CASE STUDY | Beauty Product Advent Calendar

Packaging can make all the difference when establishing yourself in a competitive industry. In anticipation of this holiday season, one of our customers in the cosmetics/personal care industry came to us looking to create an advent calendar using 25 of their most popular products. They gave us a set budget they needed to adhere to and their dream scenario of how it would look. Once our team understood their vision, we got to work and set out to create their perfect packaging. Read on to learn how we did it.

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‍Step 1: Analyze Products & Create Sizes

The first step when creating custom packaging is establishing a common depth amongst the products. This is what drives the layout of the box. Once the depth is identified, common box sizes are created to hold the items that will live inside of the advent calendar. For this particular project, we settled on making 5 common box sizes to use throughout the calendar. Sticking to a set number of box sizes instead of creating individual sizes for each product makes for the most cost-effective production process.

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Step 2: Establish Layout

Once the common box sizes were created, our packaging engineers then divided the products into two groups that would be separated by trays, leaving us with a 2-layer advent calendar. The groups were assembled by similar shapes and formed together in a way that would create a puzzle-like pattern (think Tetris). This process is done a few times until finally landing on the most aesthetically pleasing layout.

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By keeping the outer box size compact, we were able to ensure that the project could be printed offset, helping to keep the final product cost-effective. Having a streamlined box also cut down on shipping costs.

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Did you notice in the photo above how our engineers organized the products into different grids to maximize the space and create a distinct pattern using the boxes? They also numbered the boxes in the left corner to make communication with the customer’s design team easy. Our client was then able to create custom artwork based on the final dielines that added a pop of color and the day of the month associated with each product.

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Step 3: Create Outer Box and Trays

Once the final layout was completed, our engineers created trays that would allow for multiple layers of products to stack on top of each other. The goal was to create the perfect balance between design and function without exceeding press sheet size limitations. The added benefit of this design is that it creates a memorable unboxing experience with layers of surprises that the recipients get to unpack.

Step 4: Production

Once the tray and outer box were designed, Lahlouh sent the final CAD design in for approval. When approved, the project went into production and was printed offset and diecut on our Bobst cutter.

After the printing had been completed, the outer box and trays were assembled in-house by our hand-work team. The inner boxes that were created to hold the individual products were run on our folder and gluer machine. These inner boxes were shipped flat in order to save on cost and were folded into the final shape by the customer. When all was said and done, our client was thrilled with the final product and Lahlouh successfully met and exceeded client expectations.

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We love having the opportunity to collaborate and create fun projects like these for our clients. Interested in working together on your next project? Get in touch with one of our specialists here and find out what Lahlouh can do for you.

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