Sleigh The Competition With Your Holiday Branding

This is a tactic that all brands can tap into, even with something as simple as adding festive elements to an existing logo design. Michael Mills, owner of Symmetry Coffee Co. in Florida, worked with 99designs by Vista to add a Christmas twist to his already striking logos, printing them on everything from coffee cups to signage.  

Symmetry Coffee Co. has taken a page from Starbucks’ book, retaining its core visual brand elements, but adding seasonal twist. Image credit: Symmetry Coffee designs by Cinque” on 99designs by VistaMills couldn’t be more confident about the impact of this seasonal cheer. “In addition to the financial benefit, by putting a holiday spin on our branding, we’re anticipating that even more people will be interested in what we have to offer, even if they aren’t coffee drinkers,” he says. “Everybody gets so captivated by visuals. Spicing up your branding for a holiday is what really can catapult you to another level and capture people’s attention.”

Symmetry Coffee’s Christmas logos have already proved a hit with investors and focus groups. With the company set to expand to four locations, they are about to debut to a wider public than ever before, and seasonal designs differentiate them from other players in the market. “With our branding, we’ve leaned into nautical characters and wildlife because of where we are based in Florida. So in that sense, we’ve made ourselves more locally relevant,” Mills says. “Now with our holiday-themed versions, we are becoming more seasonally relevant. That is a powerful combination that will work well for our business.” Starbucks, watch out! 

2. Think limited edition

Gifts are all about making someone feel special, and there’s no better way of communicating that than by giving a loved one (or yourself!) a unique, limited-edition gift. Brands everywhere can easily lean into this trend through seasonal packaging design, but also by creating unique products tailored for the holiday season.

Willams Sonoma’s baking advent calendar draws the viewer in with its enticing storefront design.A trend that seems to be growing in this space year-on-year is brands across varying industries releasing a limited run of advent calendars with beautiful seasonal designs. Products like these create in-home moments of connection with customers—like tiny unboxing moments every day. By involving yourself in the countdown to the big day, you expand the influence of your brand from the moment of purchase right through the month of December.

An advent calendar-style offering from Local Eclectic combines selected earrings, necklaces, and rings within calendar packaging that doubles as a jewelry box.Some great examples include these beautiful illustrated designs from very different industries: Willams Sonoma’s baking advent calendar draws the viewer in with its enticing storefront design, while an offering from Local Eclectic combines selected earrings, necklaces, and rings within calendar packaging that doubles as a jewelry box once the holiday season is over.  

3. Take a chance on trends

One of the most exciting possibilities when it comes to seasonal branding is the opportunity to embrace trends, have fun with your brand, and take bigger creative chances.

Holiday packaging in particular is a bit of a creative sandbox, experimenting with and leveraging elements of your visual identity—for example, your brand color palette or typography—and trying something new is much less of a risk when it’s a limited run, and not a rebrand. This is an excellent opportunity to tap into visual trends that are of the moment, even if they don’t align completely with your brand guidelines or typical look and feel. The trick is to identify the design trends that will resonate with your target customers and demographics, and leverage the shelf appeal that will give your products. 

This holiday season, Sephora is embracing packaging designs that lean into the Gen Z checkerboard aesthetic overlaid with sticker-like motifs, a graphic design trend referred to as ‘cluttercore.’For example, this holiday season, Sephora is embracing packaging designs that lean into the Gen Z checkerboard aesthetic overlaid with sticker-like motifs that tie directly into one of 2024’s hotly tipped graphic design trends, “cluttercore.” While it isn’t a look that the brand would necessarily want to commit to long-term, this tactic clearly targets a younger demographic that is a core pillar of Sephora’s customer base and helps the brand feel relevant and timely.

The illustrations on the holiday packaging for Feel Good Tea lean into the flat graphics trend. Image credit: Design by Raveart for Feel Good TeaSimilarly, while not the brand’s typical style, the illustrations on the holiday packaging for Feel Good Tea lean into the flat graphics trend tipped to be huge in packaging for 2024.

A final word on holiday packaging design

It’s been a rough year economically, but there is always opportunity at this time of year to push the boundaries of your branding and engage with consumers who are still seeking out some holiday spirit. Just remember, whether it’s your packaging design or a themed holiday version of your logo for your socials, consistency across design, messaging, and any promotions you run will help, not harm, your brand image during the festive season.  PW

Patrick Llewellyn is CEO of 99designs by Vista, a global creative platform enables small businesses to work with professional freelance designers around the world.