2024 Recap: Top 10 Trends in CPG Design and if We Expect to See Them Again in 2025

2024 was another year filled with eye-catching trends – some we loved and some not so much. As we say goodbye to another year and ring in 2025, - we’re looking back at some of the biggest trends of the past year and whether we expect them to continue.

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1.     Flat, Vector Logos That Echo the Past

From Pepsi to Burger King, we’ve seen many industry titans update their branding to simplified, flat versions of their logos. This trend makes sense for the digital age, where logos must be reproduced at tiny sizes for app widgets, Instagram profile pictures, and website favicons. The simpler a logo is, the more immediately recognizable it is, too, so this style has a whole host of benefits. They nod to the past while simultaneously appealing to modern aesthetics. In an age where we are constantly becoming more dependent on digital spaces, it’s sure to stick around.

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2.     Retro Serifs with a Nod to Nostalgia

While we’ve seen a plethora of retro designs in general, one of the main ways that this look and feel is achieved is through fonts like retro serifs. Of their font New Spirit, Newlyn font foundry says its, “Like a half-remembered dream—entirely familiar, sort of comforting, but which can’t be pinpointed to a particular time or place — New Spirit is both nostalgic and entirely enigmatic.” When a font is bringing all that to the table, it’s a great element to build a design around. With all the love it’s been getting and the many audiences this look appeals to, retro serifs definitely won’t be going anywhere.

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3.     Heartwarming Illustrations That Make You Feel Warm & Fuzzy

Illustrations are nothing new, but we’ve continued to see them across all variety of packages this year. From dog food to kid’s food to regular old people food, scenes of farms, dogs skipping across country lanes, and strawberries that look too cute to eat have proliferated. Often soft in color or content, they’re sweet and cozy, drawing in a whole range of people. We will certainly continue to see more of this. Illustrations are the perfect way to give your package a customized look and feel, drawing consumers into a branded world.

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4.    Sensitive Gradients That Set the Tone with Subtlety

Ephemeral, organic, and gentle, gradients have been taking the packaging world by storm. Especially seen in beauty and self-care, this amorphous feature is easy on the eyes and provides a gentle background to design on top of. While we think this trend might continue in beauty and small batch spaces, we don’t expect gradients to make their way over to mainstream food and beverage packaging. Gradients are pretty, but they miss the mark on delivering specific product benefits for many CPG brands because they’re unable to quickly communicate features like taste appeal or flavor specific cues.

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5.     A Focus on Authenticity and Roots as the Central Selling Point

Visual graphic elements aside, we’ve also noted some trends in brands’ messaging. We’ve repeatedly seen a big focus on authenticity and roots. Siete, which had a banner year, including their acquisition by Pepsi, is one such brand that leads with claims explaining their heritage-inspired products. As consumers continually gravitate towards more authentic brands, especially Gen Z, this “know your roots” approach is a logical direction. Stories on back of pack that emphasize family beginnings, hometown farms, and modest roots are sure to continue as they inspire trust in consumers.

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6.    Natural, Healthy Ingredients Moving up the Messaging Hierarchy

It seems like every year, more health-focused products are launched into the marketplace. As physical and mental well-being continue to be prioritized, we’d go so far as to say that this is no longer a trend but the new norm. Once confined to health foods stores, natural & organic ingredients, gluten-free callouts, and plant-based products are sure to continue taking over shares in the mainstream CPG marketplace as well. This will absolutely not only be recognized but highlighted on packaging moving forward.

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7.     Macro-Photography that Borders on “Food Porn”

Nothing is as eye-catching as the perfect shot of a slice of pizza, a juicy burger, or a cheesy bite of mac & cheese. More and more brands are letting their products speak for themselves through unapologetically appetizing photos. This foodie-approved approach gets your mouth watering, often encouraging consumers to try a product based on taste-appeal alone. We love this approach because as everyone knows, a picture is worth a thousand words, and nothing sells food like the food itself. Get ready for more large-scale, titillatingly tasty photography in the coming year.

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8.    Bright Colors (Often That Replace a Single Logo Color)

Bright! Bold! Colors! We love bright, bold, exciting colors at HBX. With the ability to quickly captivate an audience and stand out on shelf, color is a key way to communicate quickly and effectively about your product. Beyond flavor-specific colors, we’ve noticed an upward trend in a rotating palette replacing a singular logo color. This raises a question; do you really need one singular brand color or is brand blocking dead? No matter your opinion on this, color is a powerful element, and there’s no doubt that bright colors will continue to trend in 2025.

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9.    Human Treats for Pets

We love our pets, and they’re members of our families. Consumers are treating their pets almost as well (or maybe even better?) than they’re treating themselves. From dog cookie dough to the Starbucks Puppuccino to spices for their food, human treats are now fair game for our pets. As this share of the market continues to grow, we expect both existing and emerging pet brands to keep innovating new products beyond your typical wet food, dry food, and treats. Keep your eyes out for new ways to spoil your furry friends!

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10. Disruptive Brands in the Form of Chaos Packaging

New brands trying to disrupt the CPG landscape are nothing new, but they continue to delight and upset marketers and consumers alike. We’ve seen a huge variety in wacky, wild, and sometimes just completely nonsensical packaging this year. From the wildly popular Liquid Death, which is truly just water in a beer can, to Flo’s tampons in an ice cream pint (okay, but do those tampons come with a side of ice cream?), these packages deliver a shock-and-awe element which garners them attention. As we know, all press is good press, so as long as chaos packaging continues to attract consumers, the trend won’t be going anywhere.

We’re always keeping our eyes on the latest trends. We look forward to seeing what will catch our eyes on shelf and online in the coming year. 2024 was full of inspiring designs, and we can’t wait to see what this year has in store.