How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Custom Packaging (Psychology of Color)

Start With Your Brand and Your Buyer

If you already have a logo and brand colors, those come first. Packaging should look like the rest of your brand, so a customer who sees your website, your box and your social page knows it is one company. Our guide to what branded boxes are explains how color fits into the rest of the look.

If you are starting from nothing, ask three questions before you look at swatches.

• What should the product feel like? Calm, bold, playful, clinical, natural, luxurious.
• Who buys it? A gift buyer, a parent, a teenager, a professional. Age, culture and context all shift what looks right.
• Where will it be seen? On a crowded shelf, in a parcel on a doorstep or in a photo online. Each place rewards different colors.

Look at the products around yours. If everything on the shelf is white and green, a deep blue box stands out. If everything is loud, a quiet, confident pack may stand out more. Differences get noticed, but only if they still suit your product.

Color Psychology, Kept in Proportion

People do associate colors with feelings, and many designers use those associations as shortcuts. The associations are loose, and research on how much they change buying decisions is mixed. Treat them as a starting point, not a rule.

Meanings also change with culture. White is linked with purity in some places and with mourning in others. If you sell abroad, ask local buyers or a local designer before you commit.

How Many Colors, and in What Proportion

A simple palette is easier to print well and easier to remember. A common design guide is the 60-30-10 rule: about 60 percent of the surface in a main color, 30 percent in a second color and 10 percent in an accent. It is a rule of thumb, not a law, but it keeps a design balanced.

• Main color. Often your brand color or a neutral. It covers most of the box.
• Supporting color. Used for panels, patterns or the inside. It should sit well next to the main one.
• Accent. Used for the logo detail, a seal or a call-out. Small amounts make it stand out.

For a product range, keep the layout the same and change one color for each variant, such as a scent or a flavor. The shopper then finds the right one at a glance.

Screen Colors Are Not Print Colors

Your screen mixes red, green and blue light, called RGB. A printer lays down cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink, called CMYK. The two systems cannot make exactly the same range of colors. Very bright screen colors, such as electric blue or neon green, often fall outside what CMYK ink can make, and they print duller.

Two things follow from that. First, design your artwork in CMYK, or convert it early, so you see the real range while you work. Second, never approve a color from a screen alone. A printed proof or sample shows the true result.

CMYK vs Pantone

We print in CMYK or Pantone. They suit different jobs.

A practical way to work: print the artwork in CMYK, and use Pantone for the one or two colors that carry your brand. Our help article on color systems in packaging explains RGB, CMYK and Pantone in more detail. Write your brand colors down with both a Pantone code and a CMYK value, so every supplier works from the same reference.

How the Board Changes the Color

Ink is printed on a surface, and the surface takes part in the color. White board is the neutral choice. Brown kraft board shows through the ink.

• White board gives the brightest, most accurate color. It suits detailed full-color designs.
• Brown kraft board makes colors look darker and flatter. Dark colors work well, and light colors and yellows lose brightness.
• No white ink in CMYK. Where there is no ink, the board shows. On kraft, a design with large light areas will look brown, not white.
• Corrugated and rigid board also differ. The surface, and the paper that wraps a rigid box, change the final look.

A common approach for kraft is a one-color or two-color design in a dark ink, which looks natural and prints cleanly. If you want bright colors, use white board. If you are unsure, ask for a proof on the board you plan to use. Our tuck boxes use white or brown kraft paperboard, so you can choose either.

Coatings and Finishes Change the Look Too

A coating or finish is applied over the print. It changes how the color looks and feels.

These effects are subtle and depend on the board and the ink. The coating you pick is a color decision as well as a feel decision. Our guide to varnish vs lamination explains the two methods. We offer varnish and lamination in matte, glossy, satin and soft touch, plus foil stamping and spot UV.

Contrast and Readability

A good palette still fails if people cannot read it. Contrast is the difference in brightness between text and its background. Low contrast is the most common packaging color mistake.

The web accessibility standard, WCAG, suggests a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 for normal text. It is written for screens, but it is a useful rule of thumb for packaging. Light yellow, light orange and mid gray on white fail it, as the examples show.

• Use dark text on a light background, or the reverse. Avoid mid-tone on mid-tone.
• Make small text higher in contrast than large text. Directions and warnings are often the smallest print on the pack.
• Test in grayscale. Turn the artwork gray. If the text disappears, the contrast is too low.
• Do not rely on color alone to carry a meaning, such as red for warning. Add a word or an icon, since some people see colors differently.
• Check on the real board. A coating or kraft can lower contrast.

Palette Ideas by Type of Product

These palettes are starting points that show how colors tend to match the type of product. They are not rules, and your own brand colors come first.

Look at your category and decide whether to fit in or stand out. A skincare brand in soft greens signals calm. The same brand in a bright orange would stand out and may look wrong for the product. Both can work if they are deliberate.

A Short Example: Choosing Colors for a Soap Brand

This is an invented example, not a real customer. A small soap maker sells a mint soap, a lavender soap and an oatmeal soap, and she wants one tuck box design for all three.

• Brand first. Her logo is dark green, so dark green is the main color.
• Palette. A cream supporting color for the panels, and one accent per soap: a mint green, a soft purple and a warm tan.
• Board. She chooses white board so the accents stay light and clear, and keeps the soap name in dark green on cream for readable contrast.
• Coating. A matte finish for a calm, natural feel.
• Proof. She orders a sample to check that the soft purple does not turn gray in print, and adjusts it slightly.

The result is one design, three variants and a clear family. A shopper can find the lavender soap by its accent color alone.

Test and Proof Before You Print

Colors are checked in three ways, and each one catches something different.

• Print a mockup at home or in a copy shop. It will not be exact, but it shows contrast and layout problems.
• View it in the light where it will be sold. Store lights, daylight and warm indoor light change how a color looks.
• Get a proof or a sample on the real board. This is the one that counts. The samples page lists every sample type, and a printed proof shows the true color and finish before you commit to a full run.

If you need the final color to match across several orders, specify a Pantone code, keep a physical sample from the first run and mention it with the next order.

Common Color Mistakes

• Choosing from a screen and never seeing a proof.
• Using a very bright RGB color in artwork and expecting it to print the same.
• Light text on a light background.
• Too many colors, so the pack looks crowded.
• Forgetting that kraft board darkens colors.
• Different colors for the same brand on the box, the tag and the sticker.
• Following a trend that does not suit the product or the buyer.
• Putting a logo with a thin outline on a busy color field, where it vanishes.

Color Checklist

• My palette has two or three colors with clear roles.
• I have Pantone and CMYK values for each brand color.
• My artwork is set up in CMYK, with Pantone for key brand colors.
• I chose white or kraft board on purpose.
• My text passes a quick contrast and grayscale check.
• I picked a coating that suits the look: matte, glossy, satin or soft touch.
• I have a printed proof or sample on the real board.
• My artwork has bleed, so no white edge shows.

Your Next Step

Write down your two or three colors with Pantone and CMYK values, decide white or kraft board, and download a free dieline template to try the colors on the flat pattern. Then order the Standard Sample Kit, $50 with shipping included, to see boards and finishes in your hand, or get a free quote and send us your files. We include free design support and reply within 1 business day. For help choosing the box itself, read our guide to choosing the right box for your product.