Packaging

[Ethan Cooper]

For a while now I've been feeling that our packaging isn't doing our work justice. It just feels a little cheap to me which isn't the impression I'm wanting to give.

We ship almost all our DVD sets out to brides since we almost never shoot in our home town, and I'm looking for upscale and creative ways to improve the appearance of our packaging. I've always been impressed with Apple's packaging and the way they present the product, it's well thought out and gives you a feeling of overall quality as you open it.

I've seen guys use those clear plastic cases, and maybe that's something we should consider, but do you have any other ideas, especially relating to the larger box we ship the DVD's in. I'd love for the bride to be wowed from the very simple act of receiving and opening the box, then popping the DVD in their player and being wowed again.

I've thought of a satin lined box or something to that effect, but I can't seem to crystallize the thought in my head.

I'd like to see what some of you guys are doing and maybe get a vendor name or two.

[Art Varga]

Ethan - I was pondering the exact same thing recently. I use an Epson 280 to create a very nice printed DVD but it goes downhill from there. Cheap white plastice DVD case with an insert done to the best of my poor graphics abilities. Then bubble wrap them into a cardboard box. I have seen some leather mongrammed cases which are pricey but nice. Then I'd like to ship in a white shrink-wrapped box.

Art

[Matt Bishop]

I've been using these leather DVD cases for the past two years and love them. I only give that case to the bride and groom and the other copies are regular DVD cases. I design each case insert for those and the leather ones for each wedding and the quality of print is still very high because I feel thats what really makes the difference between a cheap looking one and a professional looking one. just an idea to get away from the same old DVD cases.

CD Holder Albums | Albums |

I use Supreme CD/DVD Folio Album - 174

Matt

[Miraj A. Berry]

Hi Ethan!

We use those clear, slim DVD cases so that the label on the DVD can be seen through it. We like how simple and clean it is.

We also include a little gift and a thank you card. We wrap it in colorful tissue paper and and order little mini suitcases (that can be reused to their hearts content, lunch box, pencil box, storage, etc.) to package everything. That slides right into the ReadyPost bubble envelope at the Post Office.

The suitcase thing works for us because of our company name, "Vacilando" and it's theme, traveling for the sake of traveling. The gift also reflects our "mission."

We've only gotten positive feedback from it, and we're pretty happy with the simplicity.

I think I have some photos of a sample somewhere.

Give me a moment and I'll try to post a link.

[Miraj A. Berry]

Originally Posted by Matt Bishop

I've been using these leather DVD cases for the past two years and love them. I only give that case to the bride and groom and the other copies are regular DVD cases. I design each case insert for those and the leather ones for each wedding and the quality of print is still very high because I feel thats what really makes the difference between a cheap looking one and a professional looking one. just an idea to get away from the same old DVD cases.

CD Holder Albums | Albums |

I use Supreme CD/DVD Folio Album - 174

Matt

Those look great, too, Matt. I think that especially works for companies who shoot bother the photo and video!

[Chad Dyle]

I've been having the same problems. We print the bride/grooms name on each DVD with our logo at the bottom. I've been looking at boxes like these (Living – Photo Storage: Red Photo and Video Box) to put the DVD's in . We were going to put some of that straw packing material in as well. For our local brides, we are also going to include some gourmet popcorn and for our brides that have moved away, a package of local coffee.
If you look at the front of the box, you could put a label in there with there last name. I've got a couple of things I'm throwing around. Total cost should be less than $10 per wedding.

[Miraj A. Berry]

Sorry, couldn't find them, so I threw something together quick and snapped a shot:

http://i456.photobucket.com/albums/q...packaginup.jpg

http://i456.photobucket.com/albums/q...gingclosed.jpg

http://i456.photobucket.com/albums/q...kagingopen.jpg

(Sorry for the blur, but I was trying to be quick!)

[Ethan Cooper]

I don't have time to put anything online today, but Monday I'll try to put what we're currently doing up so and see if it sparks any suggestions.

[Chad Whelan]

I have been using the super jewel boxes king size and just doing art work on the disc. These are perfectly clear and pretty heavy duty cases. It is harder to find a supplier that carries them, but I did find them here towards the bottom of the page...

DVD Cases from Sleeve City

Outside of that I do not do any other special packaging so it great to hear some of these ideas!

[Andrew Waite]

We do regular DVD Cases, but put some time into making the DVD case look like a retail DVD... complete with barcode (their wedding date) cast, synopsis, critic reviews, fine print, etc. Brides seem to get a kick out of the little details.

[Peter Chung]

Very nice, Andrew! Do you come up with new copy and quotes for the back cover for every DVD or is it standardized copy? I also try to make mine look like a retail DVD and go for a more simple, clean look.

[Andrew Waite]

Originally Posted by Peter Chung

Very nice, Andrew! Do you come up with new copy and quotes for the back cover for every DVD or is it standardized copy? I also try to make mine look like a retail DVD and go for a more simple, clean look.

It's somewhat standardized as far as most of the information... we swap out names, cast, synopsys, photos, runtime, etc... we use family members or vendors for their "critic quote" (i.e. two thumbs up!, riviting!, etc.).

[Jason Robinson]

Originally Posted by Matt Bishop

I've been using these leather DVD cases for the past two years and love them. I only give that case to the bride and groom and the other copies are regular DVD cases. I design each case insert for those and the leather ones for each wedding and the quality of print is still very high because I feel thats what really makes the difference between a cheap looking one and a professional looking one. just an idea to get away from the same old DVD cases.

CD Holder Albums | Albums |

I use Supreme CD/DVD Folio Album - 174

Matt

pardon me while I choke on the price of those album covers .... ack ack!!!

wow. No room to mark those up. I know I would NOT sell any more than ONE of those every other year. That is just too danged expensive now days.

[Jason Robinson]

Originally Posted by Andrew Waite

We do regular DVD Cases, but put some time into making the DVD case look like a retail DVD... complete with barcode (their wedding date) cast, synopsis, critic reviews, fine print, etc. Brides seem to get a kick out of the little details.

that is how I present my covers as well (minus the reviews). I have a template that I'm still messing with, but it looks real nice (to me at least). I set up a couple of 500W lights in my spare room, and do a studio style shoot of the program to get the beest possible picture. I could also scann it in, but some times the pictures work better. For this client, I used her program from and back as the front and back of the DVD case design.

I am having a horrible time getting these printed out acurately though. colors at OfficeDepots print shop were WAAAAY off. It should have been a slight gray green, not brown. But fortunately, both the green and brown were part of the wedding colors.

[SiuChung Leung]

lots of nice package and idea in this post. I would like to share our simple style DVD package

Wedding DVD Package on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Wedding DVD Package on Flickr - Photo Sharing!