When launching a new product and needing unique packaging labels to showcase the product’s ingredients and uses, if you are unsure about how to design the label, select the size, materials, and process to best display your product, we offer professional advice to help you create the ideal packaging label.
Choosing the right material is a key step in label printing
Different materials not only affect the appearance of the label but also directly relate to its functionality and application environment. Here are material recommendations based on different design needs and functions:
- Minimalist Style: Coated paper is a top choice, suitable for a simple and generous design style, providing clear printing effects. Suitable for short-term use labels like promotional labels, sealing labels, and round labels.
- Retro Style: Choose special textured paper or double adhesive paper, which can create a unique retro feel. Suitable for products like wine and whiskey.
- High-End Fashion: Holographic labels, glossy gold, or silver adhesive materials can add a luxurious and modern touch to labels. Suitable for protein labels, CBD labels.
- Eco-Friendly Option: Kraft paper is an environmentally friendly material, suitable for brands pursuing a natural style and sustainability. Applicable to food labels.
- Invisible Label Effect: Transparent materials like BOPP, PVC, PET, and PE provide an almost invisible effect, with BOPP being the best visually. Suitable for transparent beer labels and wash-off labels.
Material Selection for Specific Functions:
- Waterproof: PET, PE, PVC, BOPP, and synthetic paper, which can effectively waterproof and are suitable for various environments.
- Temperature Resistance: PET material performs well under extreme temperatures.
- Barcode Printing: Thermal paper is suitable for printing barcodes, especially for short-term display.
Adhesive Selection:
When choosing label adhesives, considering the nature of the adhesive and application scenarios is crucial. Different types of adhesives are suitable for different needs and environmental conditions. Here are some common types of adhesives and their applications:
- Permanent Adhesive: This adhesive provides strong stickiness, and once applied, it is difficult to remove without damaging the label or surface. Suitable for applications where long-term fixation is needed and not intended to be removed, such as cosmetic labels ,pipe stickers and safety warning labels.
- Removable Adhesive: Unlike permanent adhesive, removable adhesive allows the label to be removed after some time without leaving residue or damaging the surface. Suitable for temporary markings, promotional labels, or car stickers.
- Freezer Adhesive: Specially designed for low-temperature environments, freezer adhesive maintains good stickiness in refrigerated or frozen conditions. Suitable for products that need to be stored in refrigerated or frozen environments, such as food packaging and pharmaceutical products.
- No Adhesive: Electrostatic sticker material is a type of material that can adhere to smooth surfaces without the need for glue. It uses the power of static electricity to attach the sticker to the surface, thus eliminating the need for traditional adhesives or sticky substances. For instance, window electrostatic stickers are a common application of this technology.
Backing Paper Selection:
- Glassine Paper: Dense, uniform, thin yet tough, resistant to high temperatures, moisture, and oil, generally used for food, pharmaceutical packaging, and mainly for high-speed automatic labeling.
- Transparent Film Backing: The material is PET with a release layer, hard and smooth surface, wear-resistant and scratch-resistant; high transparency and optical clarity, allowing the label paper to preserve its original appearance and color, generally used for beer labels, wash-off labels.
- White or Yellow Paper: Generally used for 100-140G coated paper with a release layer, roll packing is suitable for thinner materials, and sheet packing for thicker materials. Thin backing paper tends to curl, and this type is used for sheet-packed such as : kiss-cut stickers, die-cut stickers.
Design Tips: How to Create Eye-Catching Labels
When designing a label, first fully consider the type of product it will be attached to, its color, and the shape and color of bottle or can packaging. The product’s logo and brand copy creativity are also key parts of the design, which need to be clearly displayed and coordinated with the overall design style. The design of the background should be based on the purpose of the product and promotional ideas to ensure the overall design can effectively convey product information and brand value. In addition, the shape of the label should ideally match the shape of the bottle or can packaging to enhance visual unity and overall aesthetic appeal.
You can also hire a professional designer to do it for you or use AI software to help you design.
Size Decision: Finding the Perfect Match for Your Label
When determining the size of a label, the key is to find a size that perfectly matches the product packaging. The correct size not only affects the visual appeal of the label but also concerns the clarity of information transmission and brand image presentation. Here are some decision guidelines to help you choose the right size for your label:
- Consider the Shape and Size of Packaging: When customers purchase a product, they hope to see what the product inside the packaging looks like, so measure the packaging size to ensure the label size is appropriate, neither too large to cover the product itself nor too small to make the information difficult to discern.
- Space for Important Information: Ensure there is enough space on the label to display key information like the brand logo, product name, ingredients, and usage instructions.
- Adapt to Packaging Curves: For bottle or curved packaging, consider how the label will adapt to the curves. Small-sized labels are suitable for flat areas of the curve, while larger curved areas are suitable for shrink sleeve labels.
- Visual Balance: The size and color of the label should maintain visual balance with the shape and appearance of the packaging, avoiding any mismatch or imbalance.
- Comparing with Competitors: Investigate the label sizes of similar products in the market to ensure your product stands out on the shelf while still adhering to industry standards.
- Regulatory Requirements: Some products (like food and pharmaceuticals) may have specific label size or information display requirements. Ensure compliance with relevant regulations.
- Testing and Feedback: Before finalizing the size, produce samples, apply them to the actual product for testing, and even collect feedback from the target audience to make the best decision.
