5. On-Pack

The requirements for on-pack copy are largely dictated by design guidelines and official or regulatory notices, leaving very little margin for creative input. The label on a soft drink, for example, has to accommodate the name of the product, the price, ingredients and nutritional information, plus recycling and disposal logos and other design elements. Even if you are involved at the concept stage, working on product packaging can be fairly frustrating. Something as simple as a name can be hard to pin down because of the number of contenders that have already been registered and, often, the need to test every option through consumer research.

If you are offered this kind of work, my advice would be to always quote on a day-rate basis so that you are covered in the event of the project dragging out over a long period of time.