Midyear Packaging Trends 2025: Accessible, Adaptive & Designed to Sell
Packaging is often a product’s first impression as well as the deciding factor in whether it ends up in a virtual or online cart. As we move through 2025, packaging trends are evolving rapidly to meet new consumer expectations—where form meets function, and beauty meets accessibility.
At AV Graphics, we’ve seen a growing demand not just for attractive packaging, but for packaging that works—for everyone. Midyear industry insights reveal that inclusive design, reusability, and functional structures are taking center stage. Here’s a look at the trends shaping packaging right now—and how our design and production capabilities help bring them to life.
Accessibility Is Essential
Designing for all users—especially those with visual or physical impairments—is no longer optional. Packaging that’s easy to open, clearly labeled, and intuitive to navigate is proving to be a sales differentiator. Features like large print, high-contrast design, textured elements, and simplified opening mechanisms are gaining traction across multiple product categories. AV Graphics helps brands incorporate these tactile and structural enhancements into folding cartons, sleeves, and custom configurations, making ease of use an integral part of the aesthetic.
Embellishments With Purpose
Tactile finishes—such as soft-touch, embossing, foil, or spot UV—not only elevate the look and feel of packaging, but they also serve a functional role for visually impaired users. These haptic cues can be both beautiful and functional, adding depth while enhancing navigation and differentiation on shelves. Combining embellishment techniques with thoughtful layout and material choices gives a package an edge in the marketplace.
Reusable & Multi-Use Structures
As circularity becomes a consumer priority, brands are leaning into packaging that offers a second life. According to the 2025 Sustainable Packaging Trends Report from GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition, “2024 was indeed a strong year for ‘paperization,’ as more and more companies moved into fiber-based options for food packaging, bottles, e-commerce, and secondary packaging. Converters and manufacturers worked to bring exciting new capabilities to fiber-based packaging, including better barrier properties, coatings, closures, and finishes. Paper is increasingly able to do almost as much from a performance standpoint as other materials.”
Think boxes that transform into organizers, packages that convert into display stands, or resealable cartons that extend product freshness. Our team works with clients to prototype these smart, sustainable structures using digital and offset printing, alongside innovative die-cutting and finishing technologies, to deliver both style and substance.
Smart Simplicity
A minimalist trend is emerging—one that values clean lines, less clutter, and maximum usability. This doesn’t mean dull; it means refined. The best packaging in 2025 is elegant, honest, and engineered for ease. Whether it’s a simple folding carton with an intuitive closure or a minimalist design featuring standout print quality, brands can strip away the excess while still making a lasting impression.
Packaging Design That Includes Drives Results
Design choices that accommodate everyone while delighting the senses don’t just check boxes—they drive sales. Today’s consumers are paying closer attention to packaging than ever before—not only for how it looks, but how it feels, functions, and aligns with their values.
Consumers are gravitating toward packaging that reflects ease of use, environmental consciousness, and thoughtful design. Packages that are hard to open, confusing, or inaccessible risk being left on the shelf—even if the product inside is exceptional.
What’s more, haptic engagement—how a package feels in the hand—plays a powerful role in emotional connection and memory. Tactile embellishments like raised varnishes, soft-touch coatings, and textured embossing don’t just elevate perceived value; they create a multi-sensory interaction that encourages customers to pick up, engage with, and ultimately buy the product.
A recent haptics study by Sappi North America found buyers are 50% more likely to purchase after touching premium packaging twice—and that climbs to 90% after four touches. Products featuring premium tactile elements were selected three times more often than their non-embellished counterparts. When a brand designs packaging for everyone, it communicates empathy, awareness, and trustworthiness, which can be just as persuasive as price or product features.
At AV Graphics, we help brands go beyond the expected.
From sustainable substrates to inclusive structures, our packaging solutions are thoughtfully produced to perform. Whether you're creating a limited edition promo or a long-run retail line, our digital and offset capabilities, folding carton expertise, and luxury finishing options make it easy to bring innovation to the shelf—and into customers’ hands.