In today’s ever more crowded commercial landscape, standing out is paramount. It’s never been harder to get noticed, with thousands of different brands vying for attention on the shop floor and online - so anything that helps keep you one step ahead of the competition should be embraced.
That brings us nicely onto the topic of custom labels. Here at Flexi Labels, we’ve been designing and printing customised labels for businesses since 2012. Since then, we’ve seen tastes change. Colours, fonts and styles have come in and out of fashion. Regulatory requirements have evolved. Printing technology has progressed. But one thing has remained the same: product labels are as vital as they’ve ever been.
We don’t see that changing any time soon. So, to help you get your brand noticed and set it apart from the competition, we’ve put together a list of top label design tips. When you’re done reading them, why not check out our custom label design service? With more than a decade of experience, we have the know-how to bring your vision to life.
Getting started
Before you dive headlong into designing your product labels, it’s a good idea to lay some foundations. If you plan on designing your labels yourself, you might want to consider starting with a label template and building on that. A well-designed template can save you time and help make sure that you’re covering all bases: you may need to leave room for the likes of barcodes and technical specifications, for instance.
Keep it simple
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel here. Great label design isn’t about being different for the sake of it: it’s about understanding your audience and creating something that appeals to them. If you want to get your brand noticed, make sure you take the time to work out what your audience is looking for. Carry out market research - what are your competitors doing right, and what could you do better?
Put it this way: if your competitors all label their products in a similar way, using a similar layout, and the layout works perfectly fine… you probably don’t need to do anything drastically different. Ultimately, the layout of your labels needs to be clear and user-friendly, presenting customers with the information they need in a logical and intuitive way. Once you’ve got the basics down, then you can start adding visual flair and creative elements that will help elevate your brand and set it apart from the competition.
Specialist finishes
Speaking of visual flair, one great way to set your brand apart is by using labels with specialist finishes. The likes of foiling and Spot UV are particularly well suited to premium brands, transforming straightforward one-dimensional designs into tactile creations that ooze quality.
Don’t underestimate the importance of the base label material, either; thicker, glossier paper can make a huge difference to a customer’s perception of quality. If you’re positioning your brand as a premium offering, thinner, more translucent paper just won’t cut it. No matter how good the design of your label is (and no matter how good your product is), if the label feels cheap, people are going to notice.
Storytelling
There’s much more to labels than their design and finish: they can also be used as a marketing tool, communicating the story of your brand as a whole. Instead of making the content of your labels all about the product itself, why not write about your brand too?
If you want to stand out from the crowd, you’ll need to share what makes you different. What’s your mission? How long have you been in business, and why did you set up shop in the first place? Where are your products designed and manufactured? Including this kind of information on your label is a great way to not only build trust with your audience - and generate sales - but also to build brand loyalty. If customers really connect with your brand story and can relate to it in some way, guess what? They’re much more likely to buy your products again. Remember, there are creative ways of incorporating these brand indicators into the design without using text.
So, although it’s a good idea to keep the layout of your labels fairly simple and straightforward, when it comes to the content you include on them, go wild! As long as you’ve included all of the essential information your customers will need (and that regulators demand), you’re free to make the remaining content as personal and unique as you wish.
Aligning labels with your company values
If you want to go one step further, you can even align your labels with your company values. How? Consider working with your label printer to specify materials that are biodegradable or sustainably sourced. From the ink to the adhesive and the label itself, creating sustainable product labels is yet another way to elevate your brand and prove that you take your values seriously.
Create your custom labels today
There you have it, five top-label design tips to help you elevate your brand and set it apart from the competition. We hope you found them helpful! If you need any more help, advice or guidance, the friendly and experienced team at Flexi Labels is here to help.
From supplying blank sheet and roll labels for your printer to designing and printing customised labels to suit your specific requirements, we can do it all. Whether you’d like a single sample or a vast quantity of labels for your latest product line, with Flexi Labels you can expect competitive prices and stand-out quality, each and every time.
We have more than 20,000 customers across the UK and Europe and supply more than 12 million labels each and every month. So, no matter what you need, you can count on us to make it happen. Explore our site to learn more about what we do, or contact our team today for a quote.
