CBD Product Design – Why is it So Important?

1st April 2021

Be honest – how many times have you picked up a product, or even immediately decided to buy simply because the packaging caught your attention? Probably quite a few. Well, if you have ever looked at CBD products, you probably noticed that in most cases, the product design leaves a lot to be desired. This is a mistake that many companies make when trying to break into the market. After all, it is the first thing that customers see.

However, this is just one of the reasons why the product design is an important element – if you want to know why else, as well as how to get the packaging right, just keep on reading.

CBD Product Design – The Importance

As experts from Joy Organics online CBD shop explain, the CBD market, although relatively new, is very competitive. Many companies are doing their best to put out as many products as possible so that their customers have a variety to choose from. However, among all the rush, they forget about product design.

Although the rush is understandable, there are two reasons why forgetting about the design of the product is a mistake:

  • Great product design can be what helps you stand out from your competitors.
  • CBD marketing ideas are subject to law and CBD marketing regulations – the packaging needs to be compliant with both of them.

It’s important to understand that CBD companies are under much greater regulatory scrutiny than those offering products such as regular dietary supplements or cosmetics from natural ingredients. If they make even a small mistake, there could be consequences, including legal penalties, which is why brands need to be extra careful when designing their packaging.

CBD products have to be designed as either a health supplement or a food item, and although it might seem pretty easy to distinguish between the two, the truth is that it isn’t because many products fall in-between.

CBD Packaging – How It Should Be Done

Now that you know why the product design is so important, let’s move on to the next matter – that is how the packaging should look like. First of all, all the products that are going to be sold in the US need to have a label that is adapted to the FDA regulations. This means that it has to include, for instance:

  • Ingredient list
  • Nutritional breakdown
  • Product volume
  • Potency
  • Brand information

It’s crucial to remember that depending on the jurisdiction, the regulations might be slightly different, so before you put your product out there, you need to make sure that the label follows them.

Last but not least, any CBD brand needs to be very careful about any medical statements they put on the labels. Both the FDA in the USA and the FSA in the UK are very strict when it comes to unsupported medical and health claims, and the brands that make such claims on their packaging or website may well face legal action.

So, if you are planning on putting a CBD product on the market, be careful about the language you use and what exactly you put on the label.

CBD Packaging – The Aesthetics

Of course, when talking about packaging and labels, we cannot forget about the aesthetic aspect. When deciding on the aesthetics of your product, you need to consider your audience.

The brands that target a market with significant carryover with cannabis use will generally utilise product designs known within that space – so, think non-especially refined and full of puns involving cannabis.

Brands who already have some collections of other products and just incorporate a few infused with cannabis in most cases use the same design as their other products have, with a simple informational sentence “infused with CBD” somewhere at the bottom.

Last but not least, for brands that target a more general market, it is recommended to avoid language or design elements that are too closely related to the 4/20 culture, as it might evoke negative emotions in some people.

The Bottom Line

Many people have the impression that packaging is one of the least important aspects of a product – nothing could be further from the truth. The product needs to catch the potential customer’s attention – otherwise, they might not even notice it on the shelf. CBD products are no exception to that rule.

However, as you could see above, designing a CBD label is a lot more complicated than designing a label for a makeup product or a diet supplement. There are several things that you need to take into consideration, not to mention how careful you need to be with the language you use.

Despite those difficulties, and the fact that the CBD market is relatively new, we believe that it will continue growing, and who knows – maybe in the near future, the regulations won’t be as strict as they are now?

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