Paper bags are useful in many ways and are perfect tools for sharing your brand message. In fact, branded paper bags with the right design can effectively increase brand awareness and improve your company’s image.

1. Shoelace Handles

This paper bag was designed for Kong, a street/skateboard clothing company. The company specializes in collectible sneakers, so it makes sense to include sneakers in their custom bag design.

The shoe bag was created by advertising agency Rave, who worked with Kong in 2010. It’s a simple white bag with a cartoon shoe drawing, and the rope handles are positioned to look like shoelaces.

2. Beer Crate Design

This eye-catching paper bag was designed for Shumensko, a Bulgarian beer brand. The bag looks like the beer crates usually used to ship products.

The appeal of this design is the shock value – seeing someone carrying what appears to be a beer crate casually. Of course, a closer look reveals it’s just a design. But it makes people look twice, making it an effective brand recognition tool.

3. Tea Bag Shape

Lipton’s custom paper bag for their Clear Green product was also a genius move. Instead of the usual square or rectangle shape, the bag looks like a giant tea bag. This was designed by advertising agency DDB for Lipton and launched in 2010 as a campaign in Saudi Arabia.

4. Steering Wheel Handle

Hurriyetoto, a Turkish car website, featured this paper bag design. It’s a perfect example of how to deliver an effective brand message by placing a simple image in the right position. By placing a steering wheel image on the bag’s die-cut handle, it tells customers this is a reliable source for cars and related products.

5. Daily Fitness

This paper bag was designed for Fitness Company, a German fitness business. The dumbbell is positioned at the same spot as the die-cut handles. When customers carry it around, it looks like they’re lifting weights and exercising while walking.

This is a great way to remind people to stay healthy and fit. Once they have this idea, they can turn to the company behind the bag for help staying in shape.

This is a smart idea for paper gift bags. Show the need through packaging and let people know what your brand can offer.

6. Save the Animals

These lovely paper bags were designed for Greenpeace’s “Give Me Your Hand” campaign, featuring animal arms reaching toward the bag handles. When someone carries the bag, it looks like they’re holding the animal’s hand or helping the animal stand up.

This is a wonderful way to promote animal welfare and show that the world needs our help. It raises awareness about animal needs and encourages people to ask what they can do.

Use paper bags to educate people about the causes your brand supports. You’ll not only encourage them to help but also earn their admiration and loyalty.

7. Unplug and Save Energy

You can also use custom paper bags to provide important reminders to your target audience to ensure their safety when using products.

One example is Meralco, a major electricity provider in the Philippines. They worked with advertising agency TBWA to launch a series of paper gift bags that remind people to be careful with plugged-in devices and save energy. These bags feature images of appliances, with rope handles that look like unplugged power cords.

8. Humanitarian Aid

You can also make your paper bags emotionally appealing to motivate people to take action.

One company did this with great success. Die Arche, a German Christian children and youth aid organization, printed an image of a little girl reaching out her hand as if begging for food. This image was placed inside the bag. So when customers unload their purchased items, they see this image, reminding them of the hungry children in Berlin. This campaign significantly increased donations.

9. Car Door

This work comes from an agency in Paris. The challenge was to increase visibility of the VW brand during The Paris Motor Show. They wanted to draw as much traffic as possible to the VW tent during the highly competitive event.

10. Brass Knuckles

This bag was designed by Leo Burnett with a brass knuckle printed on the handle to give a more masculine impression.

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