Claude Design for Product Packaging

Generate on-brand packaging concepts using Claude Design's design system.

Introduction

30 Second Summary

Turning a brand brief into packaging concepts that a client can react to takes hours of sketching, revising, and waiting. The faster you can get from brief to visual concept, the more directions your team can explore before deadlines close in.

In this project, you will use Claude Design to build a brand design system and generate multiple packaging concept variations for a real product. You will then export your concepts as files ready for your production design team.

What You'll Build

A complete packaging concept workflow in Claude Design that transforms a brand's identity into export-ready label layouts for cans, bottles, or candles.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

A published design system in Claude Design loaded with your brand's colors, typography, and voice.
Multiple packaging concept variations for a real product, generated from structured prompts with reference imagery.
An exported concept package (PDF or Canva) ready for production team review and handoff to Illustrator or Photoshop.
Secret Mission: Set up a second brand's design system and generate a competing concept set to compare side by side.

Are there any prerequisites?

You need an active Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise subscription with Claude Design access enabled. You also need brand assets for at least one brand (logo files, hex color codes, and font names) to make the most of every step.

Set Up Claude Design and Prepare Brand Assets

The concept phase of packaging design is often the biggest time sink. Getting from a blank canvas to a set of on-brand directions that a production team can actually execute usually means hours of brainstorming, sketching, and back-and-forth.

In this step, you'll open Claude Design, confirm your workspace is configured correctly, and prepare the brand materials that power accurate concept generation from the very first prompt.

In this step, get ready to:

Access Claude Design and confirm your workspace is ready.
Gather and organize your brand assets into a single folder.
Write a brand context document that captures your brand identity.

Access Claude Design and configure your workspace

Claude Design is a separate visual design tool from Anthropic, built specifically for visual work. It lives at its own URL and has a dedicated canvas. This is a different product from the regular Claude chat interface.

Open Chrome or Edge and navigate to claude.ai/design.
If this is your first time, Claude Design will guide you through a short onboarding flow. It asks a single question: "What do you do?" Select Design or Marketing depending on your primary function.
Click your organization name in the lower-left corner of the project picker to confirm the correct organization is selected.

You should now see the home screen with a New project button and a left sidebar showing recent projects.

What is Claude Design?

Claude Design is an Anthropic Labs product that generates HTML, CSS, and JavaScript rendered visuals on a live canvas. It is not a diffusion-based image generator. Think of it as a rapid concept ideation tool, not a replacement for Illustrator or Photoshop.

When you set up a design system in the next step, every project you create automatically inherits your brand's colors, typography, and components. The design system is the single biggest lever for output quality.

Can't access Claude Design?

Make sure you're at claude.ai/design, not the regular claude.ai chat interface.
Confirm you're signed in with the account that has a Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise subscription.
On Enterprise plans, Claude Design is off by default. An admin must enable it in Organization settings first. Reach out to your admin if you're seeing a permissions error.
Help me troubleshoot Claude Design access

Gather and organize brand assets for upload

Before building the design system, prepare the following assets for the brand you're starting with. Having these ready upfront saves significant tokens because Claude won't need to guess or infer your brand identity.

Minimum required:

Brand name and a one-sentence description including the product touchpoints (e.g., "Premium candle line sold in retail stores, targeting 25-40 year old women").
At least 2 logo variants (light and dark background) as PNG or SVG files.
3-5 brand colors with hex codes.
At least one font name or font file (WOFF2 or OTF preferred).

Recommended:

A voice and tone statement (2-3 sentences describing the brand personality).
3 anti-patterns (things the brand does NOT do, e.g., "never uses neon colors," "avoids playful or childish language").
2-3 reference images of existing packaging from competitors or inspiration brands.
An existing brand guidelines PDF or slide deck if available.

Optional power-user assets:

A Figma file with design tokens and components.
Screenshots of existing packaging from this brand.

Create a folder on your Desktop called brand-assets and place all of the above files into it.

Why prepare assets before starting?

Claude Design builds your design system from whatever you give it. The more specific your inputs, the less back-and-forth you'll need later.

Uploading explicit hex codes, font files, and anti-patterns up front means the generated design system matches your brand on the first pass.

Write a brand context document

This document is a short Markdown file that consolidates your brand identity into one reference. You'll paste it into the Any other notes? field during design system creation in the next step. This gives Claude explicit brand constraints instead of leaving it to guess.

