How Much Does Packaging Design Cost?

Packaging design cost ranges from around £250 for simple labels to hundreds of pounds for complex, engineered packaging, depending on scope, SKU count, materials, and printing methods. Costs include research and strategy, structural design, visual artwork, prototyping, tooling, pre-press setup, project management, and supplier coordination. Budgets rise with additional images, graphics, text blocks, regulatory requirements, or new brand assets, while established templates and colour systems reduce effort. Production factors such as material choice, print method, run size, finishing, and embellishments further influence pricing. Typical timelines range from 3–10 days for labels, 3–8 weeks for single-SKU cartons, and 8–16+ weeks for tool-dependent packs. Accurate quotes require detailed briefs, clear specifications, and itemised costs, while cost savings can be achieved through template reuse, limiting design elements, and using digital printing for short runs. Overall, packaging design cost reflects the complexity, production demands, and level of brand and technical integration

What is Packaging Design Cost?

The packaging design cost ranges from about £250 to hundreds of pounds. However, the total cost of packaging design depends on the scope of work that defines concept generation, structural layout and artwork preparation for a single pack or a group of variants. Cost expands when the project includes research that aligns packaging with brand rules, structural tasks that generate dielines or CAD files, and artwork steps that place images, graphics and text in print‑safe positions. Prototyping and pre‑press tasks add further items because each stage prepares samples and converts layouts into press‑ready files. Fees increase as designers handle additional design elements such as multiple images or long text groups, and the cost changes again when a brand lacks templates or colour rules. Designer experience affects the rate, and printing technique shifts the final figure because digital and offset processes set different material and plate charges.

Which Elements Compose Packaging Design Cost?

Design budgets are typically composed of research & strategy, structural engineering, visual artwork, prototyping, tooling and pre‑press/production coordination. The remainder of this section defines each element, describes what it does and explains how it behaves as the project scope changes.

Research and Strategy

Research and strategy define product positioning, user requirements and competitive differentiation for packaging. This work sets target attributes such as materials like corrugated board, PET or glass, shelf impact criteria and regulatory constraints such as food contact or labelling. Typical allocation sits at 5 to 20% of the total design budget for single SKU projects, and a larger share applies to multi SKU ranges where governance rules must be codified. The number of design elements, such as images, graphics and text, increases this allocation if the content grows. A clear brand foundation lowers costs if assets already exist. Designer expertise raises or lowers this spend in direct proportion to skill level. Printing choices also influence this stage because digital and offset processes create different material and preparation costs.

Structural Design 

Structural design forms the package by creating a dieline, CAD files and flat patterns that confirm fit, protection and manufacturability. It covers folding cartons, rigid boxes and thermoformed or injection moulded containers, and its cost rises as complexity grows. A simple folding carton for one SKU often costs a few hundred to a couple of thousand pounds, and a custom injection mould with tolerancing and multiple cavities can reach several thousand to tens of thousands of pounds. Early structural work limits manufacturing risk if tooling or tight tolerances apply, and additional design elements or print requirements increase this cost.

Visual Artwork and Brand Application

Visual artwork covers layout construction on the dieline, colour separations and proof‑ready files that translate brand elements into print‑safe assets. Pricing rises with extra images, text groups or illustrations and increases again if the designer builds typography or colour rules from scratch. Work is usually costed per SKU or as a template system, and fees vary by designer experience, if licensed imagery or specific print methods require detailed colour management.

Prototyping and Sampling

Prototyping creates physical or digital samples to validate fit, print and assembly before committing to production. Digital mock‑ups are low-cost; physical samples range from tens to several hundred pounds per prototype, depending on material and finishing. Multiple iterations increase cost linearly if each revision requires new tooling or specialist finishing.

Tooling and Moulds

Tooling refers to capital items such as cutting dies, moulds and embossing stamps used to reproduce a package at scale. For folding cartons, a cutting die may cost from a few hundred pounds; for injection or blow moulding, single‑cavity tooling commonly starts in the low thousands and can rise to tens of thousands depending on cavity count and steel grade. Tooling represents a fixed upfront cost that must be amortised over production quantity.

