Product Label Printing

In any retail environment, product labels are the primary way that customers distinguish between products.  Imagine a shelf full of white medicine bottles with no labels; customers would have no way of distinguishing between the different types of medicine.  Besides the obvious danger this presents, this would be extremely frustrating.  Before printing your product labels, keep these important tips in mind:



1. Paper or plastic – depending on what type of product to which your label will be affixed, paper or plastic labels often have different label printing processes.  Therefore, any design should keep these different type of labels in mind, as each have their own strengths and weaknesses.



2. Full color – there is usually no decision to be made about whether or not to use a color label: you absolutely need full color labels.  The exception would be if you have a separate label on the back of your product that only has basic ingredients, a bar code, or basic copy.



3. Bar codes – if you are not generating your own bar codes, leave a space so that the retailer can affix whatever they need to your label. Each retailer has their own specifications, so do not forget to consult with them.



4. Remember the basics – according to design theory, customers look at pictures first, captions for pictures next, title or headline text, and lastly they will read content.  Make sure your label design keeps these considerations in mind so that the customer can identify your product based on a picture or captions first.  If they do not recognize and identify what your product is with a picture or captions, they may not even make it to the headline text or content.



5. Keep it honest – do not over-advertise your product.  Make sure your label represents what your product does or how it can improve the customer’s quality of life, but avoid exaggerating. Your labels can be legally binding, so make sure that you appropriately represent your product.