Create a new file called brand-context.md using any text editor (Notepad, TextEdit, or VS Code).
Use the example below as a starting point. Replace all of the example values with your own brand's information.

# Brand Context: SURGE Energy

## Target Audience
Health-conscious adults aged 22-35 who want a clean energy
boost without artificial ingredients.

## Product Types and Touchpoints
330ml aluminum cans, 500ml bottles. Sold in grocery stores,
gyms, and online DTC.

## Color Palette
- Primary: Midnight Black #1A1A2E
- Secondary: Electric Blue #0F3460
- Accent: Volt Green #16C79A
- Warning: Signal Orange #FF6B35

## Typography
- Primary font: Bebas Neue (headlines and product names)
- Secondary font: Inter (body text and nutritional info)

## Brand Voice and Tone
Bold, direct, and confident without being aggressive. We speak
like a knowledgeable coach, not a hype machine. Short
declarative sentences over flowery descriptions.

## Anti-Patterns
1. Never use neon pink or pastel colors.
2. Never use playful, childish, or cutesy language.
3. Never use cursive or handwritten fonts.

What does each section cover?

Target Audience tells Claude who the packaging needs to resonate with, which influences layout density and visual tone.
Product Types and Touchpoints tells Claude which physical formats to prioritize (cans, bottles, jars, boxes).
Color Palette with hex codes gives Claude exact values instead of approximate guesses.
Brand Voice and Tone shapes any copy Claude generates on the packaging labels.
Anti-Patterns are one of the most effective levers. They prevent Claude from drifting into generic or off-brand territory.

Save brand-context.md to your brand-assets folder.
Confirm your document is under 300 words. You can check by pasting it into any online word counter or by checking the word count feature in your text editor.

Not sure what to write for a section?

If you don't have formal brand guidelines, write 1-2 sentences per section based on what you know about the brand. Even rough notes outperform leaving the field blank.
For anti-patterns, think about what competitors do that this brand wants to avoid. "Never looks like [competitor X]" is a valid anti-pattern.
If you only have one font, list it as the primary and leave the secondary blank. Claude will pick a complementary option.

Help me write my brand context document

✔️ Awesome, I've got everything!

Great. Double check you've saved brand-context.md to your brand-assets folder alongside your logo files and any other assets.

ⓧ I'd like to double check the full document

Your brand-context.md should follow this structure. Your specific values will differ, but every section should be present.

# Brand Context: SURGE Energy

## Target Audience
Health-conscious adults aged 22-35 who want a clean energy
boost without artificial ingredients.

## Product Types and Touchpoints
330ml aluminum cans, 500ml bottles. Sold in grocery stores,
gyms, and online DTC.

## Color Palette
- Primary: Midnight Black #1A1A2E
- Secondary: Electric Blue #0F3460
- Accent: Volt Green #16C79A
- Warning: Signal Orange #FF6B35

## Typography
- Primary font: Bebas Neue (headlines and product names)
- Secondary font: Inter (body text and nutritional info)

## Brand Voice and Tone
Bold, direct, and confident without being aggressive. We speak
like a knowledgeable coach, not a hype machine. Short
declarative sentences over flowery descriptions.

## Anti-Patterns
1. Never use neon pink or pastel colors.
2. Never use playful, childish, or cutesy language.
3. Never use cursive or handwritten fonts.

Your workspace is ready and your brand assets are organized. In the next step, you'll use these materials to build a complete design system that Claude applies automatically to every packaging concept it generates.

Build Your Brand Design System

Your brand assets are organized and your brand context document is ready to paste. Now it's time to teach Claude Design what your brand actually looks like.

A design system stores your brand's colors, typography, and visual rules so Claude applies them to every new project automatically. This is the single biggest lever for output quality.

In this step, get ready to:

Create a new design system with your brand name and product touchpoints.
Upload brand assets including logos, fonts, and your brand context document.
Review, approve, and publish the design system for your organization.

Create a new design system

Without a design system, Claude generates generic-looking concepts that could belong to any brand. With one loaded, the same prompts produce results that match your actual brand identity.

Click the Design systems tab at the top right of the Claude Design home screen.
Click Create new design system.

A setup dialog opens with the heading "Set up your design system" and six input fields.

In Field 1 (the only required field), enter your brand name and a short blurb describing the brand.
Include the product touchpoints in the blurb, such as "packaging labels for candles, cans, and bottles."

