How long does it take to design packaging?

You have a new product ready to launch, but the packaging timeline is a mystery. You worry that a delay in design could push back your entire launch, costing you momentum and sales.

The complete packaging design process¹, from selecting materials to finalizing print-ready files, typically takes about two weeks. This involves structural design², prototyping³, and graphic design⁴ before production can even begin.

In my journey from a factory employee to founding Wansa Packaging, I've seen countless projects succeed or fail based on their timeline. The design phase is more than just making something look good. It's a technical process that lays the foundation for everything that follows. I often have to explain to clients that we can't just jump straight to printing. There's a critical path we must follow to ensure the final box is perfect. Let's break down that path.

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How many hours does it take to design packaging?

You're trying to budget your team's time or a freelancer's quote, but "two weeks" feels vague. You need to understand the actual hours involved to plan your project and resources effectively.

A typical custom packaging design⁵ project can take anywhere from 20 to 80 hours of active work. Simple projects are on the lower end, while complex structural design²s with intricate graphics can easily exceed this.

The total hours depend on a few key phases. It's not one person working nonstop. It's a collaboration between your team and my team. For us as the manufacturer, the structural part is our focus. From material selection⁶ to creating the structure and preparing the final print documents, we need about half a month . This is because we must first choose the right material to determine the box structure. Only after we confirm the box dimensions can we finalize the dieline file⁷ for the graphic design⁴er . This foundational work can't be rushed. It involves several hours of engineering, sampling, and testing to get it right. The graphic design⁴ hours are then added on top of this.

Packaging Design: Estimated Hours

Design Phase	Estimated Hours	Key Activities
Discovery & Strategy	5-15 hours	Market research, defining goals, mood boarding.
Structural Design	10-30 hours	Material selection, dieline creation, white sampling, fit testing.
Graphic Design	10-35 hours+	Concept creation, revisions8, creating final print-ready artwork.

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How long does it take to produce packaging?

Your design is finally approved, and you think you're close to the finish line. But the production timeline is a black box, and you can't give your boss or your customers a firm launch date.

After the design file is approved, standard packaging production takes about 3 to 4 weeks. This includes printing, cutting, assembly, and quality control⁹. Complex jobs or very large orders can take longer.

Once I receive the final, approved artwork from a client like Jacky, my team shifts from design mode into production mode. This is a completely different process with its own timeline. Thinking you can get boxes a few days after you approve the design is a common mistake that can disrupt a whole marketing plan. The 3-4 week timeframe is real, and it’s packed with crucial steps. First, we run pre-press checks on your files and create the custom printing plates. Then, the boxes are printed, and any special finishes like foil stamping are applied. After that, they go to be die-cut and assembled, which for rigid boxes, is often a careful, hands-on process. Finally, every batch goes through quality control⁹ before we pack them for shipment. Each step takes time to do right.

The 4-Week Production Path

Week	Stage	What Happens
Week 1	Pre-Press	We check your files and create the custom printing plates and cutting dies.
Week 2	Printing & Finishing	Your designs are printed on large sheets; finishes like lamination are applied.
Week 3	Cutting & Assembly	Sheets are cut and creased; boxes are folded and glued into their final shape.
Week 4	Quality Control & Shipping	We inspect the final boxes for defects and then pack them for dispatch.

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How long does it take to create a design?

You have the box structure from your manufacturer, but now you need the graphics. Your designer is asking for a week or more, and you're wondering what actually takes so long.

Creating just the graphic design⁴ for your packaging can take from a few days to a few weeks. The timeframe depends heavily on concept development, the number of revisions⁸, and final artwork preparation.

4er's computer screen showing Adobe Illustrator with a box dieline and artwork." title="Creating Graphic Design for Packaging" />

This is the part of the process where I hand things over to the client's creative team. From my experience, for packaging design, our clients usually hire professional packaging design agencies¹⁰ to handle the graphic design⁴ . These experts can create amazing print designs that really connect with customers . Their process usually involves a few stages. First, they spend a couple of days creating initial concepts. Then comes the biggest variable: revisions⁸. The back-and-forth between the designer and the client to refine colors, text, and imagery can take anywhere from two days to two weeks. Once a design is approved, the designer spends another day or two creating the final, technical, print-ready file that they send back to me. This file has to be perfect, with the right colors and layers, to ensure it prints exactly as intended.

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How much do designers charge for packaging design?

You need to set a budget for packaging design, but the prices you see online range wildly. You're afraid of either overpaying for a simple job or underpaying and getting a poor result.

Packaging design costs can range from a few hundred dollars for a freelancer on a simple project to over $10,000 for a detailed product line designed by a professional agency.

The price for design is not one-size-fits-all. It depends entirely on who you hire and what you need. A quick update to an existing mailer box design might cost you a few hundred dollars. But if you're launching a new luxury cosmetic line with five different products, each needing a custom rigid box and insert, you are looking at a much larger investment with a design agency. Most of my successful clients understand that design is an investment, not an expense. The professional design firms they hire bring market knowledge and a proven process that leads to a better final product. The cost reflects their experience, the time they will spend on research, the number of concepts they will develop, and the overall complexity of your project. You are paying for a creative partner who can help your product succeed on the shelf.

Typical Packaging Design Costs

Designer Level	Simple Project (e.g., Mailer Box)	Complex Project (e.g., Rigid Box Suite)
Online Freelancer	$200 - $800	$800 - $2,500
Independent Designer	$1,000 - $3,000	$3,000 - $7,000
Design Agency	$5,000 - $10,000	$10,000 - $25,000+

Conclusion

From start to finish, plan for 6-8 weeks from your first design brief to having finished boxes in hand. Design takes about two weeks, and production takes another 3-4 weeks.

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