Box styles
Box styles3 min readUpdated
Display packaging
Some packs do their selling where they stand. A tray by the till, a row on a shelf, a box on a peg: the product is in plain view and a shopper can take it straight away. Made from board, they can travel flat like any box until it's time to put them out.
Where a display goes
| Kind | Where it goes | What we draw |
|---|---|---|
| Counter display | An open tray by the till, with a header for the brand | Display box |
| Peg hook | One pack hangs on a hook, side by side with others | Boxes with a hang tab |
| Shelf tray | On a shelf, the products in rows, no lid | Open tray |
| Floor stand, bin | On the floor in an aisle: shelves, or a bin of loose items | None |
The counter display box
Our display box is one sheet of corrugated boardCorrugated board A wavy sheet, the flute, glued between flat liners. Light, stiff and hard to crush: the board of shipping and mailer boxes., with no glue. The front lip is low so shoppers can reach in; it folds over double and its small tongues lock into slots in the floor. The back does the same and carries on up into the header, where your brand goes, with an arch cut along the top. The side walls slope from the lip up to the back, and their corner flapsFlap A panel hinged on a crease that folds over to close an end of a box or to hold it together. tuck in between the layers of the lip and the back.
The header and the front lip have their own fields. Set the header to 0 for a plain trayTray A base with walls and no lid. Its strength is in its corners, which lock, glue or fold.; the lip can't be taller than the sides. Before you place your artwork, find the panel marked HEADER FRONT on the dieline: it folds over the top and down inside the back, so it's the side shoppers see. The outside of the back faces the wall behind.
Shape the tray
Open a display box and change the header and the front lip. Lower the lip and the sides slope more; set the header to 0 for a plain tray.
- Cut
- Crease
Boxes that work as displays
A display doesn't have to travel on its own. Two of our boxes do the job in the shop:
- Tear strip. On the snap lock bottom box, turn on Tear stripTear strip A perforated band you tear off to open a box, or to turn it into an open display tray. and a perforatedPerforation A line of short cuts with small uncut bits between them, so the board tears along it. We draw it as real red cuts. band runs across one side and up to the top. Tear it away and what's left is a tray, open on that side, ready for the shelf. The box needs to be at least 60 mm tall for it.
- Open tray. A base and four low walls with no lid: products sit in it on a shelf, or it holds a row of packs inside a bigger box. Its corners lock, glue or fold, as Closures and bases explains.
Hang it on a peg
A single small item can hang straight on a shop's peg hook. Our tuck box with hang tab, the snap lock bottom box with its Hang tab top and the pillow box with hang tab each have a tab with a hole for the hook. Structural features shows how the tab is built, and the hang tab box sizes give you a place to start.
Before you print a display
- Lay the products out first. Set them out the way they'll stand, measure the floor they take and add a few millimetres: that's your length and width.
- Keep it quick to set up. Whoever fills the shelf folds the display by hand. Ours goes up without glue: walls up, corner flaps in, then the lip and the back over and down, tongues into the slots.
- Let the product show. A low lip and an open top let shoppers see and reach. Save the big artwork for the header.
- Fold a sample. Print the dieline at full size on card, fold it and put your products in. You'll see whether the header stands up straight and everything sits where you planned.