Why include product touchpoints?

The blurb tells Claude which types of layouts and components to prioritize. A description like "Premium candle line sold in retail stores, targeting 25-40 year old women" focuses Claude on packaging-relevant design patterns instead of generic web components.

Upload brand sources and assets

The remaining five fields are optional, but the ones you fill in directly affect how closely Claude's output matches your brand. Fields 5 and 6 are the most important for packaging work.

Skip Field 2 (Link code on GitHub). This is for web component libraries, not packaging workflows.
Skip Field 3 (Link code from your computer). Also for code-based projects.
In Field 4 (Upload a .fig file), upload your Figma file if you have one with design tokens and components. Skip this field if you don't have a Figma file.
In Field 5 (Add fonts, logos and assets), upload your logo variants (SVG preferred), font files, and 5-10 representative photos or illustrations.
In Field 6 (Any other notes?), paste the full text of your brand context document from Step 1.

Why is the "Any other notes?" field so important?

Logos and font files tell Claude the mechanics of your brand. The "Any other notes?" field tells Claude the character of your brand. Your hex codes, voice and tone statement, and anti-patterns go here.

This is why you prepared the brand context document in Step 1. Pasting it here means Claude doesn't have to guess your brand personality, which saves tokens and produces more accurate results from the start.

Click Continue to generation.

Claude processes your uploads and generates the design system. This may take several minutes if you uploaded many files.

Is it taking a long time?

Large file uploads (especially Figma files with many pages) can extend generation time. Leave the tab open in the background and let Claude finish processing. Do not refresh or close the tab during generation.

If you see a "Missing brand fonts" warning, Claude couldn't extract font files from your uploads. You can click Upload fonts to provide them directly, or continue with Claude's closest web font substitutes.

Need help with something else? Help me troubleshoot the design system generation in Claude Design.

Review and publish the design system

Claude presents the generated design system component by component: color palette (primary, secondary, accent), typography (font families, sizes, weights), components (buttons, cards, navigation), and layout patterns (spacing, grids).

For each section, click Looks good to approve, or click Needs work to request adjustments with specific feedback.
Compare the extracted colors against your actual brand hex codes. If any don't match, click Needs work and specify the correct hex values.
Check that the typography feels appropriate for packaging (clear hierarchy, readable at small label sizes) rather than optimized for web layouts.

Be specific when requesting changes

When clicking Needs work, avoid vague feedback like "make it better." Instead, name the exact problem: "Primary color should be #2B2D42, not #3A3D5C" or "Body font should be Inter, not Helvetica." Specific feedback resolves in one round instead of three.

Once you've approved all sections, toggle Published on.

From this point, every new project in your organization uses this design system automatically.

What does publishing do?

A published design system appears as a selectable option in the Design system dropdown whenever you create a new project. An unpublished (Draft) system exists in your account but isn't available for new projects.

You can update a published system later without losing your projects. Changes flow through to new projects automatically.

Verify your design system is published by returning to the Claude Design home screen.
Click New project. You should see a Design system dropdown with your brand's design system listed as an option.
Close the new project dialog without creating anything. You'll use this in the next step.

Don't see your design system in the dropdown?

Make sure you toggled Published on. A system left in Draft status won't appear in the project creation dropdown.

If the toggle is on but the system still doesn't appear, try refreshing the page. On Enterprise plans, check with your admin that Claude Design is enabled for your organization.

Still stuck? Help me figure out why my published design system isn't showing up in the new project dropdown.

Your brand's design system is live and ready to use. Next up, you'll put it to work by generating packaging concept directions with structured prompts and reference images.

Generate Packaging Concepts with Structured Prompts

Your brand design system is published and automatically enforcing your brand identity across every new project. The next challenge is turning that system into actual packaging concepts that your team can evaluate and refine.

A vague prompt produces vague results. In this step, you will write a structured prompt that gives Claude Design precise constraints for your packaging layout, upload reference images to steer the visual direction, and evaluate the concept directions Claude generates.

In this step, get ready to:

Write a structured packaging prompt specifying product dimensions, layout requirements, and visual direction.
Upload cropped reference images to guide the visual tone while saving tokens.
Evaluate concept directions and select the strongest one for refinement.

