The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry has long relied on a top-down model for product development and branding. Creative direction typically stemmed from within the walls of a company, with input limited to executives, marketers, and hired design agencies. But that dynamic is shifting. Crowdsourced packaging design is emerging as a powerful alternative, allowing companies to tap into diverse creative perspectives from customers, freelancers, and global design communities.
By turning to the crowd, CPG companies are discovering new ways to create visually striking, emotionally resonant packaging that reflects actual consumer preferences. This approach is not just a marketing gimmick—it is reshaping product launches, strengthening brand loyalty, and helping smaller companies compete with multinational conglomerates.
The Shift Toward Collaborative Design Models
Packaging has always played a crucial role in consumer behavior. It is the first physical interaction most people have with a product and often acts as a silent salesperson. In a crowded retail environment or in digital marketplaces where thumbnails determine engagement, strong packaging can tip the scales between a pass and a purchase.
That said, traditional design processes often result in output that feels disconnected from real-world usage or contemporary aesthetics. Crowdsourcing provides a correction. Platforms like 99designs and DesignCrowd enable businesses to post a design brief and receive submissions from dozens or even hundreds of designers. Instead of relying on a single agency’s vision, companies get a spectrum of ideas and styles from creatives with different cultural, generational, and artistic viewpoints.
This democratized process does not just lead to more creative results. It often surfaces ideas that resonate better with target audiences because the designs are built with them—not just for them.
How CPG Companies Are Using the Crowd
The concept of crowdsourced packaging is not reserved for startups. Even large players are experimenting with this model.
Peet’s Coffee, for instance, ran a crowdsourcing initiative to refresh its product packaging across various retail SKUs. While the internal team maintained control over brand standards, they invited outside designers to submit ideas for limited-edition packaging and seasonal collections. The result was a boost in shelf visibility and engagement, without departing from the core brand identity.
Smaller brands are using the crowd even more aggressively. Natural skincare brand Blume sourced feedback directly from its Gen Z customer base to redesign the packaging for its best-selling acne oil. By involving their audience in the process—from early mood boards to final label options—they created a design that not only looked better but also generated conversation on social media and strengthened the brand’s connection with its customers.
Another example comes from the sustainable food space. Lupii, which produces snack bars made from lupini beans, crowd-tested various packaging prototypes before launching in retail chains. They found that certain color schemes and typography choices performed better in mockup tests with consumers, which guided their design direction in a way internal decisions alone would not have captured.
Why the Crowd Delivers Better Packaging Ideas
There are a few key reasons why crowdsourcing leads to superior packaging results:
First, it taps into broader cultural insight. A design studio in New York may not grasp how a product resonates in Austin or Atlanta—or even across international markets. The crowd includes voices from various geographies, backgrounds, and visual languages, which leads to more universally appealing design.
Second, it shortens the feedback loop. Instead of running a design through three internal reviews, then into a focus group, then back to revisions, crowdsourcing invites immediate consumer engagement. Feedback can be fast, informal, and highly telling. This is especially useful for companies launching DTC (direct-to-consumer) or limited-run products, where timelines are tight and agility matters.
Third, crowdsourced design often costs less and delivers more options. While not a replacement for experienced branding professionals, this model gives even budget-conscious startups access to quality creative work that might otherwise be out of reach.
Challenges in Crowdsourced Packaging Design
Despite its appeal, crowdsourcing is not without friction. A common concern is brand consistency. When designs come from dozens of creators, how can a company maintain a unified identity?
That is where curation and clear guidelines come in. Leading companies using this model do not throw the design process into chaos—they define the boundaries. A strong brand brief that includes visual identity, tone, audience, and product positioning can guide designers while still allowing room for originality.
Another challenge is intellectual property. Brands must navigate ownership terms carefully, particularly when sourcing submissions from multiple contributors. Platforms like Crowdspring and Designhill address this by making IP transfer part of their core service, but businesses still need to review terms closely.
And finally, not every product or campaign is suited for this approach. Core branding work, such as logo development or corporate rebranding, may require deeper strategic thinking that goes beyond the capabilities of a short design contest.
The Consumer’s Role as Co-Creator
Beyond just submitting designs, today’s consumers want a hand in shaping the products they buy. Packaging design is one of the easiest entry points for co-creation. Whether voting on label options, suggesting names for new flavors, or uploading user-generated content that appears on limited-edition wrappers, the act of inviting participation builds deeper engagement.
Brands like RXBAR have built entire campaigns around consumer feedback, including packaging tweaks suggested by their online community. Their minimalist design has become iconic, but it is constantly being refined in subtle ways—changes driven by real-world customer input.
This participatory model aligns with broader shifts in marketing and business development. Brands are no longer top-down broadcasters. They are participants in a dialogue. Crowdsourced design is just one expression of this cultural change, but a highly visible one—literally.
Strategic Use of Crowdsourcing in Brand Architecture
Companies do not need to crowdsource everything to benefit from the model. Many use it selectively, reserving crowdsourcing for limited editions, sub-brands, or test markets. This strategy allows them to experiment creatively without jeopardizing the core identity.
For example, Banza, a brand known for its chickpea-based pasta products, has used community contests to shape the look of seasonal product boxes. It gives them fresh marketing angles while keeping their main brand intact.
Others use crowdsourcing to reinvigorate underperforming SKUs. When a certain product line is not meeting expectations, opening up the packaging for redesign through the crowd can lead to unexpected improvements—both in appearance and in sales velocity.
Why It Matters in an Age of Brand Noise
Modern consumers face an avalanche of visual stimuli. In the grocery store alone, the average shopper sees over 40,000 products. In e-commerce, attention spans are even shorter. With such intense competition, packaging cannot afford to be an afterthought.
Crowdsourcing allows brands to break out of their creative echo chambers and tap into designs that spark curiosity and emotion. It can lead to packaging that reflects current design trends, speaks in the language of the customer, and better aligns with the story a brand wants to tell.
In short, it turns packaging into a conversation starter instead of just a container.
Closing Remarks
Crowdsourced packaging design is more than a design trend—it is a business shift. As companies across the CPG space look for ways to remain agile, relevant, and customer-connected, this model offers a compelling tool. It introduces fresh ideas, invites consumer participation, and democratizes branding in a way that aligns with the evolving expectations of today’s market.
While not a one-size-fits-all solution, it gives businesses of all sizes—from ambitious startups to established players—a new creative channel. The result is packaging that reflects not only a product’s value, but the voices of the people it serves.
