Imagine someone glancing at a package: there are three things they see simultaneously: who’s made it, what the product is, and which variant they’re looking at. If the brand, product name, and variant are all given similar sizes, weights, and colors, they’ll struggle to guide the eye. Even a small front panel can feel cluttered. Establishing hierarchy begins by asking: which element should take priority?
Often the best place to start is the product. If it’s a category you’re well-known in, you may want the brand to jump out first. But if you’re trying the product for the first time, you could give the product more space on the package. Or you might have a line of different colors, scents, or formulas, and you can give them a color cue. (Although they shouldn’t dominate the product itself.) There’s not always an order for every package you design. The best strategy is simply to give each part a purpose.
You don’t even need a graphic device to separate elements, as typography can do the job. Give one element a bigger size, another a bold weight, and another a narrow size with space around it. Don’t change all properties at once. If the brand is already bold, uppercase, bright color, and huge size, and you also give a decorative, big size to the product name, the whole thing feels like a competition. A more simple change in size, weight, or placement will give you a tighter hierarchy.
Spacing also matters. Things placed next to each other can look grouped, while things with more room between them might be read separately. For example, you might group the brand and product name together in a compact block while positioning the variant separately on the next line as a secondary element. Or you might give the brand some quiet room in the upper corner and let the product name take the center stage on the front panel. Use some alignment tools to keep the hierarchy consistent rather than scattered.
A color cue can help the user find their flavor in a package, but you should avoid relying on color for your hierarchy. You can let the orange one pop with a splash of orange, and let the berry one stand out with a splash of berry, but the rest of the brand name, product name, and placement should remain consistent. Check your designs in grayscale: if the order of information is all out of sorts once the color is removed, your sizes or spacing need some work. This is most important on labels with small space to work with and multiple bright colors.
Towards the end of your design, make three copies of your final front panel design. In the first one, make the brand most dominant. In the second, make the product most dominant. In the third, give the variant more presence, but still as secondary. Don’t switch illustrations, textures, or patterns on or off in each version. Print these out, and step back a few feet. Observe which version communicates the product most clearly, and which version makes you have to search for the essential information.
Then before you settle on a design direction, cover each element one at a time with a small piece of paper. If the brand is covered, are you still able to know what the product is? If the variant is covered, can you still clearly identify the product from the rest of the information? If the product name is covered, are you left in the dark? The best hierarchy isn’t the boldest design. It’s the design where every level has a clear meaning and the eye knows where to go next.