Create a new project and write a structured packaging prompt

Every packaging concept starts with a new project tied to your brand's design system. The design system ensures that Claude uses your colors, typography, and components instead of generating generic defaults.

Click New project on the Claude Design home screen.
In the project creation dialog, confirm that your brand's design system appears in the design system dropdown.
Select your brand's design system from the dropdown if it is not already selected.

Don't see your design system in the dropdown?

Go back to the Design systems tab on the home screen and confirm your system's status is set to Published. Only published systems appear as dropdown options when creating a new project.

If it is published but still missing, try refreshing your browser tab. Help me troubleshoot my design system not appearing in the project dropdown.

Now you need to write a prompt that tells Claude exactly what to generate. A structured packaging prompt includes five specific elements that prevent Claude from guessing.

What makes a good packaging prompt?

Include these five elements in every packaging prompt to get the most useful concept directions:

Product type and dimensions (e.g., "330ml aluminum can," "8oz candle jar with wrap-around label," "500ml glass bottle").
Layout requirements (front label, side panel, back panel, or wrap-around).
Required elements (product name, brand logo, ingredient area, barcode zone, any regulatory text).
Visual direction (e.g., "premium and minimalist," "bold and energetic," "elegant floral").
Number of variants (e.g., "Generate 3 concept directions").

Write a prompt in the chat panel that includes all five elements, adapted for your brand and product type. Here is an example you can use as a starting point:

Design a flat label layout for a 330ml energy drink can.
Wrap-around format.
Include: brand logo placement, product name 'SURGE',
flavor descriptor area, nutrition facts zone on the back panel,
barcode area.
Visual direction: bold, aggressive, dark background with
electric accent colors.
Use our brand design system.
Generate 3 distinct concept directions.

What does each part of this prompt do?

The product type and dimensions ("330ml energy drink can") tell Claude what physical format to design for. The layout requirement ("wrap-around format") determines whether Claude creates a single front label or a full wrap.

Listing required elements ensures Claude allocates space for everything your packaging needs. The visual direction steers the aesthetic without Claude falling back on generic defaults.

Asking for 3 distinct concept directions gives you meaningful variety to compare. "Use our brand design system" explicitly tells Claude to apply the colors, fonts, and components you set up in the previous step.

Replace the example details with your own brand name, product type, and visual direction.
Submit the prompt in the chat panel by pressing Enter or clicking the send button.
Wait for Claude to generate initial concept layouts on the canvas. This may take a minute or two depending on the complexity of your prompt.

Why flat layouts instead of 3D mockups?

Claude Design generates HTML/CSS/JavaScript rendered visuals, not raster images or diffusion-based artwork. This means the output is a flat, code-rendered layout rather than a photorealistic 3D mockup of a can or bottle.

These flat layouts are ideal for concept direction and layout decisions. Your production team will recreate the chosen direction as vector-based, print-ready artwork in Illustrator or Photoshop.

Upload reference images to guide the visual direction

Reference images help Claude understand the visual intensity and style you are aiming for. They are especially useful for communicating things that are hard to describe in words, like texture weight or color saturation.

Prepare 2-3 reference images of packaging you want Claude to draw inspiration from. These could be competitor products, mood boards, or existing packaging from your brand.
Before uploading, crop each image to show only the relevant label or design area rather than a full product photo.

Why crop your reference images?

Claude tokenizes images by pixel count. A 1000x1000px image costs roughly 1,334 tokens, while a cropped 200x200px region costs roughly 54 tokens.

That is a 25x difference for potentially the same useful design information. Cropping is one of the simplest ways to stretch your quota across more concept work.

Upload your cropped reference images in the chat panel.
Add a brief instruction with each reference image to tell Claude what to focus on. For example: "Use this as inspiration for the color intensity and typography weight, but apply our brand system."
Wait for Claude to incorporate the reference images and refine the concepts on your canvas.

One reference per visual quality

Each reference image should demonstrate a different quality you want. One for color intensity, one for typography weight, one for layout density. Uploading three images that all show the same thing wastes tokens without adding useful signal.

Evaluate and select a direction

Claude will have generated 2-3 distinct packaging concept directions on your canvas. These are flat, code-rendered layouts that show layout structure, color application, and typography hierarchy.

Review each concept direction on the canvas.
For each concept, check these four criteria:
Identify the strongest concept direction. This is the one you will refine in the next step.

What if none of the concepts feel right?

