We asked Pennie Street, one of our designers here at Nashville Wraps, to show us the steps involved in creating one of our exclusive designs.
It starts with trend research.
Our designers all scour the stores and the internet to see what is current in the marketplace. We look for what colors are hot, what texture or feel the products have, and what kind of style or theme they have. Here you can see the inspiration for our beautifulPinwheel Floral design.
We look to trend forecasting.
Several companies out there are in the business of predicting what is to come for the upcoming seasons. They give us insight into which colors are going to be popular, what styles people are looking for, etc.
We compile all this information.
In compiling all this information we begin to see themes or categories emerging. We generally have a whimsical look, a traditional look, a “green” or eco-friendly look, and several others.
We create trend boards.
We take each theme and create a “trend” board. This allows us and others to be able to quickly get a visual feel for a specific theme or look.
Meetings, meetings, meetings.
Designers meet with Product Managers to review last year’s line. We discuss what worked and what didn’t and what sold well and what didn’t. Taking into account customer requests, sales figures, and emerging trends, we collectively decide which themes or trends to focus on. Sometimes we realize we need to update a current design.
Designers choose projects.
Armed with new information, the designers choose which of the new design themes they will work with. From here we either incorporate purchased art (more on purchased art later) or we create our own. Our first designs are usually done with our “cub” bag size in mind as this is our most important (popular) size.
Each design usually goes through 8-10 revisions.
As a team, we collectively decide what needs to be adjusted, and updated. When everyone is happy with a design, we decide which sizes and coordinating products would be needed to complete the look. A gourmet food stylized design would need bag and box sizes different than a spa stylized look. In evaluating designs, the main question is always, “Will this appeal to our customer?” We can design a bag that we feel is a great look, but if it does not appeal to our customers, we have failed.
Purchased Art
Nashville Wraps purchases art from designers and artists around the world. We own the copyright for this art and often incorporate design elements from purchased art into our own designs.
Wrapping It Up
As you can see, there are many steps and many people involved in the creative process of making the exclusive designs that you see on our website and in our catalog. We hope this gives you better insight into the products that you purchase from us. This season we have seven new exclusive designs just for you. Our goal at Nashville Wraps is to make you and your products look good.
Kathy Green
Packaging Consultant
NashvilleWraps.com
hi,
Your design process is really interesting. I too am running a home business selling gift boxes for retail outlets.
Wow, this is really interesting! There are a lot more steps involved than you’d think. Thanks so much for sharing the inside story about your designs!