What is phygital design, and why is it everywhere right now?

Phygital. Yes, it’s a word. And however clunky in meaning and awkward to say, it’s not going away. Coined somewhere in the fog of marketing brainstorms past, “phygital” refers to any design that blends the physical and the digital — AR packaging, VR pop-ups, immersive storefronts, you name it. In 2025, it’s no longer just a buzzy portmanteau. It’s the blueprint behind some of the smartest, most engaging brand experiences out there (and it’s getting support from some legislative muscle too).

Imagine walking into a store and seeing a cake box that talks back. Or a deodorant can that launches a video game. Or a mirror that shows you how that jacket actually looks from behind. That’s phygital, and it’s already changing how we shop, play, and design.

“We’re not talking about gimmicks anymore,” says Caspar Thykier, cofounder and CEO of Zappar, a UK-based computer vision company that’s helped everyone from Betty Crocker to Lynx turn packaging into portals. “Phygital design is about relevance. About turning passive moments into interactive ones.”

From Crisis to Catalyst

The pandemic forced a lot of British retailers to go phygital fast. Liberty London — a 150-year-old fashion temple — started offering virtual consultations in everything from lipstick to linen. One-to-one styling appointments moved to Zoom. The result? A surprisingly warm, human experience powered by pixels.

Phygital offered an answer. You didn’t have to choose between old-school elegance and digital utility — you could have both.

What’s wild is that now, none of this requires an app. It all worked through the mobile browser—a form of AR called WebAR that’s fast becoming the default for brands who don’t want customers bailing at the App Store.

“Every second of friction costs you,” says Thykier. “So it has to be instant. Tap, scan, play.”

In practice this means that a simple tap creates an experience that can reach large audiences, while still using the same creative assets that might also power a full AR app or VR environment behind the scenes.

Take baking brand Betty Crocker. In a recent Zappar campaign, the brand added AR functionality to its packaging. Point your phone at the box and—bam—you get an on-box tutorial not only of step-by-step baking instructions, videos, voiceovers but also play areas to have fun designing and pimping your cake. The cake mix is now content.

Betty Crocker AR Family Fun - YouTube

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Or Lynx (aka Axe), which turned products into playable experiences. You’d scan a can, trigger an AR competition, with someone like the rapper Aitch. The rapper would talk, chat and encourage you to get involved. The kind of campaign your teenage self would’ve never believed, and the brand tie-in that your CMO would slaver over.

The real magic of phygital design is spatial. It’s not just digital stickers slapped on a screen—it’s stuff that unfolds around you. Think of it as designing for context, not just for clicks.

“We’re used to designing in rectangles—billboards, phones, packaging,” Thykier says. “Now we’re designing for tables, walls, shelves, parks. You have to think: Where is this being experienced? What does it feel like when someone walks around it?”

That shift—from flat to physical—is forcing creative teams to think more like set designers and fewer like UI builders. It’s about choreography. Motion. Surprise. It’s also incredibly democratising. A designer working on a box of cereal now gets to stage an interactive scene in someone’s kitchen.

And phygital isn’t just visual. Sound is huge. So is texture and motion. Zappar’s run campaigns where scanning a bottle reveals animated characters and ambient music that shifts as you rotate the label. These aren’t ads. They’re tiny, joyful brand moments.

Why now?

So, why now? Three reasons: Tech, culture, and expectations. First, the hardware’s caught up. Phones are AR-ready out of the box. WebAR means no apps.

Second, we’re all living hybrid lives now. Since COVID, we order groceries through apps, attend Zoom meeting, and wander virtual showrooms. Phygital speaks to that crossover—it’s IRL with a digital layer. Or vice versa.

And third? People are bored of being sold to. “Advertising has to earn attention now,” Thykier says. “Phygital lets brands offer value—useful, beautiful, sometimes weird experiences that make you stop and smile.”

It also makes sense commercially. These campaigns are measurable. Clicks, dwell time, scan rates—they’re not magic tricks. They’re business tools. They also, crucially, can collect user data. The gold dust for our CMO.

Until recently, phygital experiences were seen mostly as creative experiments or brand nice-to-haves. But a wave of European legislation is now turning this hybrid design space into a compliance-driven priority — giving phygital serious teeth.

The Digital Product Passport (DPP), part of the EU Green Deal, is about to make it mandatory for consumer goods to carry a digital identity — a scannable source of truth that reveals where a product came from, what it's made of, and how to recycle or repair it. For designers and marketers, that means packaging can no longer just look good — it needs to communicate clearly and interactively. Enter phygital.

Meanwhile, the European Accessibility Act — coming into force at the end of June 2025 — raises the stakes even further. It requires that digital services and interfaces (from e-commerce sites to physical product labels) be accessible to all users, including people with disabilities. That’s a wake-up call for anyone creating AR, WebAR, or interactive content. Inclusion isn’t just good design — it’s the law.

For brands, these shifts mark a turning point. Phygital isn’t just a creative playground; it’s fast becoming the most effective — and increasingly essential — way to meet regulatory requirements, reach wider audiences, and design with purpose.