When you're developing your own product to sell, the packaging might be the last thing you think about. That's a mistake; the packaging will be the first thing your customer sees and touches.

Packaging "completes the experience of buying the product," Jimmy DiResta says. "People will appreciate it if it's beautifully made. It's not just protecting the product, it's also doing branding and cross-selling. On the outside of the box, it says where it was made, and It tells the story of how it might've been developed if it's something you're super proud of."

In the next episode of "Mockup to Market," Jimmy covers his approach to packaging, and answers many questions useful to product development newcomers: What's the right material? When do you go off-the-shelf vs. custom? What if you've got an irregular shape and size of object to package? What are the benefits of redesigning something to fit standard packaging, versus creating something unique? What makes for a bad package? How can you minimize the chances of it getting destroyed in shipping or on the store shelf?

Jimmy will answer all of these questions—and maybe one of yours; stick around for the live Q&A after the presentation. Episode 4, "Packaging Design Tips," airs Wednesday, October 20th at 11AM EST.

Sign up to watch here: https://www.core77.com/diresta