Custom gift boxes, engineered around what's inside

Past custom rigid and magnetic box projects have run about 1 400 $US–2 000 $US for the whole run. That's context, not a quote. Size, quantity, the wrap paper, how much foil and deboss, the insert and freight set the final number. Mailers and folding cartons cost less per box and are quoted to size. If you only need a blank box to look like yours, a foil belly band starts at 295 $US for 100. We price the full spec first, then show you what each removal saves.

A rigid box is chipboard wrapped in paper and assembled before it ships, much of it by hand, and it can't fold flat. You pay for the board, the wrap, the assembly and the freight on a box full of air. A mailer is one die-cut sheet of corrugated board that ships flat and folds up in seconds. The rigid box costs more because it's built, and that solidity in the hand is what you're paying for.

Rigid and magnetic boxes usually make sense from about 100. Below that, the setup for the structure and the foil die is spread across very few boxes, so each one costs more, but we quote short pilot runs for launches and corporate gifting lists. Tell us the quantity you actually need and we'll price exactly that.

Production takes about three weeks after you approve the proof. Before that comes the structure and a physical prototype; after it, freight. For a launch or a holiday gift, start about eight weeks before you need the boxes in hand. These are estimates, not guarantees, so tell us your date first and we'll tell you honestly whether it's comfortable.

Yes. Send the product's dimensions and weight, or the product itself, and we draw the structure and dieline around it. You approve a physical prototype before the full run. Then you build artwork on our dieline in vector, with foil and deboss areas on their own named layers, or our packaging artwork team builds it for you.

Yes. Rigid boxes can be wrapped in natural kraft paper, and mailers and cartons come in kraft board. Know one thing first: printing ink is translucent, so light colours printed on kraft go dull and muddy as the brown shows through. Black, deep colours and foil read best. Black hot foil on a kraft wrap is one of our favourite low-cost builds, and for a white mark we use white pigment foil, which stays opaque where ink would sink in.

On a light or mid-tone box, usually yes. On a deep navy or near-black box, soft-touch shows every fingerprint and courier scuff. We plan around it with a lighter base colour, a matte laminate that hides handling, foil where hands won't land, and a proper outer shipping carton. If the box has to be black and spotless, we'll tell you which of those trade-offs we'd make.

Yes. Hot foil goes on almost any wrap, including soft-touch, though not over a spot UV coating. Foil holds lines to 0.1 mm; we design to 0.15 mm with internal gaps around 0.25 mm. Emboss and deboss need an uncoated wrap; they won't seat in soft-touch laminate, so if you want soft-touch and an impression, the impression goes on an uncoated wrap instead. We keep foil and embossing at least 3 mm away from folds, where they would crack.

Often, yes. A foil box sleeve or belly band around a plain box gives you the brand moment for much less than a fully printed box, and you can change it per season without new boxes. Our fixed-price foil belly band is 10 × 2 in with one foil, from 295 $US for 100; larger sleeves are quoted to the box. Print the whole box when the box itself is the product experience, or when you want a printed interior.

Yes, and it's one of the main reasons to make everything with one studio. We use the same foil and the same paper language across the box, tags, insert cards and seals, and check them on one proof so the gold on the lid is the gold on the tag. Send us your existing pieces and we'll match them where the structure allows.

Yes, two ways. For the box itself, you approve a physical prototype of the structure before the run. For finishes, our 8 $US sample kit includes a hot foil swatch card with every foil we keep on the shelf, plus papers and finishes like blind emboss. It's built around cards, not boxes, but it's the quickest way to choose a foil in your own light.

Freight for boxes is quoted with the job. Finished rigid and magnetic boxes ship by volume, not weight, because they arrive built, so the box size and quantity drive the cost. Mailers and cartons ship flat and cost much less to move.

No. We make custom boxes printed and finished to your brand. If you already have a stock box you like, we can make it yours with a foil belly band, a foil seal or a printed insert card, which is usually the least expensive route.

A rigid box is chipboard wrapped in paper with a lid that lifts off the base; it arrives built and travels inside a shipping carton. A magnetic box is the same rigid build with a hinged flap that closes on magnets hidden under the wrap, so it costs a little more. A mailer is a single die-cut sheet of corrugated board that ships flat, folds up in seconds and goes through the post on its own. Rigid and magnetic boxes are for the gift moment; mailers are for getting the product to the door.