What are you actually asking your packaging supplier to do?

In short: not every packaging enquiry is the same, and a reprint, a fix, a new idea and a blank sheet all need a different kind of brief. Budget and a realistic timeframe matter across all four.

A lot of the packaging enquiries we get arrive with real thought behind them: a brand deck, a reference image, sometimes a full spec. Others arrive with almost nothing at all beyond "we need packaging." Both are fine starting points, but they're not the same starting point, and treating them as if they are is usually where things start going wrong.

There's a more basic question worth asking first, before anything else about the brief itself.

What are you actually asking the packaging company to do?

Because not every packaging enquiry is the same, and the information that's useful depends enormously on the job you're asking someone to take on.

Sometimes the packaging already exists, it's been made successfully before and all that's required is another production price. Sometimes packaging already exists but there's something wrong with it, whether that's the cost, the quality, the way it feels, how long it takes to pack or whether it still works at the volumes the business is now producing.

Then there are completely new projects. Some arrive with a proposed solution already attached to them. The client might have a box style in mind, a reference they've seen, an AI visualisation or a collection of materials and finishes they think they want. Others arrive with little or no idea what the packaging should be at all.

They're all packaging enquiries, but they're asking for very different levels of input. Treating them as though they all need the same kind of brief can make the whole process more complicated than it needs to be.

When the packaging already exists and works

This is probably the simplest type of enquiry, and there's no reason to turn it into anything more complicated than it is.

If you've produced the packaging before, you're happy with it and you've got the correct artwork and production information, you may simply want another company to quote for making it. Perhaps you've been let down by the previous supplier, you're benchmarking costs, you're looking for additional production capacity or you've simply decided it's time to move the work somewhere else.

In that situation, there isn't necessarily a packaging problem to solve. The problem has already been solved. What matters now is being able to understand exactly what has been produced before so that we're comparing like with like.

This is where technical detail becomes genuinely useful, because it's the only way to be sure two suppliers are actually quoting on the same job. Existing artwork, structural files, dimensions, material specifications, print and finishing information and, ideally, a physical sample can tell us far more than a lengthy explanation of what the brand stands for. If you're asking someone to reproduce an existing pack accurately, specification is what matters, not brand story.

When packaging already exists but something isn't working

The fact that a company already has packaging doesn't necessarily mean the packaging problem has been solved.

Quite often, this is where the more interesting projects begin. This kind of project, refreshing or fixing packaging that already exists, is where we spend a lot of our time, because it's rarely as simple as swapping one box for another. It means understanding what's actually driving the problem before recommending anything new.

A business may have been using the same packaging for several years and simply feel that it no longer reflects where the brand sits. Perhaps the product has moved upmarket but the packaging still feels like it belongs to the earlier version of the business.

In other cases, the problem is much more practical. Something that was perfectly manageable when a company was packing a few hundred products by hand might become painfully slow when they're dealing with thousands. The structure might involve too many processes, the range might have grown into several unrelated packaging formats, or the cost per pack might no longer make sense at the volumes being produced.

There can be sustainability issues, transit problems, unnecessary material, poor presentation, inconsistent packaging across a product range, manufacturing limitations or simply a feeling that the entire approach needs reconsidering.

In those situations, showing us the existing packaging is useful, but telling us what isn't working and what needs to improve is even more useful.

If the issue is packing speed, we need to understand how the packaging is currently assembled and packed, how many people are involved and what volumes are being handled. If the issue is cost, we need to understand where that cost is coming from and what volumes the packaging is now being produced at. If the issue is quality or perceived value, we need to understand what the brand is trying to become, who it is competing with and what its customer expects.

The same logic applies whatever the specific issue is, whether that's product protection, scalability or simplifying a whole packaging range. The problem might already be obvious to the client, or it may only become obvious once the existing pack and the wider process are looked at properly.

The useful starting point isn't simply, "we want different packaging."

It's understanding why the current packaging is no longer doing the job it needs to do.

When a new project arrives with a proposed solution

A large number of new packaging enquiries arrive with some idea of what the client thinks the finished packaging should be.

That can be extremely useful.

They may have seen another piece of packaging they like. They might have a Pinterest board, a competitor example, an agency visual, an AI-generated concept or simply know that they like a particular style of box.

Sometimes they'll go considerably further and specify the materials, inserts, print processes and finishes they want as well.

None of that is necessarily a problem. The difficulty comes when a proposed solution is treated as though it has already been proven to be the right one.

Coming to a packaging company with a solution isn't the same thing as coming to them with the right solution.

A lot of what arrives in this category is low volume: PR boxes, launch packaging, promotional runs. It's an area a good number of packaging companies steer clear of, because most production is set up around large volumes and a short run rarely makes commercial sense for them. It's an area we do a lot of, which means a proposed solution gets tested against materials, quantities and production reality early, before it turns into an expensive problem rather than a quick conversation.

A reference image can tell us a lot about what somebody has responded to visually. It might be the proportions, the way it opens, the material, the simplicity or simply the overall feeling of the pack. That's useful information.

But it doesn't automatically mean the same construction should be reproduced for a completely different product.

Change the size, and materials can start behaving differently. Increase the product weight and a previously suitable fitment may no longer work. Change the quantity and an entirely different manufacturing route might make more commercial sense. Take packaging developed for one market and move it into another and even the visual language can become inappropriate.

