Creating new packaging design is thrilling. And a lot of WORK. Wouldn’t it be grand if it also came out as intended in the end, making all the work worth the while?
That’s far from always the case. In many many cases you create a great design only to discover that it comes out of the printer looking like crap, or not at all because it’s impossible to print.
-Whaaaaat? That’s very pessimistic, you say. Surely the design agency knows the print requirements and makes sure the design proposals are checked for printability before they're presented.
Nope. If you look at the agency’s excel project schedule, there’s a small colored cell saying ‘printability check’ at the far end of the plan, right after ‘design approval’ or even after ‘final art’. Let me tell you once and for all with capital letters and in bold:
What can you possibly do when the design is already approved, and the printer comes back with ‘we can’t print this text in all four process colors’ or ‘this gradient will come out striped’. Time is up and the printer is waiting for the files yesterday.
So you put out fires. Do minor changes that make the design meh, but at least printable. Change the text color to black and replace the gradient.
‘Bummer, but what can we do?‘
‘Who knew?’
Hah!
And a really easy one at that.
Implement print management earlier. Provide the design agency with a print spec that they actually understand in the beginning of the creation phase, and have the design checked for printability continuously while being created. That way, the agency can create a great design within the print limitations and has time to make adjustments on the way instead of applying poor solutions at the end of the project due to lack of time.
Here's some examples of what a skilled, seasoned print manager should be able to feedback during design creation:
These and about a billion other know-hows are in the head of a proper, experienced and solution oriented print manager, and available to you if you want to avoid putting out the said, unnecessary, fires. All you need to do is to copy-paste that little Excel cell into the design development phase. And know the right people.
Happy designing and good luck!