the wingman project

§II.05 · PACKAGING · THE ONLY MEDIUM YOUR CUSTOMER PAYS TO TAKE HOME

THETHREE-SECONDSHELF WAR.

A shelf gives your product one glance, at arm’s length, under fluorescent retail light, flanked by rivals on every side. Your pack has to win at 50 feet and close at 6 inches. It has to read in a bathroom and on a phone screen and across a Costco endcap. And it has to do all of it inside the manufacturer’s spec and inside your budget. That’s the war. We build the pack that comes home.

Start your pack Walk the aisle

STEP 01 · CONTEXT

We don’t design your pack on a white background. We design it against the shelf it has to beat.

Every engagement opens with shelf context: the actual store, the actual neighbours, the actual light. The glance is never won in the abstract; it’s won relative to whatever stands six inches to your left. So we walk the aisle first, then we draw.

f-1 · the aisle, three distancesfluorescent retail lighting · pass50 FT: THE GLANCEone block of colour survives the squint.10 FT: THE APPROACHthe facing panel speaks: one mark, one colour, one promise.ARM'S LENGTH: THE HANDYOURNAMEmade to be picked upBLEED 3 MM →display 900 over regulatory mono: the pack's own war of scales.50 FT10 FT6 IN→ THE WALK TO YOUR PACK
f-1 · the aisle, three distances50 FT: THE GLANCEone block of colour survives the squint.10 FT: THE APPROACHone mark, one colour, one promise.ARM'S LENGTH: THE HANDYOURNAMEmade to be picked upBLEED 3 MMdisplay 900 over regulatory mono.50 FT10 FT6 IN

PLATE PKG-01 · STEP 02 · DIELINE

Drawn flat. True when folded.

We design against real dielines from real manufacturers — never a pretty rectangle floating in a deck. Cut, crease, glue, tuck: the drawing has to fold, or nothing else about it matters. You never interpret a dieline spec. We speak the language natively.

f-2 · one dieline becomes one boxCUTCREASE01 · FLAT · THE TRUTH02 · FOLDED · THE TEST03 · SHELF-READYFRONTSIDEBACKSIDEABCDEF350 GSM BOARDSCORE & FOLDFOLD ON THE CREASE, NOT WHERE INK WANTSGLUE & TUCK
f-2 · one dieline becomes one box01 · FLAT · THE TRUTHFRONTSIDEBACKSIDEABCDEF350 GSM BOARD02 · FOLDED · THE TESTFOLD ON THE CREASE, NOT WHERE INK WANTS03 · SHELF-READYCUTCREASE
  1. A
    Score linewhere the board agrees to bend: the fold happens here, not where the ink wants.
  2. B
    Bleed · 3 mmart runs past the knife so the knife is allowed to miss by a hair.
  3. C
    Glue tabthe joint that holds the whole argument together.
  4. D
    Perfthe tear your customer makes without thinking about it.
  5. E
    Regulatory panelcompliance copy, placed where the law wants it. Never missed.
  6. F
    Substrate calloutthe board itself, named on the drawing: 350 gsm and proud of it.

SIX FORMS WE’VE SHIPPED · EACH A MANUFACTURING ANSWER

  • S.01Tuck-end boxthe workhorse
  • S.02Timber cratethe heirloom
  • S.03Kraft mailerthe doorstep
  • S.04Card sleevethe reveal
  • S.05Mailer tubethe cylinder
  • S.06Glass bottlethe label war

SURVIVE.

A pack that wins the glance but dies on the line is a sketch. Ours run, at speed, in spec, on budget, because the drawing already knows what the machine will do to it.

f-3 · section through the packwhat the line must surviveBLEED · 3 MMCALIPERSUBSTRATE: 350 GSM SOLID BOARD · ALSO RUNS 100% PCW KRAFTSCORE: CREASE CHANNELTHE BOARD AGREES TO BEND HEREPERF: TEAR LINEOPENS WITHOUT A KNIFEBLIND EMBOSS: RAISED, NO INKSPOT FOIL: COPPERGLUE FLAP: OVERLAP + ADHESIVE BEADSECTION A–A · ENLARGED DETAILCOLOUR · SUBSTRATE · SPECPRESS CHECK: REQUIRED
f-3 · section through the packBLEED · 3 MMPAST THE TRIM KNIFESCORE: CREASECHANNELPERF:TEAR LINEBLIND EMBOSS:RAISED, NO INKSPOT FOIL:COPPERGLUE FLAP +ADHESIVE BEADSUBSTRATE: 350 GSM SOLID BOARD · 100% PCW KRAFTSECTION A–A · PRESS CHECK REQUIRED

STEP 03 · RENDER

You approve a pack you can practically pick up.

Photoreal 3D renders before anything touches print: rotate it, light it, shelve it next to its rivals, while a change still costs nothing. The render doubles as your first marketing asset.

STEP 04 · COORDINATE

We talk to your manufacturer so you never have to.

Colour, substrate, spec, press conditions: negotiated directly with the people running the machines. You are never the translator sitting between a designer and a printer.

PUT ON PRESS

  • F.01Uncoated · 350 gsm
  • F.02Letterpress
  • F.03Spot foil · copper
  • F.04Emboss · blind
  • F.05Soft-touch lam
  • F.06Kraft · 100% PCW

STEP 05 · PROOF · THE CHECKOUT

Everything ends in files your printer can run without a phone call.

Print-ready dielines, print files, and proofs, for every SKU, not just the hero. Plus the render set your marketing team will be using before the first carton is glued.

Get this receipt

PACKAGING · FINAL HANDOFF

§II.05 · ALL SKUS · ALL FILES

01PRINT-READY DIELINESEVERY SKU

02PRINT FILESEVERY SKU

03PRESS PROOFSEVERY SKU

043D RENDERS · MARKETING SETINCL.

05MANUFACTURER-READY HANDOFF FILEINCL.

06REGULATORY-COMPLIANT COPY PLACEMENTWHERE APPLICABLE

TOTALEVERYTHING YOUR PRINTER NEEDS

THANK YOU · SEE YOU ON THE SHELF

The war ends in a kitchen.

The glance lasts three seconds. The counter lasts months. Unboxing is the moment brand becomes object — and a pack good enough to keep working after it’s empty ends up holding the wooden spoons, sitting beside the kettle, saying your name in the most trusted room of the house. We design for the shelf, for the hand, and for every quiet day after.

Shelf-ready. Manufacturable. Beautiful. And then useful.

f-4 · the second lifemonths after checkoutlong after the aisle: still on the counter, still saying your name.
f-4 · the second lifestill on the counter,still saying your name.

§II.05 · PACKAGING · PHYSICAL PACKAGING THAT SELLS ON SHELF AND SURVIVES A MANUFACTURING RUN

Need a pack that earns the shelf?

We’ll design it, render it, and press-check it. Three seconds is plenty — if the pack is ready for them.

Talk to us