WylieWays is located in a co-working space at 30 W 53rd across the street from MOMA.

WylieWays is open from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday, EST. We are closed for 10 national holidays.

After a brief telephone call or email exchange with a prospective client, WylieWays will provide a custom proposal that outlines a scope of service and a schedule. Both parties sign the agreement before work begins in earnest.

Think of your project as a formula that results in a quantity of production files.

Example A:
2 Bottle Sizes x 3 Flavors = 6 Production Files

Example B:
5 Tubes + 5 Matching Boxes = 10 Production Files

Projects can range from a few days to several months, depending on scope of service. The average WylieWays project lasts for a month.

A “round” is a project milestone in which WylieWays provides a piece of work to a client. A project might be summarized as a “3-week, 6-round project.” All project files begin with a round number, which helps to keep track of the work.

In addition to receiving packaging files from WylieWays, you may request a series of separate files, or “exports,” for items such as logos, taglines, patterns, etc. Exports can be made for either a print or web environment. Let WylieWays know how we can support the branding projects that follow the creation of your packaging.

Both. We create new brands from scratch as well as refresh existing ones. We are well versed in creating and adhering to style guides.

Many companies launch with a single SKU. When traction is gained, a larger product line is built out. WylieWays can assist with this expansion, taking existing artwork from a single SKU and “blowing it out” across a family of packaging structures.

All packaging projects involve solving three, interrelated problems: structure, copywriting, and graphic design. Begin a conversation with WylieWays by letting us know where you are with the following:

Structure
What kind of box, bottle, or bag do you need? If you have not selected your structure, do you have accurate product measurements? Would you like WylieWays to make introductions to manufacturers and printers?

Copywriting
Do you have all of the words that need to go on your packaging, or would you like for WylieWays to provide copywriting services? Can you organize your messaging by packaging panel (front, side, back, etc.)?

Graphic Design
Do you have any existing visuals, such as a logo or brand pattern, that you would like incorporated on your packaging? Or, will WylieWays develop these materials from scratch?

A dieline is a technical drawing in the shape of a box or bag. When folded, a dieline becomes a prototype. A die is a giant metal cookie cutter in the shape of your dieline. At the print shop, the die is connected to a machine and used to cut your box or bag shape out of large rolls of material.

Boxes that come in standard sizes are referred to as “stock boxes.” You may be able to find a stock box that fits your product relatively well, but many stock boxes create adverse “wiggle room” and a generic first impression.

Folded carton structural design is the art of custom box design. Custom boxes provide a perfect fit for your product and create a memorable unboxing experience for your customers.

A shipper box is made out of cardboard and can be sent through the mail. A retail box is made out of paperboard and is only appropriate for shelf display purposes. If you would like to send a retail box through the mail, it must be housed in a separate shipper box or padded envelope.

If you are a startup that only sells products online, we recommend designing your shipper box first to avoid the costly “box in a box” situation. When you are interested in breaking into retail, retail boxes can be developed at that point.

If you are on a budget, we recommend replicating the artwork across your line. Colors and words will change from one SKU to the next, but the underlying artwork and layout remains the same. Creating custom artwork for each SKU greatly increases packaging development costs.

A straightforward packaging design process is built on having finalized copy from project onset. Projects that exceed their spec’d hours typically involve many rounds of copy changes.

If you provide WylieWays with the copywriting for your packaging project, make sure you work out what you want to say in a Word document first. The more thought you put into product names, taglines, and brand romance copy upfront, the less time WylieWays will spend on typesetting.

Working in collaboration with a compliance consultant, WylieWays can typeset nutrition facts panels, net weight statements, warnings, and other regulatory language. Content and format must be provided as WylieWays in NOT a substitute for a compliance consultant or attorney. For packaging compliance issues, we recommend hiring a separate consultant specific to your industry space.

1. The process for creating a new brand is incredibly front-loaded. The first couple of weeks of a new project can be involved. Once a few key decisions are made, however, the process becomes easier and faster.
2. Print out early and often! Many clients only review work on screen. Printing out the work AT SCALE throughout the development process is the only way to fully appreciate how things are coming together.
3. There is no such thing as a perfect proof or prototype. The very first time a package is made, you will notice something you hadn’t before. A first prototype will always involve learning something new and unexpected.