This is also where AI-generated briefs and visualisations are increasingly appearing. They can be useful for communicating an idea, but as we've covered separately, they can also create specifications that look convincing without having dealt with the production realities behind them.

The best approach in this situation is to tell us what you're thinking, but also tell us why.

If you think you want a magnetic box, what are you trying to achieve by using one? If you've specified a particular insert, what does it actually need to do? If you want a particular material or finish, what is it about that look or feel that appeals to you?

Once we understand the objective behind the proposed solution, we can judge whether the solution itself makes sense, and more often than not find a way to get the client what they actually wanted, even if it doesn't end up looking exactly like the reference they started with.

Some things every enquiry needs, whatever type it is

Whichever of the four categories an enquiry falls into, two things stay constant.

The first is budget. Without at least a rough figure, we're designing or pricing in the dark, and that can go wrong in a specific way: we might come back with something that's simply too expensive for the product to carry, one that leaves no room for a decent margin. Sometimes we can see that coming and suggest something more cost effective instead, only for the client to insist on pricing the original idea anyway. Either way, if it comes back too expensive, the usual result isn't a conversation about it. It's silence, and sometimes the same client resurfaces a year or more later, having made no real progress in the meantime, without ever mentioning that the number was the problem all along. A rough budget upfront avoids all of that, because it lets us design toward something that was always going to work commercially, not just something that looks right.

The reluctance to share a budget is usually about self-protection: the worry that giving a number just becomes the number we spend, or that the more we know the higher the price will end up being. In practice it works against you. Walk into a car showroom without giving a budget, and you might get shown a Fiesta when you had a Porsche in your head, or land a price you can't afford because nobody knew a Porsche was too far. Give the budget, and a good salesperson goes straight to what you actually want and can afford. It saves time on both sides, and it means what you get shown or designed was aimed at your budget from the start, not at what someone guessed it might be.

The second is time. Custom packaging isn't something that can be ordered and arrive the way an off-the-shelf box can. Print alone can take up to four weeks, and that's running alongside CAD and sampling (another week or two) and artwork sign-off (a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on complexity). Finishing processes add more on top: foiling typically adds a week, lamination a few days, and if assembly is needed, that alone can range from a day to several weeks depending on quantity and complexity. An enquiry that needs finished packaging in two or three weeks isn't really asking for something to be designed, it's asking for it to already exist.

When there isn't a proposed solution at all

Then there's the genuinely blank sheet.

There may be a brand, a few ideas and a general feeling of what the client wants to achieve, but no packaging solution yet.

That can be a perfectly good place to start, but only if there is enough real information behind it.

One of the biggest problems with enquiries at this stage is that sometimes the packaging is being discussed before the product itself has been properly decided. We might know roughly what the client wants the packaging to look like, but not exactly what is going inside it, how many products there are, their dimensions, their weight or even whether the product format itself has been finalised.

That makes it extremely difficult to recommend a meaningful packaging solution.

Packaging has to be designed around something. The product is usually the most obvious starting point, because the structure, fitment, material, size, protection and even the way the pack opens can all depend on what is going inside it.

So if you're asking a packaging specialist to help develop the solution, we need the product, or at the very least accurate final dimensions, weights and enough physical information to understand what we are designing around.

Beyond that, this is really the same ground as writing a proper packaging brief in general, which we've covered in more detail separately. Quantities, market, route to sale and what the packaging needs to achieve all matter here. Is it going into retail? Is it being sent through ecommerce? Is it a PR pack? Is it intended as a gift? What does the product sell for? Who is buying it? What does the brand stand for? How premium does it genuinely need to feel, and what does "premium" mean in that particular market?

An organic skincare brand and a luxury watch company could both tell us they want premium packaging, but the right answer for one could be completely wrong for the other. One might benefit from weight, theatre, intricate construction and decorative finishes. The other might feel far more appropriate using less material, no plastic, minimal print and a beautifully considered structure.

Neither is necessarily more premium than the other. They are simply solving different problems for different customers.

This is also where it matters who you are asking for advice.

If you already know you want a particular type of packaging, speak to somebody who genuinely understands that type of packaging. If you are still open to different formats, speak to somebody who has experience across more than one construction or manufacturing route.

And once you have done that, listen to them.

There is little point asking a packaging specialist to help develop a solution and then ignoring the advice because it doesn't match the box you had already imagined. The value of involving someone with experience is partly in allowing them to question assumptions, spot practical problems and suggest approaches you may not have considered.

If you don't know what the box should be yet, that's absolutely fine.

Brief the problem before you brief the box.

So how detailed should a packaging brief be?

Probably not as detailed as possible.

To get started, most enquiries don't need much more than the basics: a rough idea of what's going inside, roughly what size, roughly how many, roughly what market it's for, and a general sense of the type of packaging you like. From there, we can ask the right follow-up questions for whichever situation applies, whether that's an exact reprint, a fix, a proposed idea or a blank sheet.

Where more detail becomes necessary is once you actually need a firm, accurate quote. At that point the rough version isn't enough, and the specifics have to be pinned down properly, because a quote can only be as accurate as the information it's based on.

A packaging brief doesn't become better simply because it's longer, more technical or contains more specifications from day one.

It becomes better when it gives the people receiving it enough to start the right conversation, with the detail growing as the project does.