If the concepts look too generic or do not reflect your brand, the most common cause is a design system that needs more specific anti-patterns or voice notes. Return to your design system and add more constraints to the notes field.

You can also try adding more detail to your prompt. Specificity is the single biggest lever for output quality. "Dark background with #1A1A2E and electric blue #00D4FF accents" produces better results than "dark and bold."

Concepts not reflecting your brand colors?

Check that your design system is actually applied to the project by looking at the design system indicator in the project settings. Design system drift is a known issue where generated components sometimes do not match the system Claude just created.

If colors have drifted, add a follow-up message in the chat specifying the exact hex codes you want. For example: "Use #2B2D42 as the primary background and #EF233C as the accent color." Help me fix my packaging concepts not matching my brand design system colors.

You have concept directions on your canvas, each built from your brand's design system. Next up, you will refine your chosen concept using token-efficient techniques that stretch your quota further.

Refine Concepts with Token-Efficient Techniques

In the previous step, you generated multiple concept directions for your packaging design. You now have a chosen concept to refine. The question is how to get from a rough direction to a polished concept without burning through your token quota.

Claude Design shares its usage limits with regular chat, Cowork, and Code. Every refinement message costs tokens, so the way you communicate changes matters. In this step, you will learn three techniques that produce better results while using significantly fewer tokens.

In this step, get ready to:

Use inline comments to batch element-specific changes into a single generation.
Generate custom adjustment sliders for fine-tuning spacing, colors, and typography.
Apply token-saving session habits that stretch your quota across more concept work.

Use inline comments for element-specific changes

Claude Design has two ways to request changes: the chat panel and inline comments. Chat is best for large-scale changes like generating an entirely new concept direction.

Inline comments are best for targeted, element-specific adjustments. When you click directly on an element and leave a comment, Claude knows exactly which element you mean without you having to describe it in words.

Review your selected concept on the canvas and identify all the elements that need adjustment (typography size, color swaps, spacing, weight changes).
Click directly on the first element you want to change.
Leave a comment with a specific instruction for that element. Here are examples of effective inline comments:

Make this text 20% larger and change to bold condensed.

Swap this background color to our secondary brand color #2B2D42.

Add a horizontal rule separating the product name from the flavor text.

Why batch your comments?

Each time Claude processes your feedback, it counts as one generation against your quota. That generation costs roughly the same whether it changes one element or ten.

By leaving comments on every element that needs adjustment before sending, Claude applies all changes in a single generation. This means ten changes for the cost of one, instead of ten separate generations.

Continue clicking on each element that needs a change and leave a comment with specific instructions for each one.
Once you have commented on every element that needs adjustment, send all comments at once so Claude processes them in a single generation.

Claude processes all your comments and updates the concept in one pass. You should see every requested change reflected on the canvas at once.

Changes not appearing on all elements?

Make sure you sent all of your comments together. Comments that are left but not submitted will not be processed by Claude.

If Claude missed a specific comment, leave a follow-up comment on just that element and send it individually.

My inline comments in Claude Design aren't being applied to the right elements. What might be going wrong?

Use sliders and direct edits for fine-tuning

After the initial batch of changes, you will want to fine-tune specific properties like spacing, font size, or color intensity. Claude Design can generate custom sliders that let you test variations interactively.

Request adjustment sliders by typing this prompt in the chat panel:

Generate adjustment sliders for this layout

What do sliders cost?

Generating the sliders costs one chat turn worth of tokens. After that, dragging the sliders is interactive and does not consume additional tokens per adjustment.

This makes sliders ideal for exploring variations. You can test dozens of combinations for the cost of a single generation.

Drag the sliders to test different values for spacing, color intensity, border radius, and font size.
Find the combination that works best for your packaging concept and leave the sliders at those values.

For simple text changes like the product name, flavor text, or tagline copy, use direct edit mode instead of the chat or comments.

Click on a text element directly on the canvas.
Type your new text directly to replace the existing text.
Repeat for any other text elements that need updating (product name, flavor descriptor, tagline).

Why direct edits cost zero tokens

Direct text edits happen entirely in the browser. Claude is not involved at all, so no tokens are consumed.

Use direct edits for any copy change where you already know the exact text you want. Save inline comments and chat messages for changes that require Claude to make design decisions.

Your concept should now show fine-tuned spacing, colors, and typography from the sliders, plus updated text from your direct edits.

