Promotional bags are a wonderful branding tool. They have almost as much value as word-of-mouth advertising – seeing your bag and logo on someone else’s shoulders is an unspoken endorsement of your products and service. Yet, there is always a dilemma … people don’t really like wearing advertising around! The trick to creating a promotional bag that people want to wear is making the branding subtle and the design inspirational. Create something within the design that people identify with or aspire to (like romance, style, friendship, quirkiness, etc), and you will create a soldier in your army of brand ambassadors, every time you give away a promotional bag!
Today we look at some more design tips for creating inspiring promotional bags.
Consider alternative bag styles as complement to design
Don’t just plonk your logo and graphic on any old promotional bag … and certainly don’t choose your bag just because it is the cheapest. You can see how the homey, rustic style graphics of this re-useable bag complement the bag style itself. Of course, everybody is most familiar with the fold-out polyethylene style of bag that major supermarkets carry – but that isn’t the only one! Have a good look through the range before you decide, because bag style can do wonders in accentuating your design.
Be minimal
A designer’s best friend is white space. Trying to squeeze too many elements, colours, photos and ideas onto a promotional bag only waters down their impact. This bag says a lot because it says so little – the design stays fresh and airy, because of all the space that the graphic has. Of course, this strategy will work well with some logos, but not with others.
Let your customers speak through the bags
We discussed the way that people use promotional bags as part of their identity earlier; when you cerate something within the design that people identify with, they look forward to wearing your product. You can do that just as effectively (and sometimes more so), with words than with graphics alone. The trick here is to resist the temptation to put your company name or slogan on here. People identify with concepts and ideas, not necessarily with companies – keep it general.
Create a bag design ‘set’ with complementary colours or images
People are attracted to products where they have a choice of colour, flavour or design within a ‘set’. You can see this strategy used throughout advertising … the delicious-looking rainbow of bath bubbles scents, the range of new season tshirts on TV that are advertised with every colour in the range, artfully ordered as they would appear on a colour wheel. You can utilise the principle in your environmental bags, as well, in a range of different ways. Polka dots are not mandatory!
Be big and bold with your design
Don’t create a bag that is a shrinking violet – be big and bold. This will help not only with your branding, but with helping your customers express themselves. People use their clothing and accessories often to say what they want to say – so there’s little point in having a design that ‘whispers’. This bag is a great example – it uses every inch of fabric, has a bold and simple design in a variety of colours, and creates a strong visual impression.