyzing these graphic elements choices, you can understand well what choices you have to make for your own cereal box design. You’ll have to design a unique mascot that also resonates with the intended audience. Then create a catchy and fun slogan and logo design, both of which are gripping and compel clients to buy your cereal items.

3.      Use Fine Materials for Maximum Safety

Until now, all you’ve done is to grab the buyer’s attention. But remember, if you lack quality, nothing can work in your product’s favor. If your product quality is good then you’ve to retain it. To retain the quality of cereal, you’ve to protect it from both physical damage and external factors. Let’s discuss at each of the factors:

• Physical Safety: Cereal is brittle and can easily crumble under high pressure or due to rough handling. This can happen during delivery while unloading, or when the customer is checking out the item. So, you’ll have to make sure that your cereal product doesn’t get damaged during any of these processes.

To ensure a high-level safety, you need to use packaging material that is tough and durable. Right now, card stock, kraft, and corrugated are considered the safest materials as they’re all robust. So, you can confidently choose any of them based on your budget, the types of cereal items to be packed, and your personal preferences.

• Safety Against Outside Factors: The second factor that can considerably affect the original quality of your cereals are pollutants like dust, bacteria, germs, chemicals, etc. Exposure to moisture and extreme temperatures over a long time can also do the same.

To ensure peak safety against these external factors, you can go for polypropylene or Styrofoam insulation that can hold up better against extreme heat or cold. To stop the pollutants from getting in and damaging the cereal quality, you can go for seal end boxes. These boxes are sealed on both top and base. In addition, you can also apply a coating that seals every inch of the box, so there remains no chance of pollutants getting inside.

What is a product without fine packaging? Almost nothing. This is especially true for the cereal industry, where competing against the giants is difficult. Thus, you’ve to bring your A-game by maximizing the safety, outlook appeal, and marketing of your packaging. If you need such custom cereal boxes that showcase all these qualities then contact Packaging Mania right away; your answer to the brand’s success!