Sliders not appearing?

Make sure you sent the prompt in the chat panel. Slider generation requires a chat message, not an inline comment.

If Claude generated sliders for different properties than you need, request specific ones. For example, type a follow-up like "Generate a slider for the header font size" in the chat.

Claude Design is not generating adjustment sliders when I ask for them. How can I fix this?

Apply token-saving session habits

Beyond individual editing techniques, how you structure your sessions has a major impact on token consumption. These habits help you stretch your quota across more concept work.

Keep one brand per chat session. Mixing brands in a single session wastes tokens because the accumulated context from one brand carries over when you switch to another.
Start new sessions for new products. When you move from cans to candles, open a new project rather than continuing in the same chat thread. Token cost grows with conversation length.
Be specific, not iterative. A single detailed prompt is cheaper than three separate messages asking for each change individually. For example:

Change the header to 24px bold condensed, swap the accent to #FF6B35, and add a 16px margin below the logo

Why one prompt beats three

Three separate messages ("make the header bigger," then "change the accent color," then "add spacing below the logo") cost three generations. The single combined prompt above achieves the same result in one generation.

Upload only what Claude needs for this round of refinement. If you are adjusting typography, do not re-upload all your reference images. Upload only the specific reference relevant to this round of changes.

The math behind cropping reference images

A full 1000x1000px reference image costs roughly 1,334 tokens. A cropped 200x200px region of that same image costs roughly 54 tokens.

Cropping your reference images to show only the relevant design area saves significant tokens over the course of a session. When uploading a reference for a specific element, crop to just that element first.

Do a final check on your refined concept. Confirm that the colors match your brand hex codes, the typography hierarchy is clear (product name largest, flavor text secondary, regulatory text smallest), and all required packaging elements are present.

Your concept is refined and brand-aligned. Next up, you will export it for production handoff and document the workflow for your team.

Export Concepts for Production Handoff

Your packaging concept is refined, on-brand, and sitting on the canvas. The creative work is done.

Your production designers in Illustrator or Photoshop need exact specifications to recreate the layout as print-ready artwork. In this step, you'll generate those values, export your concept, and document the workflow for your team.

In this step, get ready to:

Run a final review pass and generate a layout specification for your production team.
Export your concept in the format your team needs.
Document the entire workflow so it's repeatable across your organization.

Prepare concepts for export

Small discrepancies in color or missing elements are easy to fix on the canvas but costly to catch after handoff. A final review pass catches anything that may have drifted during refinement.

Review your concept on the canvas and confirm all placeholder text has been replaced with real copy.
Check that each color in the concept matches your brand hex codes.
If any colors have drifted, right-click the element, leave an inline comment with the correct hex value, and send the update.
Verify that the layout includes all required packaging elements: brand logo, product name, regulatory text zone, and barcode area.

Production designers need exact values to recreate your concept as vector artwork. A layout specification gives them every measurement, color, and font detail in one document.

Generate a layout specification by typing this prompt in the Claude Design chat:

Summarize this design as a layout spec: list all colors with hex codes, fonts with sizes and weights, spacing values, and element positions.

What does this layout spec do?

Your production designer working in Illustrator or Photoshop doesn't have access to Claude Design's canvas. The layout spec translates your visual concept into a precise text reference they can follow without guesswork.

Wait for Claude to generate a text summary listing all your design values: hex codes, font families, font sizes, weights, spacing, and element positions.
Copy the specification text and save it as a local text file (e.g. layout-spec.txt) for handoff alongside your export.

Layout spec missing details?

If Claude omits spacing values or element positions, send a follow-up message asking it to include pixel positions and margins for each element.

If colors in the spec don't match your brand hex codes, the design system may have drifted during refinement. Right-click the affected elements, leave inline comments with the correct values, then regenerate the spec.

help me fix my layout specification in Claude Design

Export to your production workflow

Claude Design supports several export formats, each suited to a different next step in your workflow. The right choice depends on who receives the concept and what tool they use next.

Which export format should I choose?

PDF: Best for sharing concepts with stakeholders or customers for review and approval.
Send to Canva: Best if your team uses Canva for further editing. The design becomes fully editable with layers preserved.
PPTX: Best for embedding concepts in customer pitch presentations.
Standalone HTML: Best for sharing interactive previews via a link.
Internal URL: Best for quick sharing within your organization for async review.