By considering these factors comprehensively, you can choose a label size for your product that is both practical and appealing, ensuring that the label functions well and looks great in tandem with your product.
Choosing the Right Printing Method: Finding the Best Fit for Your Needs
When choosing a printing method, it’s important to find the one that best fits your specific needs. Different printing technologies have their advantages and characteristics, suitable for various application scenarios and order requirements. Here is a summary of the printing methods you provided:
- Offset Printing:
- Features: Most commonly used, capable of printing high-precision images up to 200 lines.
- Advantages: Low cost, fast speed, strong adaptability.
- Applicable Scenarios: Suitable for medium to large label printing orders.
- Letterpress Printing:
- Features: Thicker ink layer, but lower printing precision than offset printing.
- Applicable Scenarios: Suitable for medium and small orders, especially those requiring vibrant colors.
- Gravure Printing:
- Features: Requires engraving copper plates, slower process, higher cost.
- Disadvantages: Unable to print fine four-color overprinting or light color gradients.
- Applicable Scenarios: Suitable for large orders, such as tobacco and alcohol labels, candy papers, and other high-quality printings.
- Flexographic Printing:
- Features: Uses flexible plates, high printing precision, fast speed.
- Applicable Scenarios: Suitable for large orders, commonly used for packaging materials, paper bags, and plastic bags.
- Digital Printing:
- Features: Suitable for personalized customization, fast delivery, low cost.
- Applicable Scenarios: Small batch and personalized printing, such as short-run printing or on-demand printing.
- Screen Printing:
- Features: High ink volume, suitable for printing thick ink layers.
- Advantages: Can use various inks, including metallic inks that can conduct electricity.
- Applicable Scenarios: Suitable for various materials such as paper, glass, wood, metal, ceramic, plastic, or fabric, ideal for small-scale orders.
Based on your specific needs (such as printing quality, order size, material type, and cost considerations), choosing the most suitable printing method can ensure that your printing project is both economical and efficient.
The Art of Surface Treatment: How to Choose the Best Process
Selecting the appropriate surface treatment process is crucial for enhancing the visual effect and physical properties of printed products. Different treatments not only give the product a unique appearance but also increase durability and appeal. Here are guidelines for choosing among the various surface treatment technologies you mentioned:
- Die Cutting: Cutting the label into specific shapes, suitable for making custom-shaped labels.
- Gloss Lamination: Provides a high-gloss effect, suitable for labels that need to increase brightness and attractiveness.
- Matt Lamination: Provides a matte effect, suitable for labels requiring an elegant, understated appearance.
- Glossy Varnishing: Increases gloss and adds a protective layer, suitable for enhancing the durability and visual appeal of labels.
- Matte Varnish: Provides a non-glossy surface, suitable for labels that wish to reduce reflection.
- UV Varnishing: Adds gloss and texture in specific areas, suitable for highlighting certain parts of the label.
- Matt UV Varnishing: Provides a matte effect and adds texture, suitable for special visual effects.
- Embossing: Creates a raised three-dimensional effect, enhancing tactile and visual effects.
- Debossing: Forms indentations in the material with patterns or text, creating a unique tactile experience.
- Hot Stamping: Creates a metallic texture, enhancing the luxury feel of the label.
- Carving or Engraving: Adds detail and texture through carving or engraving techniques.
When choosing a surface treatment process, consider the overall design of the label, the target audience, and the application scenario to ensure the final product is both aesthetically pleasing and practical.
Packaging Strategy: Choosing the Best Option for Your Labels
Selecting the appropriate packaging method for your labels is key to ensuring they remain intact during transportation and storage. Here are three common packaging strategies and their suitable scenarios:
- Roll Packaging:
- Features: Labels are in roll form, facilitating automatic labeling machines.
- Applicable Scenarios: Ideal for large quantities of labels needed for fast, automated applications, such as those used in production lines.
- Advantages: Roll packaging improves the efficiency of the labeling process and reduces labor costs, especially suitable for large-scale production needs.
- Sheet Packaging:
- Features: Labels are presented in single or multiple sheets, suitable for manual application or printing.
- Applicable Scenarios: Suitable for small batches or special-sized label needs, such as in offices, schools, or small business settings.
- Advantages: Sheet packaging is easy to store and carry, ideal for situations requiring frequent changes of different types of labels.
- Bag Packaging:
- Features: Labels are packaged in bags, convenient for distribution and manual use.
- Applicable Scenarios: Suitable for retail or direct-to-customer labels, such as promotional, event, or gift packaging labels.
- Advantages: Bag packaging is convenient for retail and distribution, especially suited for labels sold in small packaging formats.
When choosing the best packaging method, consider the usage method of the labels, customer needs, storage and transportation convenience, and cost-effectiveness. For instance, roll packaging may be the best choice for the fast-moving consumer goods industry as it suits automated applications; whereas sheet or bag packaging might be more appropriate for small businesses or personal use, as they are suited for small batch usage and are easy to manage.
Conclusion
By integrating these steps, you can create labels that are not only visually appealing but also practical. These labels play a crucial role in both showcasing and protecting products. With carefully chosen materials, precise size matching, appropriate adhesives and backings, and eye-catching surface treatments, your labels will perfectly complement the features of your products. Coupled with professional printing techniques and suitable packaging strategies, these details work together to ensure that your products stand out in the market, effectively capturing and retaining the attention of your target customers. This entire process is not just about displaying products; it’s an important way for the brand to convey its values and story.