I belong to over a dozen artful community forums. One of the things I see from time to time is designers and customers sharing ideas with one another or asking each other for design suggestions. Most of these conversations are based on kit themes and it’s great to see the communication on that.  I also think it’s important for folks to share with each other do’s and don’ts or likes and dislikes about other elements of their exchange. One area that I hear grumbling about sometimes is in the product packaging department.

Business Tip for Digi-Art Designers:  Mention on your packaging anything that might be helpful to your customers to know BEFORE they purchase your product.  The only things customers tend to like when it comes to surprises are extra freebies.  Even those aren’t always welcomed if they cause a slow download or large file storage issue.

Four Things to Include on your Digi-Scrap Packaging:

1. Inform the customer up front what ppi setting your art is created in.  There are some customers who scrap in only one setting and they don’t want to be surprised with getting something other than that setting.  This is especially true if you create art in something other than 300-ppi.
2. Include on your packaging if your elements contain drop shadows or not.  Generally speaking, customers don’t want the drop shadows added.  It leaves a bad impression with a customer when the shadows are inconsistent with the rest of their page elements.  Designers and customers alike, know that there are times when “drops” are needed on a few elements in order for them to be created properly.  Just make sure you let the customer know whether or not the drop shadow is a piece of the art BEFORE they purchase it.
3. If you have elements packaged separately as well as in combination with other kits, let the customer know that up front.  For example, if you sell your alpha elements in a stand along package, but you’ve also included that particular alpha in a kit, inform the customer who’s considering a purchase that the alpha is included in the such-n-such kit also.  If they have the kit, they won’t want to purchase the alpha separately.  Conversely, if they want only the alpha they may want to purchase the alpha by itself and not the entire kit. Let them know it’s available.
4. Be extremely clear and upfront with full disclosure of any commercial use policies. To not clearly disclose any restrictions up front is fraud (even if it’s unintentional). So if you include a commercial use statement on your packaging, make sure you have the exact same commercial use policy that’s inside the product — also posted for the consumer to read BEFORE purchasing the product. This is a business-to-business transaction with a contract between buyer and seller.  So handle it appropriately.

Quick Mini-Tasker(s)

• For Designers: Take a minute to double check your packaging and consider whether or not you may be delivering an unwanted surprise to your customers. Make any changes you think are warranted.
• For Store Owners: Make sure you have a feedback form located on your website that is in an easy-to-find location for your customers and ask them for their opinions of the products they purchase from you.
• For Digi-Art Consumers: If you purchased a product that had a surprise in it, take a minute to drop an email to the designer or store owner. Let them know what you got that you didn’t like, or what you did like about the surprise you received. Even if they don’t ask for your feedback - your feedback will help them improve their product choices for you.
• For Business Exchangers: If you purchased or sold a commercial use product and found the exchange to be unfair - law permits/requires you to make good on that exchange. While quality of a product may be subjective… commercial use policies are not.  These “contracts” are cut and dry, black and white, without room for gray areas. Initiate any discussions for appropriate disclosure and refunds if necessary.  A TOU is a contractual agreement and needs to be upheld by all parties involved.

Gripe, Praise, and Share Your Thoughts

Drop us a tip in the comments box on this entry if you have a concern about product packaging, if you have a praise about it, or if you just have a thought for discussion.  We’d love to hear what you have to say from the business owner perspective as well as from the consumer point of view.

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