Let's Get Creative...

The theme for this month is creativity, inspired in no small part by World Creativity and Innovation Day on 21 April. It strikes a chord with us as creativity is one of our core values; not just in packaging design but also in our approaches to customer service, problem solving, and supporting our team.

We are proud to have industry recognition for this skill, too, receiving the Creative/Digital Award and the Innovation Award at the 2022 Maidstone Business Awards. Our Packaging Engineer and Creative Designer, Sam O’Neill, is no stranger to accolades either, winning The Printing Charity’s Rising Star Award and the Rising Star category of the UK Packaging Awards, also in 2022.

Our world of bespoke packaging is endlessly creative, it’s one of the reasons we love it so much.

Creativity doesn’t have to be complicated

With Easter still on our minds, our carrot box is an egg-sellent example of what innovative thinking can achieve. Devised by Sam O’Neill, the box design is a playful extension of a standard tapered tuck-end carton. What makes it different is the way the dust flaps have a reverse crease in them to make the carrot leaves stand up. The boxes were printed at Actionpoint HQ using our digital Canon Arizona wide format printer.

As this fun carton illustrates, bespoke packaging doesn’t have to be complex. It can be something as simple as the clever use of flaps or indents that adds value to a product and creates a wow factor.

Best materials for branded packaging

We are big fans of print branding. It allows to you convey important information and, with a little imagination, an engaging brand identify. But what about the materials required to display the design to its fullest? Here are our top 3 tips:

1. If you’re using corrugated cardboard and your product isn’t particularly weighty, choose a smaller fluting (the wavy paper layer inside a sheet of cardboard). This provides a smoother surface for a better print finish. Ideally, the fluting should be between F and B.

2. If you’re using solid board, depending on coverage, we’d recommend a solid bleached board or graphic board with a clay coated surface to give a nice base for quality print.

3. When printing graphics or text, the packaging substrate will affect the hue. For example, if you print a yellow image directly onto brown corrugated cardboard the image may look orange. To produce the intended colour more accurately, you may want to specify a Spot colour. This is a custom mix of inks that takes into account the substrate used to guarantee an exact colour match. Alternatively, you can use the standard CMYK or Spot inks and print on a white backed material instead.

Bespoke packaging: what’s holding you back?

You probably already know many benefits of taking a creative approach to your packaging. But if you still haven’t tried bespoke solutions, we’re betting these reasons will sound familiar:

“It’s too expensive”

However, when you go bespoke, you have more options. You can choose from a wide range of materials and designs that reduce packaging size, weight, waste, and damage rates. All of which reduce your carbon footprint and your overall spend.

“It’s too confusing”

Not when you have the help of an expert! Browse our Eden packaging range, read our blogs, watch our videos, or better yet, talk to us. We can answer questions, offer tailored advice, or work with you to create your ideal bespoke packaging solution.

“It’s too risky”

Change can be nerve wracking, but not when you have an appointment at our Packaging Creation Lounge. Here, you can work directly with our design team and experiment with concepts and materials.

Design, create, and test your custom packaging in just one visit.

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging

Creative packaging design will be a boon to businesses preparing for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Why? Because EPR fees will ultimately be modulated based on packaging weight and recyclability. To reduce future EPR costs, companies should look into designs that require less packaging and use materials that are lighter and easy to recycle.

To help you stay up to date on EPR, here are some of the key dates to keep in mind:

7th April 2024: don’t forget that obligated producers must still report packaging data under the existing Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007. This includes buying Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRNs) as evidence they have met their obligation.

31st May 2024: extended deadline for large producers to submit both of their EPR packaging data reports. The original dates were 1st October 2023 (data relating to Jan to Jun 23) and 1st April 2024 (data relating to Jul to Dec 23).

November 2024: target date for the EPR Scheme Administrator to inform local authorities of their estimated payment amount for 2025-26. This figure will be based on 2023 packaging data submitted by producers.

ASAP from April 2025: EPR Scheme Administrator to calculate fees (in ￡/tonne of packaging material placed on the market).

ASAP from July 2025: large producers to be issued with an invoice for their first year’s EPR waste management fees (small producers will not have to pay). Modulated fees to be introduced 2026-27.

Contact us

Are you looking for packaging with an imaginative twist, a creative solution to a packaging problem, or the chance to get ahead of the game for EPR? You’ve come to the right place. Our team can advise you on how to go bespoke, incorporate branding, and improve efficiency and sustainability. Call us on 0800 840 9570 or email [email protected] for a chat about how we can help your business.