A baby is a huge change in parents’ lives. This is a whole new human to nurture, care for, and help grow. A part of this new parental journey also includes finding the best products to take care of the baby. So, it’s no wonder that the baby care industry is booming.

According to Grand View Research, the global baby care market size was valued at USD 18.17 billion in 2020 and is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3% from 2021 to 2028.

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This boom in the baby care industry could very well be another consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents began to spend more time than ever at home, leading to more money and resources being spent on child care.

Irrespective of the reason, the baby care industry is growing at a rapid pace and new products keep cropping up in the market. With so many brands vying for parents’ attention on the supermarket shelf, packaging is one way top brands are trying to stand out from competition. Knowing these baby care packaging trends can help you rise above the noise and choose the right design approach for your brand.

7 packaging trends in baby care you need to know

Here are a few packaging trends in the baby care industry you need to consider.

1. Iconic illustrations

Products with unique illustrations on the packaging can increasingly be seen on shelves today. And it’s no surprise either, considering the originality and uniqueness illustrations add to packaging, solidifying a brand’s identity and providing the differentiating factor that will help them stand out on shelves.

Puracy, for instance, uses illustrations to highlight key ingredients in the product — a whole separate trend in itself (see trend #2). Noodle & Boo, ​​a luxury maternity and baby skincare brand, uses cute illustrations such as hearts, rubber ducks, and teddy bears to convey the innocence and mild gentleness the products themselves are known for. 

The illustrations on The Honest Company’s packaging are a little more playful with a visual style that’s consistent across all products, also increasing brand recall. Hello Bello, as well, features illustrations and little finishes that add character to the brand as a whole, making them stand out on the shelves.

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2. Classic and clean

Nothing speaks to the balance, lightness, and delicateness of baby products like a clean and minimalistic design. Instead of an array of colors, these packaging designs keep it white dominant and the focus is on the logo and product itself. 

The sense of calmness and innocence this type of packaging provides totally works considering the target demographic. As you can see in all the examples of this trend, the packaging is transparent, lacks any drama or jazz, and speaks to new parents through a clean and minimalistic design that also creates a harmonious brand perception.

Mee Mee’s delicate white packaging, for instance, highlights the most important features of the product, thereby not confusing new parents with tricky messaging. Puracy, Sebamed, and Aquaphor also use packaging in a similar vein to focus just on the key ingredients. 

Another standout product design here is Baby Bum, which is minimalistic and portrays a sense of calmness with its colors and typography.

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3. Realistic imagery

While it will take years to build the kind of recall value the Gerber baby has, realistic imagery — i.e., including pictures or illustrations of babies in packaging — still seems to be a trend among brands. While Pigeon and Nimble have images of actual babies in the packs, brands like Wellements and Frida Baby have gone the illustration route.

Nothing like reminding us who these products are meant for smack dab in the middle of the packaging, right?

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4. Bold and vibrant

Research shows that colors have a direct impact on people’s emotions and moods. So, it comes as no surprise that brands use vibrant and energetic colors to catch customers’ attention on retail shelves.

A lot of these examples show a sense of playfulness and joy — two very appropriate keywords for products being used on babies and toddlers. By making the packaging bright and fun, these products give parents pause in a supermarket for sure. They look exciting, energetic, and eye-catching.

Weleda, Alaffia, and Colic Calm have embraced the color yellow in the examples shown here. Meanwhile, Boudreaux's Butt Paste uses a scroll-stopping bright red, and Earth Mama uses solid blocks of bright colors across its product line to stand out on shelves.

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5. Ingredient imagery

In this trend, brands display their carefully-chosen ingredients in the packaging through illustrations and finishes.

This way, the packaging design is not only aesthetic, but also functional, and opens up opportunities for layered stylization. This consequently makes your packaging — and the product, by extension — authentic and transparent, something parents love in the baby products they’re shelling out money for.

As you can see from these examples, the way ingredients are incorporated in the design varies from brand to brand. Some of the options you have here for ingredient imagery include:

• Free floating lines
• Abstract patterns
• Layered forms
• Hand-drawn images
• Semi-realistic imagery
• Line drawings
• Integrated descriptions with visuals

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6. Gradients and blends

Flat is no longer the default choice for packaging designs. You can now see so many brands that are playing with gradients in packaging as a means to add some depth and interest to designs. While gradients do stand out on a shelf, they are still muted enough to have the typography take center stage.

As you can see from all these examples, the gradient trend not only adds layers and depth to packaging design, but also keeps the attention on just the need-to-know information for new parents.

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7. Typography

A lot of brands are now going for a no-frills, typography-led approach to packaging design. In all these examples, you will notice that the text takes center stage, structured in a way that the user gets all the information they need. Most of these brands also go for a modern typeface that shows off the contemporary nature of both the design and the product itself.

Considering the fact that you only have a few seconds to catch the consumer’s eyes, this type of design gets to the point immediately with clear font on a clean background. While the font is front and center, colors and patterns still get to play in interesting ways to tell the brand story visually as evident from all the products shown here. 

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Wrapping up

Irrespective of the packaging design you go for, the common theme across designs for baby products seems to be anything that shows innocence, tells a bold visual story, and is straightforward enough to not confuse new parents.

With a label management solution like & brand asset management software Artwork Flow, you can ensure your designers bring together all the elements you require from the brand logo to category color and product benefits accurately and also collaborate with your print vendor to ensure the final labels match what the team initially had in mind. 

With the right kind of workflow automation, your product’s packaging too will be something to go goo goo gaga over!

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