PACKGAMI
A serum box is a tall, narrow carton around a small bottle, and its proportions leave little margin for error. The Packgami engine sizes it from the bottle: for our 30 ml reference bottle, 33 mm across, it gives an outer size of 38 by 38 by 102 mm with 0.45 mm board, and 43 by 43 by 119 mm for the 50 ml bottle. The sizes table lists the bottles behind those numbers.
One caveat matters more here than anywhere else. Those heights assume the engine's screw cap. A dropper's pipette collar and rubber bulb stand taller than a screw cap, and a treatment pump taller again. Measure the real bottle with its closure fitted, then add to the box height.
Design tips
- Measure with the closure on. Box height comes from the bottle plus its dropper or pump, not from the bottle alone. Add a few millimetres of air above the closure so the tuck flap doesn't press on the bulb.
- Treat the narrow front as a spine. A 38 mm wide front panel on a 30 ml box only fits a short name across it. Running the product name up the panel, the way a book spine does, lets the type be much larger.
- Pick which of the four faces is the front. A square serum box has four equal sides, and retailers will face whichever one lands forward. Repeat the brand and product name on two adjacent faces so the box reads from either.
- Add an insert for glass bottles. A card insert or neck collar stops a glass bottle sliding and knocking the dropper loose. It takes up room inside, so design the insert before the box is sized.
- Repeat the active and strength on the top flap. Serum boxes are often stored and displayed in trays where only the top shows. "10% Niacinamide" on the top tuck makes the box findable from above.
