Keeping up with the latest packaging design trends and market demands requires intense innovation and careful planning from commercial flexographic printers and their manufacturers. Here's how packaging trends across 2025-2026 have reshaped the way the industry works.
less is more?
Perhaps reflecting the production limitations unfortunately enforced by COVID-19, cheaper, faster, minimalistic designs are taking off again across all commercial print sectors. Simplified, block colours, abstract shapes, and bold, clear lettering are becoming more popular. These combine the 'look-at-me' appeal of intricate, arty designs with the advantages of fast info. In a squeezed economy, streamlining costs and passing savings onto consumers is beneficial, too. For flexographic printing presses, this is ideal. A 'back-to-basics' approach fits these no-frills designs well. Four colour printing and quick digital mock-ups can quickly translate into cost-efficient paste-on labels and sleeves.
VINTAGE REVIVAL
Conversely, some design companies have opted to rerun far more old-fashioned flexographic printing imagery with modern tech. Sudden redesigns appeared in 2021-22 that looked positively Victorian. Art Nouveau, tightly illustrated three-colour packaging and vintage limited-tone images give a sense of retro comfort to older, wealthier consumers. Novelty and cool are in play for younger audiences, too. It also has the added potential benefits of recycling out-of-copyright, royalty-free images and plates.
Flexography is the perfect technology to adapt. Advanced presses can reconfigure to use as few as one image plate and a decent finish to provide cheap, unusual design work that fits the brief. More complex digital presses are simplified or combined with Flexographic technology to produce authentic colour runs that retain their high image clarity.
high-quality flexographic artwork - new, digital possibilities
For luxury and high-end producers, the advent of affordable digital imaging and high detail Processing of Printing plates has radically transformed package design. Continuously falling costs for high-end flexography and printing plates have made CMYK+ printing viable for use with semi-permanent and disposable products.
Branded items now focus on visual storytelling, often delivered via detailed, deep colour digital grafts of fine art and contemporary illustration. Fine, longer-run flexography creates a 'canvas' effect on wrap-around items and flat labels while retaining deep colours, thanks to a more complex base mix.
Flexographic printing technology from Focus Label
At Focus Label, we specialise in flexographic, digital, and hybrid printing solutions for label and packaging printers, enabling businesses to adapt to changing consumer demands and design trends. To find out more, please give us a call.
Image Source: Canva