Pre‑Press and Printer Setup

Pre‑press and printer setup convert artwork into print plates, digital files and press controls required by the chosen printing process. Digital, lithographic and flexographic printing rely on different setup tasks: digital runs use minimal setup and a higher per‑unit price, litho and flexo use plates with a plate cost and a higher initial setup. Fees change with the number of design elements such as images, graphics and text, because extra elements add colour checks or separation steps. A clear brand template reduces preparation time if one already exists. Pre‑press fees appear per SKU and sit as fixed items on most quotes.

Project Management and Supplier Coordination

Project management controls schedule, approvals and day‑to‑day contact with printers and converters. It is billed as a percentage of the project fee (8–20%) or as hourly time. The task cuts miscommunication and limits revision cycles that raise costs. Extra design elements such as images, graphics or text increase this load if each addition adds checks across teams. A clear brand template reduces time. Designer experience changes the rate, and printing choices such as digital or offset add separate coordination steps because each method uses different file checks.

SKU Count and Variant Management

SKU count increases artwork time and proofing because each variant adds layout checks and pre‑press steps. A shared master template reduces per‑SKU cost when repeated elements carry across variants. Unique SKUs raise total cost if designers build separate layouts, apply new images, graphics or text groups, or adapt colour settings for each file. Existing brand assets lower effort when colours, fonts and placement rules already exist. Designer experience shifts rates up or down, and printing choices such as digital or offset add file checks that repeat for every SKU, if colour groups or separations change.

Regulatory and Testing Requirements

Regulatory compliance and laboratory testing add direct fees and time to the schedule. Examples include food‑contact testing, Safety Data Sheet alignment and child‑safety certification; testing costs vary by scope and may be charged per sample or per test type.

Which Factors Influence the Total Cost of Packaging Design?

The cost changes when materials, print method, run size, finishing steps, SKU count and specific technical requirements shift. Each factor alters labour time, setup effort or unit price and creates different cost behaviours across short and long runs.

Material Specification

Material choice sets substrate cost and affects handling, and each category creates a different constraint on weight, fold behaviour and adhesion. Paperboard, PET and glass shift cost because thickness, rigidity and coating alter die‑cutting or labelling time. Speciality substrates raise unit price and often extend structural checks if coating depth or surface tension changes how the artwork sits on the sheet.

Print Method and Run Size

Print method changes setup, plate creation and per‑unit pricing. Digital print suits short runs under about 1,000–5,000 units because setup is minimal, and colour groups print without plates. Litho or flexo fits longer runs because plate or cylinder cost spreads across volume, with step changes when runs cross thresholds that justify new tooling. Colour count, image density and artwork complexity still shift cost if extra separations or checks are required.

Artwork and Design 

Artwork cost rises when layouts hold multiple images, illustrations, icons or long text blocks, because each element adds placement, colour and separation checks. Established brand assets reduce time if colour groups and font rules exist; new brands increase work when designers build templates from scratch. Designer experience also shifts the fee, and printing technique influences preparation steps if digital and offset require different pre‑flight checks.

Finishing and Embellishments

Foiling, embossing, varnish, and laminations add fixed tools and variable costs, and each step changes both the setup fee and per‑unit price. Extra textures, raised surfaces or metallic layers push sampling time because each effect needs a new plate, die or test sheet. Design element count, such as added graphics or text groups, raises this cost again if colour groups or separations change across finishes.

Brand Maturity

Established brands with defined colour systems, logos and type rules cut design time because a designer reuses layout logic rather than building assets from zero. Early‑stage brands increase cost when new palettes, icon sets, or typography groups must be created. Template gaps, such as missing dielines or print rules, extend artwork checks if imagery, graphics or long text blocks need repeated placement tests.

Printing Costs and Technique Selection

Printing cost depends on substrate grade, ink coverage, colour count and press type, and these variables shift both setup and per‑unit pricing. Digital print works well for low volumes because setup is minimal; litho or offset printing sits better for long runs where plate cost spreads across quantity. Extra images or colour groups add pre‑press checks if separations change across SKUs.

