Custom Retail Packaging Colors and What They Mean (Plus What Is Trending)

Whether you are consciously familiar with the psychology of color or not, color plays a big role in our lives. Studies have found that colors have different impacts on our feelings, moods, and emotions – which in turn, has an influence on buying behavior. What do certain colors say about your store’s retail packaging? Read…

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Custom Retail Packaging Colors and What They Mean (Plus What Is Trending)

What do certain colors say about your store’s retail packaging? Read on to find out – plus, learn what colors are popular for retail brands.

Why Do Colors Matter in Retail Packaging?

The color of your retail packaging plays a big role in brand recognition, perception, and differentiation. It may even influence a consumer to make a purchase. In fact, color has been found to boost brand recognition by 80%.

When you see Coca-Cola’s signature red, Tiffany & Co.’s trademarked ‘Tiffany Blue,’ or T-Mobile’s eye-catching magenta, you know exactly what brand they belong to. Using your brand colors consistently throughout each consumer touchpoint – even retail packaging – is critical to reinforcing your image, and in turn, increasing recognition.

Using color on your packaging components can also help you stand out from the crowd. For example, Ulta Beauty differentiates itself with a completely orange-clad shopping bag. Trader Joe’s uses a brown paper shopper featuring their signature red logo and funky seasonal designs. Athleta shoppers get a metallic reusable shopping tote with their purchase to use for the years to come.

Since certain colors impact people’s emotions, moods, and feelings in different ways, your packaging’s color is a big influence on brand perception – which we will get into next.

Common Retail Packaging Colors and What They Say About Your Brand

Every color you choose for your company’s collateral – from the website to product brochures to retail packaging — communicates something about your brand.

It is important to keep in mind that all colors have a range of correlated feelings and meanings, and these are not universal. Color associations can be heavily influenced by culture and personal experiences. For example, white is associated with freshness and innocence in Western countries, but in Eastern ones it symbolizes mourning.

Here are some popular retail packaging colors and what they are commonly used to convey in the general retail space.

Bold Statement-Makers

Sleek, sophisticated, and elegant, black is a classically bold retail packaging color. This is why luxury brands like Ralph Lauren, Prada, Gucci, and Chanel opted for black logos. Create completely black packaging components to convey luxury with an edge.

Famously known for its associations with strong emotions, red is an energizing color that may evoke feelings of love, excitement, passion, and boldness. Its attention-catching nature is why red is a popular color for things like warning signs and labels. Using red throughout your packaging design is sure to help your brand stand out.

Fresh, Clean, and Simple Colors

White is associated with purity, and from a branding and marketing standpoint, is used to convey a sense of cleanliness and freshness. White can also be used to create a contrast and help your logo and other design elements stand out on your packaging components.

A Nod to Nature

Greens, tans, and browns all fit in nicely with the ever-increasing packaging trend of sustainability. Not only do these colors pay homage to Mother Nature, but they also fit nicely with brands that are seeking to provide feelings of security and safety.

Burberry is a great example of a luxury brand taking strides toward sustainability, creating luxurious packaging to match. Burberry recently released plastic-free custom packaging bags and boxes made from recycled coffee cups. Finished with their new signature brown oak paper, these components still feature the Burberry name in their trademarked bold font to maintain brand recognition.

Keep It Fun

Bold, bright, and vibrant colors like pink, orange, yellow, and purple each have their own associations, but all have mostly positive connotations.

Warm colors, like yellow and orange, are known for being invigorating, energizing, and attention-drawing. They are correlated with happiness, cheer, and warmth. Pink is often associated with femininity and evokes feelings of love, joy, and calmness. Purple is historically symbolic of royalty and wealth and inspires creativity and a sense of mystery.

If your logo or branding does not include these colors, you can always incorporate them in different ways. Use them in unique designs to promote a new product or collection. Incorporate colors seasonally or for big retail events like back to school, Black Friday, and major holidays.

You can even follow in the footsteps of brands like Gucci, who recently rolled out their Victorian-inspired sustainable retail packaging featuring an olive green that is not part of their brand color scheme. While this was a step away from their simple black and white packaging, they kept their logo the same to ensure consistency.

Create On-Trend, Custom Retail Packaging with Edge2Edge

The beauty of retail packaging is that you can switch it up, however, you always want to stay aligned with your brand image. Do not deviate too far from your brand identity by altering the logo, using inconsistent prints or fonts, or completely revamping your style with no warning.

Choosing a packaging service provider that can help you break from the status quo while maintaining brand consistency is critical. At Edge2Edge, we are proud to be that partner for many leading retailers. With a team of packaging design experts and expertise in global logistics management, we are here to support you in growing your business.