Box styles
Box styles3 min readUpdated
Closures and bases
A box has a job at each end: close at the top, carry the load at the bottom. Most boxes do it with a handful of ideas that come back again and again. Learn them once and any dieline gets easier to read.
Tuck tops
The tuck is the classic carton top. A closure flap folds over the opening and its tuck slides down inside the opposite wall. Before it, two dust flapsDust flap A small flap on a side panel of a tuck box that folds in first, under the closure flap, and keeps the tuck in place. on the side panels fold in, so the closure flap has something under it.
A plain tuck stays shut only as long as it fits snugly. On our tuck dielines the tuck has a short slit at each side, just past its fold: the dust flaps' edges catch behind it, so the lid doesn't spring open. You find this top on the tuck box, on the crash lock bottomCrash lock bottom A bottom glued flat by the box maker that locks itself when the carton is opened. Also called auto-lock bottom. box and as the Tuck lid on the snap lock bottomSnap lock bottom A bottom of four flaps that lock into each other by hand, with no glue: fold one, two, three. Also called a 1-2-3 bottom. box. In corrugated board, the tuck lid shipping box (FEFCO 0210FEFCO code A four-digit code for a corrugated box style from the FEFCO catalogue, such as 0201 for the regular slotted carton. It names the shape, not the size., 0211, 0212) hinges a lid on its back wall and tucks it inside the front.
Flaps that meet
The shipping box (FEFCO 0201) has four flaps at each end. The short pair folds in first, the long pair meets in the middle over them, and a strip of tape closes the seam. The Flaps list changes how deep they are: they can overlap (0202), or each long flap can cover the whole top (0203). The snap lock bottom box offers the same flaps as a top.
Lids that lock without tape
- Ears. On the mailer box (FEFCO 0427) the lid's front flap has two ears that tuck into the double side walls. The Style list adds a plain tuck, a short lid without side flaps and a double front wall.
- A tab on the front. The tab lock mailer box locks its lid with a tab on the front wall.
- Ears through slits. On the gable box the two handle panels meet back to back, and their rounded ears snap through slits in the end flaps.
Bottoms
| Bottom | How it closes | Glue | Where you find it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuck | A tuck flap over dust flaps, like the top. For light products. | None | Tuck box |
| 1-2-3 | Four flaps that lock into each other, folded by hand. | None | Snap lock bottom box |
| Crash lock | Glued flat by the box maker; it locks itself when the box is opened. | At the box maker | Crash lock bottom box |
| Glued | Two full flaps glued one over the other, a flat, strong bottom. | By the packer | Snap lock bottom box, Bottom: Glued |
| Flaps | Four flaps that meet, taped. | Tape | Shipping box |
On the Glued bottom, and on a few other boxes, our dieline marks the glued area in grey with GLUE written in it. A crash lock bottom is glued by the box maker before the box reaches you, and its dieline marks no glue: ask your box maker where it goes.
Try every top and bottom
Open a snap lock bottom box and switch Top and Bottom. The dieline redraws with each closure, so you can see what changes before you choose.
- Cut
- Crease
Trays and double walls
A trayTray A base with walls and no lid. Its strength is in its corners, which lock, glue or fold. has no top, so its strength is in its corners. The open tray holds them in three ways: double walls whose tabs lock into the base (FEFCO 0422, 0423), corner flaps glued inside the next wall (0452, 0453), or corners folded into a pleat from one sheet, with no cuts and no glue (0449).
Some boxes roll a wall over instead: the end wall folds over itself into a double layer, and tabs on its edge lock it into slots. The tab lock mailer box and the shoe box are built this way, with no glue at all.