There have been a number of new trends in the packaging design industry in recent years, as new technology and innovation has made it easier than ever before to combine excellent eye appeal with top-of-the-line function.  The changes have been particularly evident in the baby market.  Baby goods are in never-ending high demand, of course, and new parents value innovative packaging, which means packaging designers are hard at work to keep things new and exciting.

Digital Illustration: While many designs from package printing have embraced the simplicity movement, that isn’t seen as often in the baby section.  Instead, there have been many efforts to put design to good use.  Digital illustrations aren’t used only to catch the eye, but also to give instruction or to offer an explanation of benefits.

Contents Display While in some cases, this is taken quite literally, and the product within is seen through the transparent, flexible packaging, in other instances, the designers use photos of the contents to dress-up the packaging.  So, the food pouch may feature high quality photos of spinach, plums, blueberries, or apples, depending on the ingredients in that particular pouch.  This is a technique that speaks well to a very rushed, pressed-for-time market

Bright Colors, High Contrast Again, simplicity rules elsewhere, but not in this market.  The idea is to catch the eye, and we have seen that, for many manufacturers of baby goods, that means brightly colored food bags, and high contrast boxes.  That being said, it is also important to consider what the biggest competitors are doing.  Some of the most successful upstarts are those that are able to literally stand out against the competition.  Sometimes that means using all-white pouch packaging, for instance.

Cartoon Characters This isn’t a new trend, but it isn’t one that is likely to go away.  Licensed characters are a big hit with little kids, and parents will often buy something to appease their little ones.

Transport Friendly Parents are on the go these days, and that generally means that their kids are too, which means that anything that is travel-friendly is seen as a benefit. Hence the huge success of food pouches that stand up right, can be resealed, aren’t breakable, and don’t require a spoon for feeding.