Regulatory or Testing Requirements

Regulatory checks add discrete costs because food‑contact rules, chemical disclosure tests and product‑safety reviews all require separate laboratory procedures. Each category creates a fee per test type, and adjustments to label text or hazard statements can trigger new artwork updates if compliance wording changes. Extra design elements such as images, graphics or dense text blocks extend revision time when regulators request clarified copy or altered placement.

Supplier Coordination

Supplier coordination adds labour time because file transfers, proof confirmations and production‑slot alignment vary across printers and converters. Different pre‑press standards, such as colour profiles or bleed requirements, increase the number of checks and slow approvals. Extra design elements, for example, multiple images or text groups, add further steps if each supplier requests separate validations for colour separation or material fit.

What is the Estimated Budget for Packaging Design?

The estimated budget for packaging design is based on three scenario profiles that illustrate deliverables and cost bands.

Starter Profile

The estimated budget for a starter profile is £250–£1,500. The cost covers a compact group of tasks: a short brief, one concept, a single dieline or label layout, one revision cycle and print‑ready artwork. Freelance designers handle this scope because structural work stays simple, and brand assets often sit at a basic level. Extra images, graphics or long text groups raise cost if the layout grows. Designers set higher or lower fees based on experience, and printing methods such as digital runs shift the final cost because material choice and ink coverage change per‑unit price. This profile fits jar labels, short‑run stickers or small sleeves where tooling does not apply.

Standard Profile: retail single SKU or a few SKUs

The estimated budget for a standard profile is £1,500–£6,000. Work covers research, a structured brief, 2–3 concepts, structural dielines, full artwork and 1–3 prototypes that confirm fit and print. Specialist studios or small agencies manage this because they handle structural checks and pre‑press handover. Costs move up when image count, graphic density or regulatory text increases. If brand rules already exist, artwork time reduces because colour groups and typography remain fixed. Print method influences cost again: digital suits short runs, offset suits larger quantities.

Range or launch profile: 5–20 SKUs with brand system

The estimated budget for range and launch profile is £7,500–£40,000. The scope expands into system-level work: brand rules, master templates, structural variations, per‑SKU artwork and prototyping. Full‑service agencies handle this because multiple SKUs require version control, supplier coordination and consistent layout behaviour. Cost grows with variant count if images, graphics or new text groups change per file. Printing decisions raise further checks because colour separations and plate sets repeat across all SKUs. Use cases include product lines where consistency across packaging types affects shelf recognition and supply‑chain planning.

Complex Engineered Packaging

The estimated budget for complex engineered packaging starts at £12,000 and reaches £60,000+. Costs rise because structural parts rely on moulds, multi‑cavity tools and precision checks that sit beyond standard dieline work. Extra images, graphics or long text groups extend artwork time if each face of the pack holds content that needs exact placement. Designer experience shifts rates, and printing choices such as digital or offset change pre‑press steps because separations, colour groups and substrate behaviour vary across technical builds.

How Long Does Packaging Design Take?

Typical delivery time ranges from about one week for simple label work to three months for complex, tool‑dependent projects. Simple label jobs can be completed in 3–10 working days; single‑SKU folding cartons commonly take 3–8 weeks; engineered packaging with tooling frequently requires 8–16+ weeks when mould manufacture and testing are included.

How to Get Accurate Quotes for Packaging Design Cost?

To obtain accurate quotes for packaging design cost, prepare a brief that lists product dimensions, chosen substrates, run size, regulatory notes and the exact files you expect. Suppliers give clearer estimates when one document names all elements, including images, graphics and text groups. Ask for itemised pricing that separates one‑off work, such as tooling or prototypes, from recurring work, such as per‑unit print cost. Add a small revision allowance and a contingency so timing changes or artwork updates stay controlled. Costs shift again if brand assets are incomplete or if the designer uses different print methods, such as digital or offset.

How Can Packaging Design Cost Be Reduced?

The packaging design cost can be reduced by limiting colour groups, using one substrate across SKUs, and merging dielines into a shared master. Teams cut extra labour when they keep images, graphics and text groups to a defined set, because each added element triggers new artwork checks. Digital print lowers setup fees for short runs, if volumes sit below thresholds where plate creation makes sense. Brands also save money when they reuse existing templates, apply consistent dimensions and spread tooling across multiple production cycles to reduce the per‑unit impact.