Packaging design in Australia: the questions people actually ask, answered

Four to eight weeks for a single SKU, ten to sixteen weeks for a new brand with five to ten SKUs, four to six months for a large range rebrand, from signed proposal to print-ready files. Print and retailer timing add to that. See the process guide.

Strategy and range architecture, concept directions, the developed design across the range, print-ready artwork per SKU with compliance content and barcode placed, print management and a brand guideline. Not the regulatory content itself, the product photography (unless scoped) or the print.

You can design the look; the risks are in the parts that are not design: regulatory content, barcode specification, dielines, print separations and retailer requirements. Most reprints the studio sees on self-designed packs come from those, not from aesthetics.

Meet the retail readiness checklist (ABN, GTIN, compliant labelling, food safety certification, supply continuity), pitch through RangeMe (Coles) or Partner Hub (Woolworths), be accepted at a range review, then register, sign trading terms and set up. Reviews run once or twice a year per category. See the guide.

Mandatory labelling (food law, trade measurement, country of origin), barcodes that verify at every packaging level, carton and pallet specifications, shelf-ready format where the category uses it, sustainability data and the recycling label, and for own brand, the retailer's own artwork guidelines.

A shipper that opens into a display tray and goes straight on shelf. Coles and Woolworths expect it in most grocery categories and judge it on the five easies: easy to identify, open, shelve, shop and dispose of. Ask the buyer whether the category uses it before designing the shipper.

Yes. A GS1 GTIN and a verified barcode are minimum requirements at Coles, Woolworths and Chemist Warehouse, and the GTIN is part of the product submission. Allocate numbers before artwork.

Name, ingredients with allergens in bold and a Contains statement, nutrition information panel, date marking, lot, supplier name and address, country of origin standard mark, net quantity at the NMI's character heights, and any mandatory warnings, all legible under the Food Standards Code. See the food labelling guide.

Not yet. After industry missed the 70 percent uptake target in November 2025, food ministers asked FSANZ to prepare a mandate; Proposal P1067 is in consultation. Design packs to carry it now.

Most vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements are listed medicines under the TGA with an AUST L number and strict label rules (TGO 92, now TGO 116). Protein and sports nutrition are usually foods under FSANZ. The classification decides the whole back panel.

A full ingredient list on the container in descending order (the Cosmetics Information Standard 2020), the net quantity, the supplier's name and address, and any warnings needed for safe use. Primary sunscreens and moisturisers over SPF 15 are therapeutic goods instead.

Not by federal law. AS 5812:2023 is the benchmark standard, mandatory for PFIAA members and expected by retailers; the Australian Consumer Law governs claims; the APVMA covers therapeutic products. South Australia has a bill to make AS 5812 compulsory.

Only if the last substantial transformation happened in Australia. Food uses the mandatory standard mark with the kangaroo logo and ingredient bar chart; other goods may use the logo if the claim meets the ACCC's safe-harbour tests. Packed here from imported bulk is not made here.

By format and run: a few cents per label at volume and 20 to 60 cents on short digital runs; 10 cents to $2 per folding carton; 8 cents to $1.50 per printed pouch; with tooling (dies, plates, cylinders) on top. See the print costs guide.

Digital for short runs and many versions; flexo for labels, pouches and corrugated at volume; offset for folding cartons; gravure for very long flexible runs. The crossover is usually 3,000 to 10,000 units per version. See the print processes guide.

The flat template of the pack showing cuts, creases, glue and no-print zones. It comes from the printer or converter who will make the pack; online templates are for concepts only. See the dielines guide.

A PDF to a print standard (usually PDF/X-4) with bleed and marks, the dieline as a named spot colour, finish layers as spots, fonts embedded, images at 300 ppi in CMYK, plus a specification sheet. See the pre-press checklist.

Most often: too small, truncated bars, quiet zones encroached, bars in red or on a metallic, reversed out, placed across a seam or curve, or a GTIN that was never allocated through GS1. Verify a printed sample. See the barcode guide.

Look for packs that have actually shipped through the retailers you are targeting, a process with a decision at each stage, fixed fees scoped to a written brief, compliance handled as part of the work rather than an afterthought, and the senior designer leading the project rather than selling it. Then ask to see the artwork, not only the renders.

No. Fixed fees scoped to the brief, quoted after a conversation about the product, the retailers and the range. Morice Kastoun leads every project.

Yes. The studio is in Melbourne and most work is run remotely with clients across Australia and some overseas; retailer and printer liaison happens wherever the retailer and printer are.

The studio lays out mandatory content correctly and checks it against the relevant standard, and works with the client's regulatory adviser or a specialist consultant on the content itself. For listed medicines and therapeutic claims, a regulatory consultant signs off.