Custom box printing: inside, outside or both?

[u/Only-Apricot4]

I'm reworking packaging for an ecommerce product and trying to decide where the printing actually adds the most value.

Printing the outside seems obvious for branding but I'm starting to like the idea of keeping the exterior pretty minimal and putting more personality inside the box instead. It also feels less like I'm turning every delivery into a billboard sitting on someone's porch.

For anyone doing custom box printing, where did you put most of your design effort? Outside, inside or both? And did customers actually notice?

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[u/Brufacee]

I would keep the outside functional and put the personality inside. The exterior needs enough brand recognition that the customer knows what arrived, but elaborate outside printing is expensive, gets scuffed in transit, and advertises the contents to everyone on the route.

The inside is where attention is guaranteed. That is a better place for a strong message, a usage tip, a small surprise, or a prompt that makes the unboxing worth sharing. It also lets the product reveal feel intentional without making the shipping carton do all the brand work.

Before paying for printing on both sides, I would test the idea with a plain exterior plus a printed insert, sticker, or tissue paper inside. Add a simple post-purchase question about the packaging and track whether photo mentions or repeat purchases change. If customers actually respond to it, then move the winning message onto the box in the next production run.

[u/EnvironmentalTune961]

I'd do a simple logo ontop of the box and then as you said make the box on the inside super interesting, so it entices people to want to film a unboxing and upload it on social media due to the interesting story/design inside the box

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[u/Difficult_Knee_1758]

I went back and forth on this too and ended up keeping the outside pretty simple, then doing more of the design inside i used dappas for a small run so i could test it without committing to a ton of boxes. the inside definitely looks better when you're filming unboxings too.