Your packaging is selling your product before anyone reads a single word.
So let’s talk money. Real numbers, no dancing around it.
If you’re launching something in Australia in 2026, here’s the honest range: $1,000 to $25,000+ AUD. Big gap, i know. But that gap is the whole story.
By the end of this you’ll know exactly where your project sits.
The short answer
Most packaging design in Australia lands in one of four bands.
- One label, graphics only. $1,000 to $3,000. You’ve already got the box or the bottle. You just need it to look like something people actually want to pick up.
- One full product. $2,000 to $5,000. Structure, graphics, print-ready files. The whole thing, brief to shelf.
- A product line, 3 to 6 products. $5,000 to $15,000. One look stretched across a family, so nothing on your shelf feels like a stranger.
- Custom and luxury. $8,000 to $25,000+. Custom vessels, custom colours and special finishes, the works.
Most Aussie designers sit around $130 to $180 an hour, agencies higher. But honestly, the hourly rate matters way less than which of these you actually need. And that’s just the design. Printing and manufacturing get quoted separately… don’t let that one sneak up on you.
Before you spend a cent, the questions I ask:
Every client, before we touch a single design, gets the same four questions.
- Do you have a solid identity already? Because packaging is where your brand shows up, not where it gets invented. Building it here costs you more.
- How many designs do you actually need… one product, or a whole range?
- What’s your format?
- And do you already have a manufacturer supplying your packaging?
Most of our startup clients come to us when the formulation is done, or halfway there. Product’s basically ready, packaging is the missing piece. That’s a great moment to talk. It’s also the moment to slow down for a second.
Which packaging is actually right for you?
Because the answer depends way more on where you’re at than on what looks cool. Here’s how it usually goes.
Just starting out? Need something cost effective with fast turnaround?
Start off the shelf. Custom labels on packaging that already exists.
It’s the first thing i tell almost every new founder. Low risk, low cost, low MOQ. You reorder in small batches while you figure out what’s actually working.
Because at this stage, you’re still learning your own product. What message lands. What catches an eye on the shelf. What people actually care about. Off the shelf lets you test all of it without betting the budget.
And if something’s off? Labels are easy. Update, reprint, reapply. Your packaging grows with your brand instead of trapping you in 10,000 boxes that stopped feeling like you six months ago.
Here’s the honest bit. Every founder gets something wrong on their first launch. Every single one. Off the shelf just means you learn from it cheaply.
We’ll help you source the right base packaging, or work with what you’ve already picked. Either way, it ends up feeling intentional and premium… without paying for full custom to get there.
Moving real volume? Custom printed.
Once you’re ordering in the thousands, this is where it starts to make sense.
Printed coffee bags. Stand up pouches. Folding cartons. Ecommerce mailers, PR boxes, dessert packaging. Your brand printed straight onto the packaging instead of stuck on by hand. Cleaner, more consistent, and faster to produce.
The trick is you’re still using standard sizes and formats. Nothing invented from scratch. You’re just bringing your world to life on packaging that already exists. That means lower costs, quicker lead times, and a lot less that can go wrong.
Most custom printed runs start around 1,000 units per SKU, give or take depending on the format and manufacturer. From there it usually ships straight to your manufacturer to be filled, sealed and sent… one less thing for you to juggle as you scale.
Ready for the dream? Bespoke.
This is the top of the ladder.
A package that’s unmistakably yours. Custom shape. Custom colour. Custom size. Custom opening. Custom finish. Nothing borrowed.
You’re not designing graphics for existing packaging anymore. You’re engineering an experience. How it feels in the hand. How it opens. That half-second of anticipation before anyone sees what’s inside. That’s the stuff that turns a container into something people remember.
It’s the longest road and the biggest spend. New tooling, moulds, structural prototypes, real manufacturing testing. Custom moulds or bespoke colours usually want around 10,000 units per SKU, though it shifts with the format and supplier.
But when it lands? It’s a moat. Instant recognition on the shelf. Almost impossible to copy. The kind of packaging people know is yours before they even clock the logo.
Here’s our actual process
So you know what you’re paying for, this is how it really goes.
At Courtney Kim Studio, we start with research and market comparison, usually inside a strategy session. Who you’re up against, where the gaps are. Then the brief, the concept, and digital 3D mockups so you can see the look before anything’s locked.
Once a direction is approved, we move into production artwork. Every design is carefully laid out on the packaging dieline, where creativity meets technical precision. This is also the stage where we cross check regulatory requirements, mandatory information, print specifications, and manufacturing constraints. Before anything goes to print, you’ll have the opportunity to review the artwork with your team and proofread every detail.
Then comes the hands on part.
Working closely with our manufacturing partners, we produce prototypes and test prints to make sure everything performs exactly as intended. It’s completely normal to go through several rounds of refinements, adjusting colours, artwork positioning, sizing, material choices, and print tolerances until everything feels right. This is why working with an experienced supplier is just as important as working with an experienced designer.
For bespoke packaging, the process becomes even more involved. Custom moulds, unique structures, and specialised finishes require engineering, prototyping, and testing before production begins. We often use 3D modelling and 3D printed prototypes to validate ideas early, helping identify issues before investing in manufacturing.
It takes time.
But the best packaging almost always does.
The part everyone forgets
Compliance.
Australian packaging has to play by real rules, and they’re not optional. The ACCC on consumer law. FSANZ if it’s food. The TGA if it’s anything therapeutic. Barcodes, country of origin, nutrition panels, warning statements. All of it has to physically fit on your design and be legally correct.
And 2026 is the year sustainability rules stopped being a nice-to-have. APCO targets, state plastic bans, tighter labelling depending on where you sell. A good designer builds all of this in from day one. The ones who design the pretty thing first and panic about compliance after? That’s the retrofit. And the retrofit is where budgets go to cry.
“Can’t i just do it in Canva?”
Look, I spent five years there. I’ll defend it to anyone. For your socials, your deck, your internal stuff… it’s genuinely brilliant and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
But your hero product, on a shelf, competing at a premium price? Different job. Templates are built to look fine for everyone. Your packaging needs to look like you, and only you, to the one person deciding between you and the brand next to it.
What cheap packaging really costs
The cheap designer’s invoice isn’t the real number.
The real cost is the 10,000 units you can’t reorder without a rebrand. The ad spend driving traffic to a first impression that doesn’t match your price. The retailer who passed and never told you why.
Bad packaging doesn’t fail loudly. Your product still works. Reviews are fine. Ads are running. Something just… isn’t clicking. And you rarely figure out it was the box.
Good packaging doesn’t shout. It just gets picked up.
And the cheap stuff… it doesn’t fail loudly. It just sits there, quietly not selling.
Not sure which stage you’re in?
That’s honestly one of my favourite conversations to have.
If your formulation is nearly there and packaging is the final piece of the puzzle, I’d love to hear where you’re up to. Whether you’re launching your very first product or preparing to scale, we can talk through your options and figure out what makes the most sense for your business.
No hard sell. Just two people figuring out what your product’s trying to say… 
