The mockup can give a feeble package idea more weight than it deserves. A carton resting in a white background, a pouch set against a soft shadow, or a shiny brand wrap on a bottle can feel great at a glance, yet a tiny brand name, a disordered back panel, or an abandoned side can ruin the whole look. A mockup can’t do much to solve design problems like these; sketching, though, can.
Drawing slows you down in an encouraging way. Sketching forces you to decide where the logo needs to live, which space is enough for a product name, where an image belongs, and what message is essential to share. You don’t need to choose color yet, and you don’t have to choose typography yet. What you do is arrange a package so it feels like a story; you create space and order that allow the eye to move from the first main message to the second supporting message.
Start with a basic sketch of a few packages: if a package is a box, draw three panels (front, right, back). If the package is a label, draw an area for the front label and an area to wrap on. Draw five quick variations of the layout. Make a sketch for each one; draw a quick logo in a square, a product name in a long strip, a short description in a block, a space to place a barcode, an ingredient panel, and a simple picture. Make each layout with a different order. For instance, the first variation could make a big, large, or center product name, while the second could emphasize a strong header, and the last can emphasize a large picture with space around it.
A sketch allows you to ask a simple question: can I show too much? Many first sketches try to put all the copy on the front panel, but it’s difficult to do. You can’t put a big headline or subhead on a label, and you can’t add an element without space for it. If this seems like failure, think about it like this: you’ve learned something new. You’ve discovered that the back panel is the best place for this copy, and maybe a headline should be bigger; maybe some of the copy can move to a side panel, and maybe the image needs more breathing room.
It can be easy to look at a mockup and think you’re designing, but you’re not. A mockup is great to show your design, but a mockup can’t show your hierarchy, can’t fix bad spacing, and can’t explain a fold line. A mockup can’t help you figure out your trim edges, your safety zone, your closure, or your panel. If you use a sketch to map this all out, you’re ready to build the layout for the mockup because you know what each area of the panel needs to communicate, not just what the shadow and finish can add.
A solid sketch allows the mockup to work best, so you can take your final layout, place it onto your package and see what changes happen as it gets wrapped around, as it gets squeezed, and as it gets made smaller. But you’re not just checking to see if a mockup looks good. You can check if your product name is easy to read, if your side panel has a purpose, and if your back-panel copy is legible. A mockup won’t solve bad design, but it can show you a bad design.