2023 Packaging Design Trends Counter Melancholy With Punchy Colors & Characters

With the holidays just around the corner, it’s only natural to look ahead to the coming year. The past 11 months have been filled with highs and lows, and many matters weigh heavily on the world’s minds, from rising inflation to the war in Ukraine and the ongoing climate crisis. 

As such, designers across the globe are dreaming up ways to turn products into optimistic and vibrant packages to help escape the melancholy of daily life. As per graphic design builder 99designs by Vista, 2023 is the time for bright colors and nostalgic imagery to fuel much-needed escapism. 

While the top 10 trends may span the spectrum from cutesy motifs to 70s/80s swirls and spirals, there’s no doubt creatives are leaning into being playful and fun, while finding comfort in looks already familiar to most of us. 

Bold is the keyword for many brands, especially in the food and beverage space, with designs opting to use illustrated ingredients in punchy palettes to stand out among the rows and rows of goods on the shelves. 

Similarly, wraparound patterns and ecstatic colors from decades ago have made a comeback, focusing on eye-pleasing designs that go all the way around an item, hoping to draw in consumers from afar to be curious enough to pick up the product. 

Mascots and cartoon characters have resurfaced, delivering on the demand for nostalgia with fantastical situations and childhood-esque aesthetics. 2023’s cartoons embody a classic, minimal style, drawing inspiration from comics often seen in newspapers. 

To shake things up, brands are now adding variation to their mascot’s appearance across a product range, such as with new clothing, attitudes, or colors to differentiate each item, which ultimately endears shoppers. 

Adding to the theme of the “good ol’ days,” one particular form of design has garnered popularity: the sticker book aesthetic. The packaging trend, especially popular among Gen Z consumers embracing the 90s, often involves cute icons or doodles along to give off a carefree vibe.  

Just as 99designs put it, if there’s one thing to gather from the current packaging design trends, it’s that creatives are looking to respond to the uncertainty of the times with “positive and familiar styles,” hoping to bring hope, comfort, fun, and escapism to shoppers. 

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[via 99designs, featured with permission]