Ordering Custom Packaging: An Easy, 7-Step Guide

Ordering custom packaging may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Sure, boxes protect the contents inside. But at Covenant Packaging, we understand them for what they really are: powerful marketing tools that define your brand identity. It’s a critical element of the total customer experience.

How you present your product – and the condition it arrives in – can be the difference between a transactional customer and creating a brand loyalist. Custom packaging allows you to take out the guesswork. It’s a huge responsibility, and the reason we go to great lengths to deliver solutions that are in-spec and on-budget…every single time.

If you’re ready to leverage custom packaging and set your business apart from the rest, keep reading. We’ve got your complete guide to ordering custom packaging, delivered in seven easy steps.

Step 1: Select Your Packaging Style

When you go custom, the sky is the limit. Covenant Packaging offers dozens of styles to choose from, but most fall into one of two broad categories.

Shipping Boxes – For bulky or heavy products, a custom shipping box may be the best solution for you. They’re durable, lightweight and economical. This makes them perfectly suited for the heavy duty needed to safely transport their contents.
Product Boxes – These are ideal for retail or e-commerce applications. Tailored styles can be neatly nestled inside of branded mailers or shipping boxes for safe transport.

Does your product need something even more unique? Just ask us. We love boxes and we REALLY love talking about them. We will be happy to show you with all of the many options available.

With so many choices, how can you be sure the style you select is the optimal solution for your business goals? Luckily, Covenant Packaging brings more than 45 years of expertise to help guide your decision. We ask all the right questions to not only learn your product, but anticipate its needs…even before you do!

Step 2: Decide Your Custom Packaging Dimensions

One of the biggest benefits of ordering custom packaging is having a box that fits your product like a glove. It reduces your spend on packing and freight, while improving efficiencies in container packing and budget.

At this step in the process, we meticulously measure the length, width and height of your product before recommending the optimally sized solution. This stage in the process will also inform design decisions later on.

Step 3: Choose Your Custom Packaging Material

Ordering Custom Packaging gives you total control over the presentation of your product, including the material your box is made out of.

Depending on the brand experience you wish to deliver, many clients opt for traditional brown kraft. It’s the standard brown box you know and love, which can be customized with a range of fonts, colors and graphic designs.

Others may opt for a white box, which provides a clean backdrop to endless personalization options including finishes, colors…even textures!

Whichever you prefer, both are thick, durable, eco-friendly and cost-effective options just waiting to be customized…and amplify your total brand experience.

Step 4: Review a Structural Prototype

By now, you’ve made some major decisions. With a partner like Covenant Packaging to help guide them, you can rest assured that each of your selections is the best one to help you reach your business goals.

As with all things, things can occasionally go wrong, despite the best laid plans. That’s why we believe in creating a structural prototype midway through the process. You can expect the style, materials and dimensions to be an exact replica of what your custom corrugated package will look like.

We’ll test it to ensure a perfect fit, and address any fine tuning that is needed to ensure the most perfect, functional solution possible.

Step 5: Decide on Printing Process

Just like packaging styles, there are several printing options available. The three most common processes are direct flexo, litho or digital. And what you choose here will influence design and budget considerations later in the process.

Whether your goal is simple and economical or flashy and unique, we work tirelessly to ensure you understand your options…and that the finished process exceeds all of your expectations.

Direct Flexo – Short for flexography, this process uses a soft relief plate that is similar to the rubber stamps we are all familiar with. Raised rubber or plastic is mounted onto cylinders before ink is applied. The packaging substrate is then run through a machine that transfers ink from the plate directly onto your package. It’s fast, inexpensive and ideal for designs that use high-contrast text and visuals.
Litho Printing – Litho printing is similar to direct flexo, but employs a metal plate for image transfers. The rigid surface makes litho printing better suited for colorful or detailed designs, and it can also accommodate a wider range of finish options.
Digital Printing – This process employs laser or inkjet technology to print directly onto corrugated substrate. No plates are needed, allowing it to be carried out faster than either flexo or laser methods. It is also the best option for precise, detailed imagery. It gives you the ability to include color gradients, shadows and so much more, making digital the way to go when you want to let your creativity soar.
Label Printing – The beauty of ordering custom packaging is that everything is fair game. That includes specialty finishes like soft touch or high gloss, which do not always play nicely with direct printing. In these instances, our team of experts may recommend you opt for a custom label instead. These can be affixed to the outside of your final packaging, ensuring critical information like company name and logo are presented as polished and professionally as they out to be.

Step 6: Graphics Creation

You’ve selected your material. You know how much space you have to work with. You have explored print processes and know exactly what your selected method can accomplish. Now, it’s time to decide what you want your box to look like.

For the creatives of the world, this may be the most exciting process of all. Full color on the outside? You got it. Bold patterns on the inside? No problem. A specialty finish that will literally make your branding sparkle? Let’s do it! When ordering custom packaging, the world is your oyster.

For the traditionalists among us, we’re equally as excited about bringing your black and white visions of grandeur to life. Whether its an existing graphic or an idea that needs a little help from our team of trusted graphic designers, we’re equipped with all of the resources you need to execute successfully.

Step 7: Final Prototype

Last but certainly not least, you will receive a final prototype of your custom package design. Though just a mock-up, it will give you the opportunity to visualize exactly what the final package will look like. And if anything seems out of place, we’ll take whatever steps are needed to get it right.

You’ll ooh. You’ll ahh. You’ll wonder why ordering custom packaging took you so long. And then our team of experts will help you determine the perfect run to fill orders now and later.

We’ve been around long enough to know that as your business grows and evolves, so will your products. When that time comes, we’ll still be here…ready to continue telling your brand story through high-quality, customized packaging.

Covenant Packaging is Kansas City’s hometown corrugated partner for a world-class experience.