Click the Export button in your project.
Select the export format that matches your team's next step.
Confirm the export downloads or sends successfully.

Production handoff to Illustrator or Photoshop

For production handoff, export as PDF and pair it with the layout specification you saved in the previous substep. This combination gives your designers everything they need to recreate the concept as vector-based, print-ready artwork.

For PDF exports, open the downloaded file and verify the layout matches what you see on the canvas.
For Canva exports, open Canva and confirm the design appears with editable layers.

Export looks different from the canvas?

If colors or fonts in the exported file don't match the canvas, the design system may have drifted on certain elements. Return to the canvas, right-click the affected elements, leave inline comments with the correct hex codes or font names, and re-export.

If the export button is unresponsive, try refreshing the page and clicking Export again. Chrome or Edge tends to work best with Claude Design.

help me troubleshoot my Claude Design export

Document the workflow for your team

Your Claude Design workflow is only valuable if the rest of your team can use it without you. A short internal guide turns your personal process into a shared team capability.

Create a new shared document in your team's preferred tool (Google Docs, Notion, or a simple notes file).
Add a section listing which brand design systems are currently set up in Claude Design.
Add instructions for how to select the right design system when creating a new project.
Include the structured prompt template for packaging concepts. Cover the format you used earlier: product type and dimensions, layout requirements, required elements, visual direction, and number of variants.
Add the token-saving rules: batched inline comments, slider adjustments, direct text edits (zero tokens), and one-brand-per-session.

Why document this now?

Without a written guide, the workflow lives only in your head. The next time a teammate needs to generate packaging concepts, they'll burn tokens experimenting with prompts you've already optimized.

A shared document also keeps your team aligned on which design systems exist. Publishing a new design system affects every project in the organization, so everyone should know what's available before creating new ones.

Save the document and share it with your team.
Confirm a teammate can open it and find the prompt template and token-saving rules.

Secret mission

Multi-Brand Concept Showdown

You have a working workflow for one brand. But does it scale? Set up a second brand's design system, generate competing packaging concepts for the same product type, and place both sets side by side to prove each one clearly reflects its own brand identity.

Clean Up Your Resources

Your design systems and projects are stored in your Claude account and do not incur additional costs beyond your existing subscription. Decide whether to keep your resources for future use, clean up test projects, or delete everything entirely.

Resources you used:

Published design systems in Claude Design (Brand A and Brand B).
Packaging concept projects in Claude Design (Brand A and Brand B).
Local files: brand context documents, layout specification document, team workflow guide, and exported PDFs.

Keep everything running

No action needed. Choose this if you plan to keep using your design systems for future packaging concepts.

Your published design systems remain available and automatically apply to new projects in your organization.
All project files, exported PDFs, and local documents stay where they are.
This is the recommended option. Design systems are the most valuable output from this project and take significant time to rebuild.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

Clean up practice projects to keep your Claude Design workspace organized, but keep your published design systems for future use.

In Claude Design, return to the home screen and locate your project list.
Delete the Brand A and Brand B packaging concept projects from the project list.
Keep both design systems published. They are reusable for future packaging concept work across your organization.
Your local files (brand context documents, layout specification, team workflow guide, exported PDFs) can stay on your computer for reference.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Remove all project resources from Claude Design and delete the local files you created during this project.

In Claude Design, return to the home screen and delete the Brand A and Brand B packaging concept projects from the project list.
Navigate to the Design systems tab at the top right of the home screen.
Delete the Brand A and Brand B design systems. Removing a published design system affects all new projects in your organization, so only do this if you will not use these brands again.
Delete the local files you created during this project: both brand context documents, the layout specification document, the team workflow guide, and all exported PDFs.

That's a Wrap!

Nice work! You have built a complete Claude Design packaging concept workflow from brand assets to production-ready exports.

What you learned:

Built a brand design system in Claude Design that produces on-brand packaging concepts automatically, eliminating generic AI output.
Generated multiple packaging concept directions for a real product using structured prompts with reference imagery, then refined them with token-efficient techniques like batched inline comments, custom sliders, and direct edits.
Exported production-ready concept packages (PDF or Canva) with layout specifications for handoff to Illustrator or Photoshop designers.
Secret Mission: Set up a second brand's design system and generated a competing concept set, proving the workflow scales across multiple brands and customer projects.

Ready to quiz yourself?