AI Generates Ideas for Packaging Design

"We established an experimental brand and used AI to create a new oat-based granola product for it." – Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director at Metsä Board.

PaperAge Editor's note: The following article is from Metsä Board's Professional Magazine, BOARD, Winter 2024 edition.

Feb. 18, 2025 - Metsä Board is exploring ways to use artificial intelligence in packaging design. Metsä Board's packaging design team has been testing the use of AI in packaging design, and Northern Lights Oat Meal is an example.

"We established an experimental brand and used AI to create a new oat-based granola product for it. We wanted to brand a product that represented Nordic food and clean nature," says Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director at Metsä Board.

AI can generate various, sometimes striking, ideas faster than humans, and prototypes can be quickly produced with digital printing. This is how AI speeds up the design process.

To obtain useful ideas from AI, you need to know how to use it. Designers must understand the strengths and weaknesses of the AI solutions they use.

"I've used various AI engines for design and have integrated them so that they interact. You must formulate explicit, clear and descriptive prompts for AI to get the desired result," says Vesa Nurminen, Art and Creative Director of Futupack.

The graphic designer refines the AI-generated alternatives to create the desired visual object, ensuring it meets the necessary requirements. Additionally, knowledge of materials remains an area where human expertise is essential.

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards with a focus on lightweight and high-quality folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners.

SOURCE: Metsä Board