How to Make Your Product Stand Out With Premium Printing Techniques
Product packaging is many things—not just a container. It could be ...
A store shelf attention-grabber.
A consumer’s first impression of your brand.
A customer experience waiting to happen.
A majority of people (72 percent) agree that packaging design influences their purchasing decisions, and even more agree (81 percent) that the packaging matters when they purchase as a gift.
No matter what your intentions are for your packaging, it’s a critical touchpoint, and using premium printing techniques has become a significant part of creating the perfect package, especially for luxury packaging in the home, beauty and beverage markets. Decorative printing is a useful tool for telling a brand’s story and communicating that a product is special or momentous, such as showcasing:
- Limited-edition appeal Specialty finishes can create an exclusive feel, enhancing the perceived value of your product. Limited edition designs with embossing, metallic elements, or unique textures make your products more collectible and appeal to customers who value exclusivity.
- Gift-worthiness Designs that include shine, glitter and gloss say “celebration,” helping brands to align their products with holidays and special occasions. Decorative packaging design can make the product giftable on its own, without needing the gift wrap.
- Memorable customer experiences To create a memorable unboxing experience, it’s not enough for a package to be pretty on the outside. The way someone interacts with it and opens it needs to be unique and engaging. Packaging that invites consumers to touch, smell, or even tilt for a visual effect (like motion-activated designs) helps make an unboxing interactive.
To figure out how to make your specific product stand out and make your brand memorable, it’s important to understand what’s possible and how a great design can combine those effects to create an engaging package. There are many decorative techniques designed to engage a number of the senses. Here’s a list of many of the printing enhancements we use when working with our brands so you can start brainstorming.
Printing techniques to elevate your packaging
1. Create shine and luster with print finishing solutions
If you’re looking for subtle sophistication, using gloss colors and finishes provides sleek, polished surfaces to communicate luxury or premium quality.
How to use: Combine gloss with matte color for added contrast, such as glossy typography over a matte or textured background. This balance of shine works beautifully for electronics, skincare, and high-end spirits.
While shine can be used to grab attention, it can also be used to create surprise. A gift or e-commerce box can look simple on the outside, but when the inside of the box is covered in a high-gloss print, it creates an unexpected unboxing moment.
2. Apply texture with digital printing
Textures evoke emotions and elevate tactile engagement. Studies have shown that using touch to evaluate the texture of a product can provide a sense of pleasure and comfort to the consumer, especially if the texture provides a pleasant experience.
- Embossed Textures: Use embossing or debossing (or blind embossing) to sculpt printed materials. Embossing lifts details off the surface creating a raised effect, while debossing pushes a design inward for a clean, elegant impression. These techniques add depth to packaging.
- Printed and Matte Textures: Finishes like Texturekote® or Velvetkote® mimic soft or rugged surfaces. Velvetkote, for example, creates a plush, soft-touch effect that’s both durable and luxurious—a perfect choice for premium products like electronics or cosmetics.
To recreate a material’s authentic feel, textures such as nubby leather, fine scratches or sand can also be mimicked, enabling experiential branding.
3. Make it metallic
Few things grab attention like shiny, reflective packaging. Metallic shine can communicate luxury by using the straight silver or overlaying with gold color. And combining metallic printing (silver) with color overlays is perfect for special occasions or celebrating holidays.
The traditional means of creating metallic prints is using the metalized polyester (metpoly) process. However, since metpoly uses PET, it can reduce fiber recovery during the recycling of your packaging. Thankfully, since consumers are looking to purchase sustainable products and many brands have made sustainability commitments, we offer ways you can get that same metallic print using methods that don’t incorporate plastic films.
We’ve worked with third parties to test the recyclability of these techniques, so our team is able to use that data in working with customers to create designs using metallic prints that minimize impact on the recycling process: Some of our options are:
- Glisterbrite®: Instead of vacuum metalizing PET, Glisterbrite vacuum metallizes paper, which provides a shine that’s similar to print created by the traditional metpoly process. Smurfit Westrock is the only manufacturer in North America currently using this process.
- Glisterkote®: Press-applied metallic print that provides a reflective shine that almost achieves that of Glisterbrite.
- Foilkote®: Cold foil process offering reflectivity similar to Glisterbrite.
4. Add some sparkle
If your product’s personality screams fun, festive or flashy, glitter and gem effects may be the way to go. These coatings are versatile, customizable and capable of everything from a subtle pearl-like effect to bold sparkle. Use for gift boxes, seasonal promotions or fun kids’ products.
- Gemkote®: Uses mica pigment to create an opal or pearl-like shine and color.
- Diamondkote®: Die-cut glitter is UV-applied to packaging to create an effect that goes from minimal sparkle (like lipstick or nail polish colors) to bold, high-contrast glitter. Since glitter is made from PET, note that this process can interfere with recyclability.
5. Use interactive ink
When you want your product to get attention, sometimes the brighter it is the better. Playing with color, like neon brites, can help you get attention, and if that color is interactive, it can make your product more memorable. Color-shifting and changing inks include:
- Thermochromic: The ink changes with temperature.
- Hydrochromic: The ink changes with moisture.
- Photochromic: The ink changes with the presence of UV light.
- Glow-in-the-dark: The ink absorbs UV light to create a glow when it’s left in the dark.
How to use: A hidden message could appear on a perfume box when exposed to sunlight. A package becomes more interactive when the color changes any place someone touches it. Mystery and playfulness take over with glow-in-the-dark color on toys, Halloween-related products or products used at night.
6. Cause a ca-“motion”
Capture attention instantly with visual movement. Techniques like Motionkote® bend and reflect light, giving the illusion of animation and encouraging consumers to interact with your packaging, not just the product. The technique is perfect for cutting-edge technology, luxury spirits or celebratory products designed to dazzle.
“Nothing attracts attention more than motion, because our eyes are automatically drawn to objects moving around us,” said Eric O'Malley, Smurfit Westrock Director of Graphic Design for Consumer Packaging. “Because of our innate survival instincts, our brains are hardwired to look at things that are moving. Our press-applied MotionKote technology bends and reflects light to create the illusion of surface movement .”
Specific raised patterns that shine, opposing the contrast of the matte background, give the illusion that the package is shifting or shimmering based on how someone holds it. Choose from a number of our sample patterns or create your own—the patterns are limitless.
Tips for choosing the right printing enhancements
Match the enhancement to the desired emotional effect.
Consider what you want your consumer to feel before making a final choice on the printing enhancement.
Consider your sustainability goals.
Many printing enhancements today will not interfere with your packaging’s recyclability. However, there are still a couple of effects that will.
Balance the effect with the cost.
Some techniques like glitter or emboss finish may have lower cost impacts than others like color-changing ink. Good design doesn’t need to break the bank—small touches can still make a big impact.
Consider what effects will most engage your audience while aligning with your brand.
A certain effect may really engage people, but if it doesn’t align well with your brand or your product, you may want to think twice about using it (or think more cleverly about how you can incorporate it well).
Packaging is your most direct connection to the consumer and one of your best opportunities to create a positive customer experience. By combining innovative printing techniques, you can create high-quality, multisensory experiences that your customers not only notice but remember. Whether you're adding texture, scent, shimmering visuals or motion, the right choices will consistently elevate your packaging from functional to experiential.
If you're looking for expert guidance on selecting the best printing techniques for your brand, contact our team. Let's turn your next packaging idea into a sensory-rich masterpiece that captivates your customers.
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