6 Ways To Use Rustic Packaging In Your Branding

Following the rocking trend of minimalism, let’s dive into the rustic packaging inspirations. A perfect thing for your Christmas design!

Do you like the charm of wooden elements? The coziness of the organic designs?

These two are the fundamentals of rustic style. 

Rustic design style is defined as an emphasis put on rugged, natural beauty. The usual designs include tree branches, lots of wood inspirations and toned, organically warm colors. It can be expressed in the interior design:

... but also packaging. Rustic elements will mostly mean wood imitations in print, cloth pieces on jar lids and lots of brown color in the patterns. Just like in the image below.

In this article, we will show you how to draw inspirations from that design style.

These six ideas can be implemented in many cases but - since Christmas is just around the corner - it might be a great opportunity to try rustic boxes in your business too.

#1 Use Warm, Wooden Colors

The idea behind rustic style is praising the philosophy of "less is more" by choosing only brown colours. Most rustic designs use characteristic fonts (often in black) and kraft paper. Take a look below.

Wooden elements will also perfectly emphasize a subtle Christmas themed design. While, red, green and white are usually the leading colors in Christmas designs, the natural brown is a perfect balance. It is not unusual to sacrifice bright colors in Christmas packaging to gain a more genuine, warmer soul.

In order to create an impression of rustic design, you can use some of the warmer shades of brown, green, beige and milky white.

#2 Choose Natural Cardboard With A Black Imprint

Natural, brown cardboard is perfect for creating an organic design. It’s far from kitsch and over-doing, at the same time leaves much space for creativity.

Our Eco Mailer Boxes are available with black imprint. See how Biotika - a brand that we have showcased in our Inspirations series as well - is a marvellous example of rustic-inspired branded packaging set.

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Don’t fall for the impression that black imprint is not fitting for Christmas though.

You can create the Eco Mailer Boxes with dark imprint and use them for your Christmas sales too. The kraft carton naturally belongs to the rustic style - it is up to you if you need a special design to emphasize the Christmas character of your packaging bundles.

While you can use plenty of dates ahead of Christmas to boost your sales, festive packaging should already be an ongoing project for you. Your store will soon be ornamented with lights, while eCommerce brands will begin their campaigns. And each year you're looking for something new and creative. Treat rustic as your design buzzword!

#3 Add A Branch To Your Box

This is a typical festive idea. If you don’t send your boxes too far to your clients - or you own a shop - you can glue a tiny branch to the top of your box.

This way, your packaging will be given a personal, unique touch and adhere to the rustic style.

#4 Use A Sticker (Could Be Christmas-Themed Too!)

Stickers are becoming a new trend in the packaging design. They can be used to give valuable information to your customer, but also for branding purposes solely. 

Stickers can be an essential part of the packaging design. In the example below, the bright orange sticker is the main part of the box design. The playful text on the sticker does the job.

Christmas is a perfect occasion to give stickers a try in your packaging too.

You can redesign your logo to make it more festive and stick it on your packaging. That way, every eCommerce brand can easily bring a rustic Christmas feeling to its packaging.

Read our article about Christmas packaging to see how to embellish your packaging with stickers, labels and other festive details.

#5 Add A Pine Cone On Top

Pine cones imbue your design with an organic touch. And... there is nothing more Christmas-themed than a snow-covered cone!

It’s a great suggestion for a retail store, where customers receive products that you can pack in branded boxes. Add a pine cone on top of every box to turn it into a genuine gift box.

#6 Pack your products in Brown Paper Bags

Brown paper bags are a perfect addition to your packaging set. If you are a restaurant or a retail store owner, you will see the value of customers walking in the streets with branded bags. 

You can use paper bags as a complementary part of your packaging.

Their natural brown color allows creating a minimalistic dark design, where you can add your logo or add a simple text. You can print on both sides of a paper bag, so make sure to use these in the best way possible!

Brown Bags For Your Festive Packaging Set

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Looking for more packaging inspirations? Check out more of our articles below:

• Ultimate Christmas Packaging Design Guide
• Learn more about minimalism in packaging design
• See when to order your boxes to make sure you're ready for Christmas