Great food packaging design attracts attention, communicates information and creates a positive brand impression. As a food packaging designer it’s my job is to make sure your product’s packaging does all these things.

The short answer is ‘no’. You don’t need to register your business’ name and/or logo as a trade mark. In Australia you do have a legal obligation to register your business name, of course, but registering your business name or logo as trade marks is different to registering it with ASIC.

A logo is a visual symbol or mark used to represent a company or organisation. Brand identity is a broader term that encompasses all of the visual and non-visual elements that represent a brand. It includes things like the logo, typography, colour palette, imagery, messaging, and tone of voice.

It’s March 2020 and the world has changed. The situation is pretty surreal and many of us are now working from home, some of us for the first time. It’s not all doom and gloom though. There are some advantages! For one, you can hang out in your pyjamas all day and you don’t need to brush your hair! Also, no need to spend hours commuting and you can sleep in. Hooray!!

Graphic designers, brand specialists and printers talk in a strange language sometimes and one word that you might come across that’s important to them is ‘vector’. Your logo needs to be in a vector file format.

If you're not a printer or a designer, colours may seem complicated, but if you remember a few key points you'll have enough information to make sure your suppliers (sign writers, printers, web designers) always represent your brand accurately and consistently, when it comes to colour.

For some businesses, Christmas is the busiest time of year, especially for industries like food – you’ll definitely be ramping up your production at the moment if you make sweet or indulgent goodies!

Clients sometimes ask me if they really need to have a black and white variation of their logo. When I'm asked this question I often refer to an invitation I received to a charity event, Starry Starry Night, a few years ago.

The onus is on the designer to take the brief, not for you to give the brief.

A graphic designer’s job is to get inside your head by asking a whole load of questions. You don’t have to be an expert in the questions you need to answer, you just need to understand your own business.