Giftwrapping: Design trends

Wrapping & Rolling

From exotic animals to the beauty of British nature, fruity flavours and bold geometrics, giftwrappings companies are abundant with newness.

PG shares some of the latest design treats and trends.

Right: The glory of green on a Stephanie Dyment collection from Glick.

Andrew Maddock, md of Deva Designs and designer Reuben Duffy...

Tropical Trend: “Being confined to our homes longer than we could ever have anticipated we are ready to re-emerge, with our new tropical animal design reflecting this. We have now started printing on the reverse side of our wraps which adds perceived value as well as a surprise for the recipient.”

Home Comforts: “After an unsettling couple of years, trends are more focused on wellbeing, health and sustainability, and it’s what makes them happy and comforting. We have therefore created natural fabric based designs in calming neutral tones. The flat wrap sheets are double-sided and the bags are printed inside and out, adding an organic, snug feel. New sizes are ideal for candles, diffusers or homely gifts.”

Foosball: “Foosball has been in our range for an amazing five years and sold 140,000 sheets, so we felt it was time to re-invent this classic, making it bolder and brighter with more impact.”

Ben Dorney, creative director, Museums & Galleries...

Building on success: “So far this year we've tried to build on proven successes within our wider ranges, in particular, some whose themes will mirror more general trends: Japanese art (in our case, a stunning Red Cranes designs from V&A), Wild Hares (in the floral collage style of Wild Press by Helen Ahpornsiri) and a Bee repeat (by designer Catherine Rowe) are three examples. In addition, we've added to our Guess How Much I Love You range with a new wrap in both everyday and Christmas.”

Larger range: “Our wrap range is much bigger than it used to be, and for key prints is co-ordinated across giftwrap, tissue paper, rollwrap and gift bags (and often related stationery or cards) so retailers can really buy into a successful design and run with it.”

Below: Among Museum & Galleries’ new wrap designs is Red Cranes from the V&A.

Becky Dobson, md of Glick…

Nature’s wonders: “Nature-inspired floral and fauna are prominent themes that feature in our newly launched Louise Mulgrew collection. “Meanwhile, green in various shades are also very much in evidence as we continue to bring the outdoors in.” Bold Brights: “Geometrics are still, and will probably always be, popular in paper products. Paper Salad never fails to disappoint in this trend, using neon print, geometric patterns and embossing.”

Above: Exotic fauna and flora feature in this Louise Mugrew collection from Glick. Left: Bold bright geometrics from Paper Salad from Glick.

James Mace, sales & marketing manager, The Art File...

Bold designs: “For 2022, we have introduced new designs across many formats - wraps, tissue, gift bags and tags - with our most significant new gift packaging release this year from our flat wraps. These awardwinning gift wraps, which are printed in the UK - some with reverse print, foil, and metallic gold ink - are all produced on high quality uncoated material. They are already full of theatre, originality and colour with our nine brand new designs bolder than ever. In addition, we also have an inspiring selection of brand new Christmas 2022 giftwrap, bags and accessories.”

Below: Some of the latest flat wrap designs from The Art File.

Jo Clarke, founder, Toasted Crumpet...

Other hits: “Additional favourites, where we see continued growth, include our Robin & Eucalyptus and Christmas Dogs designs on our rollwrap, bags and boxes with Penny Kennedy.”

Above: Toasted Crumpet’s In Full Bloom reflects botanicals. Right: A licensing collaboration with Penny Kennedy saw the Toasted Crumpet collection make its debut at Spring Fair. Botanical inspiration:

“We find the botanical look of our designs continues to work beautifully on our flat giftwrap offerings. We are also excited to have extended our botanically inspired giftwrap designs onto gift bags, rollwrap and gift boxes through our collaboration with Penny Kennedy.”

Dipika Shah, founder, Globe Enterprise...

Bold patterns: “For us, 2022 is all about offering handmade paper products, to include gift bags and gift boxes, that will celebrate a return to some kind of normality in our lives, featuring bright colours and bold patterns.

“Our most popular print is the latest iteration in the floral range. The simple yet striking print comes in coral, turquoise, purple, lime green and hot pink.”

Right: Bold, colourful, patterned rollwrap from Globe Enterprise.

Rachel Hare, creative director and boss lady, Belly Button...

In the bag: “We have found great success with our different styles and sizes of bags and now offer small, medium, portrait, tote, mug and bottle. A large selection of these are available across most designs, and with our bottle bags we have specific designs that reflect the contents. Our Bleu Beer, Bleu Gin and Elle Champagne bags feature bottles while some collections feature related designs such as lemons and ‘ice & a slice’ in Mobius, and a striking pink Botanics gin bottle in Wild Thing. Fruit is a big trend for this year, especially strawberries, cherries and lemons.”

Right: Belly Button bottle bags like Bleu Beer and Blue Gin feature specific designs that reflect the contents.

Lorna Syson, founder, Lorna Syson...

Squeak squeak: “We’ve brought out two new designs specifically based on guinea pigs to keep up with the demand - the guinea pig ‘love’ and the guinea pig ‘superhero’ wrap.”

Fern: “We also have fern wrap which is hitting on the trend of biophilic design, a concept to increase connectivity to the natural environment. Featuring mainly leaves and greenery over florals, our fern wrap is ideal for this trend.”

Below: Guinea pigs are squeaking on giftwrap for Laura Syson.

Nicky Rajska, co-founder, Wrag Wrap...

Botanics: “We feel that botanical prints, with an abstract feel, remain suited to many occasions of gift giving and are longlasting and timeless too. “Meanwhile prints with a futuristic feel, as well as those that offer optical illusions will sustain interest. “Our wraps are longlasting and reusable therefore so our prints must be.”

Left: Dramatic styling from Wrag Wraps reusuable fabric wraps.

Carolyn Verderame, sales director, Caroline Gardner...

Bold and colourful: “For SS22 our giftwrap launch includes three new rollwraps, two new flat wraps and several new designs in our gift bags. Our new rollwrap designs are inspired by some of our bestselling card ranges including fun, bold florals for birthdays inspired by our Funtastic card range; colourful balloons drawing from motifs in the All About Print ranges, and the bold, colourful Lovely News, which now adorn rollwrap, three gift bag sizes and two flat wrap designs. We have also incorporated our classic CG falling heart in a teal and purple flat wrap, while the CG open heart design has been re-imagined into a multi-coloured combination and translated onto our best selling gift bags sizes, all finished with gold foil detailing overall, the SS22 range is bold and colourful with designs for all occasions.”

Below: New for kids from Caroline Gardner.