by Melissa Simmerman | Feb 25, 2026 | Innovation, Packaging Design, Prototyping, Structural Design, Sustainability, Thought Leadership
Why the Best CPG Innovation Teams Invest in Early Stage Product Prototyping The world is full of great product ideas. But even the best ones, the ones that have the potential to solve real consumer problems, stay stuck in “The Land of What Might’ve...
by Melissa Simmerman | Feb 18, 2026 | Packaging Design, Prototyping, Sales and Influencer Kits, Thought Leadership
Tradeshow Packaging Tips: How to Win Before You Even Arrive Tradeshows… 20,000 steps a day and that’s only half the hustle. We’re about to hit Natural Products Expo and it got us thinking: a successful tradeshow starts long before you reach the...
by Kaleidoscope Chicago | Jan 24, 2026 | Brand Strategy, Kaleidoscope, Packaging Design, Thought Leadership
January 24, 2026 There’s a pattern that shows up in CPG packaging projects more often than it should. A brand begins losing momentum in the market, sales soften, shelf presence feels weaker than it once did, and internal conversations eventually arrive at the...
by Kaleidoscope Chicago | Jan 16, 2026 | Brand Strategy, Kaleidoscope, Packaging Design, Sales and Influencer Kits, Structural Design, Thought Leadership
January 16, 2026 A packaging design brief is where projects succeed or fail. Not at the design review or at the retailer presentation. After 30 years of working with CPG brands across food, beverage, wellness, pet, and beauty, we’ve seen the same patterns repeat...
by Kaleidoscope Chicago | Jan 8, 2026 | Author, Brand Strategy, Kaleidoscope, Packaging Design, Prototyping, Structural Design, Thought Leadership
January 8, 2026 Most CPG brands treat packaging design and prototyping as two separate phases. You design first and then somewhere downstream you prototype. Files get handed off, a physical sample gets built, and everyone crosses their fingers that the original intent...
by Melissa Simmerman | Jun 6, 2025 | Brand Strategy, Innovation, Packaging Design, Sustainability, Thought Leadership
The CPG Packaging Lifecycle Not to state the obvious, but we are packaging designers and have been for 30 years. We’ve long understood our responsibility to our clients and consumers—clarity, communication, the need to trigger a purchase decision—but our work...
