Package Design
Design for Illustrators Course Series
Rhode Island School of Design
Department of Illustration
Spring 2026 • 4-Week Undergraduate Course
This course falls under my 3-part Design for Illustrators workshop series taught at RISD.
Illustrators increasingly contribute to packaging and object-based design contexts, becoming powerful conveyors of brand vision and personality. This workshop introduces students to the fundamentals of package design, with a focus on developing both technical proficiency and contextual sensitivity in designing for three-dimensional printed surfaces. Centred on Adobe Illustrator as the primary tool for vector-based design and professional production workflows, the course provides students with hands-on training in creating artwork for packaging across various formats and materials. Students will learn to think beyond flat compositions, exploring how illustration can activate, enhance, and interact with physical form. The workshop is structured in the form of in-class guided exercises that involve creating dielines, applying artwork to 3D mockups, exploring surface design and patterning, and considering the relationship between illustration, graphic design, and interactivity. It also compels them to conceptualise packaging in a holistic manner—understanding shelf appeal, incorporating regulatory content, creating typographic hierarchy, or considering nested artefacts like leaflets/instruction manuals. In addition to design development, the course emphasises production constraints such as material selection, scaling and dimensioning, colour fidelity, and the logistics of working with print vendors. The workshop also requires students to engage with the RISD Print Center to develop fluency in print-ready production. By the end, students will have produced a range of physical packaging prototypes for different contexts/objects, gaining appreciation for the relationship between illustration, graphic design and print production.
This course is still running. Check back after Spring ‘26 for a full course recap.
