Ten ways brands revamped their packaging for the holidays

The holidays are coming! Delicious food, quality time with loved ones, and iconic Christmas movies on TV – what's not to love? It’s simply the most wonderful time of the year.

During the holidays, nothing beats the pure child-like joy of unwrapping gifts tucked under the tree. It’s a feeling that many ecommerce businesses try to recreate for their customers via gorgeous festive packaging that arrives at their door.

The holiday season is the perfect time to get creative with your brand and use themed packaging to truly elevate your unboxing experience.

With a huge percentage of purchases being made by first-time buyers in these final months of the year, it's important to use your packaging make a good first impression and encourage repeat business.

Revamping your packaging just in time for Christmas builds customer excitement and spreads a bucket load of festive cheer. In the true holiday spirit of giving to others, here is the gift of seasonal packaging inspiration from 10 brands.

Holly Maguire

We can’t help having warm fuzzy feelings at the sight of Holly Maguire’s delightful winter woodland wrapping. Self-confessed nature lover and illustrator Holly uses fabulous flora and fauna imagery in her  peachy-pink packaging that is versatile enough to be used outside the holiday season. And we just love the use of the festive custom card that adds an extra pinch of magic (Presents! Cats! A dog in a scarf!) – talk about truly sleigh-in’ it!

Flora Waycott

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Artist Flora Waycott has you covered. She's created a truly magical winter wonderland with her illustrated tissue and tape and we just can’t get enough of all the sweet thoughtful details in her bold, colorful tape design. Combined with the subtler blues of her tissue paper, Flora has created a showcase of packaging design that makes you want to get outside and build a snowman. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Ragon Dickard

Artist Ragon says her work is all about spreading colorful and happy art to people around the world, and boy is she succeeding. With illustrations adorning her tissue paper packaging the color of Rudolph’s famous nose, this seasonal packaging just screams festive spirit! Irresistible imagery depicts those colder months of the year in a striking red accent on a clean white background – it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Lisa Mönttinen Art

We mistle-totally love this design from pattern designer Lisa Mönttinen. The choice of a deep forest green transports us to wintery walks in the woods, along with the joy of hanging decorations on a tree. Mix that feeling with festive flora illustrations an on-brand sticker and we have some real festive magic in our hands. It’s time to deck the halls!

Seo Cat

Who says festive designs need to use a traditional red and green color palette? Illustrator and ceramic creator Cat proves that a striking burnt orange can spread some holiday joy just as well as more tried-and-tested conventional colors! And adding a little red and white string as a finishing touch gives a unique spin on a festive design that could be used again and again throughout the year.

Inga Buividavice

If you want to be on theme for the holidays, think about sprucing up traditional, rustic packaging patterns like designer Inga Buive’s nature-worshipping triumph. We adore the inky green mixed with the soft pink of the illustrations. A patterned design can be used alongside branded stickers in this simple, delicate way to help build brand identity and customer loyalty. Tree-mendous!

Jennifer Bouron

French print designer Jennifer Bouron takes us on a magical sleigh ride amongst illustrations of twinkling stars and snow-capped peaks and we are loving it. Highlighting the beautiful side of shorter days and darker nights, the crisp white illustrations on a deep navy blue provides stunning contrast, especially with the pop of pink from the eye-catching sticker! This packaging combo is a sure contender for “best in snow.”

CThomas Design Studio

Clean and crisp like a wintery morning, CThomas Design Studio has created an elegant, rustic aesthetic for their seasonal packaging. This silver and white combination is understatedly classy and the hand-drawn illustrations of the winter flora breathe icy magic into tasteful designs. Baby, it’s cold outside.

Jaune Pop

Holidays give us all the chance to feel like a kid again and these cute little characters could shine excitement into the hearts of even the biggest grinch! You can’t go wrong with a simple black on white design, especially in the holidays. It gives the chance to mix the delicate with the detailed just as Marie-Anne from Jaune Pop has done so with her blissful flora and fauna illustrations – perfect for encouraging engagement on social media.

Laura Lhullier

This packaging combination is getting us way too excited about wrapping our own gifts this holiday season! Consistency is key to effective branding and we love the use of black and white with a pop of baby pink that ties everything together. And it’s always great to get a sneak peek at the person behind the brand, which illustrator Laura Lhullier does by sending out cute custom ‘thank you’ cards. Handwritten and personal, this color scheme ties in beautifully with her winter-themed tissue paper.

Feeling inspired? Now it's your turn – all we want for Christmas is to see how you’re incorporating some festive spirit into your packaging!

There is still plenty of time to get designing ready for the 2020 holiday season, so get designing and share your joy with the world by tagging us on Instagram - @noissueco.