3 tips for designing your event bag

After spending probably thousands of dollars (or even tens of thousands of dollars!) on your event materials, products to display, furniture, maybe more staff, and the booking fee or stall at the expo itself...amongst numerous other costs, you then realise you need event bags.

Having worked in event management and marketing for years, and having ordered event bags for numerous events and expos (before starting my own bag and box business) these are my thoughts and tips for what you need to consider when you want to order event bags:

1. What is going in the event bag? Do you need the bag to fit a bulky magazine and a water bottle, or just a few little flyers and small give-away?
Make sure you gather all your collateral together and measure them to figure out the size of the bag you want. There's nothing worse than having a massive event bag with a few flyers hiding down the bottom. It feels weird for the delegate carrying it around too. Nor should you make the bag too small. Make sure the gusset will be wide enough to fit your give-aways in. For example if you are giving away a bottle of water and a magazine together, make sure they can both fit snug in the bag, by ensuring the gusset (side of bag) is wide enough. You don't want your bottle busting the bag, or if you do manage to squeeze it in, having an outline of the bottle that has obviously been wedged into the bag! My advice: measure, measure, measure!

2. How heavy are the contents? Again, if you've got a 750ml bottle of water and a thick magazine, you could be looking at over 1kg. You probably don't want to go for a 70gsm (thin) kraft bag.
You will need a sturdy bag (probably a classic boutique style bag), and you will need to think about reinforcing the handle holes and the bottom of the bag to ensure your contents don't rip through the bag and land on the feet of a very embarrassed delegate! My advice: tell your packaging supplier (preferably us at Custom Printed Bags & Boxes!) what your contents weigh. We will be able to reinforce the bag to ensure non-breakage.

3. The bag design. If you don't have the budget to engage a Graphic Designer to create a fantastic stand-out design for your event, then you should just go with printing your logo on both sides of the bag, (and even print on the gussets).
If you buy in bulk, you can use the generic branded bags throughout the year for other events. Otherwise, to really stand out, you can print a message on the bag relating to the event itself.
My advice: custom printed bags are so important because it shows you're a professional organisation, and when people walk around with your bag, it gives you brand exposure.

Best of luck with your event!