Revolutionize your Brand with a Unique Beverage Label

Ranging from simple and graceful to vivacious and bold, tailored beverage labels come in a plethora of configurations, so that they can uniquely enhance your product’s personality, making it appeal to your huge audience. A ‘brand’ is the foundation of your business, and having a good brand name enhances your product identity, business, and services, which in turn builds a social, cultural and emotional connection with the consumers. It doesn’t come across as a surprise that alcoholic beverages, such as wine, whiskey, beer and brandy, have a different look and appeal than non-alcoholic beverages, which appeal to non-drinkers and mostly kids. In this article, we have tried to touch down on different elements of label creation that will help you create a great brand and also give you a better understanding of the steps that you need to follow.

Deciding the Right Labeling and Branding Design

Your brand is the source of the label’s creative direction. Here are some questions you can ask to yourself to ensure that you come up with labels that not only fit into your branding, but also communicates all requisite information, provides compliance, and engages consumers in the anticipated manner.

Is the Design Appropriate for your Brand?

There is no universal criterion for deciding what's ‘appropriate’, as different people have varying opinions on what type of designs are appropriate for certain markets and products.  Since getting an appropriate design is a subjective proposition, doing a thorough market research can save you a great deal by giving your marketing team’s efforts focus. Seeing what your competitors are up to can give you ideas about how you should go about your label design, to gain a competitive edge.

How is the brand positioned?

Positioning your brand means leaving a lasting positive impact on your audience. Typical product positioning depends on two major factors, such as price and quality, which in turn can impact elements of your label design such as graphics, verbiage, colors, etc. If you have a catchy and high quality label on your product, your customers are likely to remember and engage with your brand repeatedly.

Is the Engagement Enough?

When talking about the success rate of a brand, its ability to stick to the consumers’ memories is bound to come up, because it’s one of the main objectives you should hope to establish with consumers. Today, consumers have myriad choices of beverages and this is where having a brand that is different and memorable can help you gain a competitive edge and create a loyal market.

When we talk about labeling, there are multiple ways in which you can make your label more engaging and memorable, whether it is a funky tag line, bold graphics, interesting logo, unique packaging or eye-catching label (e.g. shrink sleeve label).

Working with a professional label printing company can help you figure out the right elements that will combine in a unique label design to capture the attention of your target audience. Last but not the least, even if you are able to find a right labeling service provider, a thorough market study of what your competitors are doing is still a must.

Find Out why you Need Flexographic Printing

If your company pays attention to product labeling, just like every other process, it becomes important to understand which label printing solution best suits your need. In the last few decades, flexography has become a renowned name in the printing industry and is a very impressive technique, in terms of the high quality of the resultant labels.

Simply put, flexography is a type of rotary printing method that involves the impressing of a raised image onto a flexible relief plate, which then turns the picture out onto a variety of surfaces. The idea is similar to traditional letterpress printing, which uses stamped images and typeface onto paper, in a variety of books, magazines, and newspapers. Why Flexography? From the plate making, mounting, and transfer of images onto the packaging material, flexography is a flexible and versatile means of handling large-scale reproduction of text and images. Moreover, it can also be used for printing labels on various substrates, such as metallic film, plastic, paper, and cellphones, among others. The technique offers many benefits over other types of reproductions, some of which are given below:

1. Availability of a variety of inks, many of which do not require any drying time
2. Compatibility with a variety of porous and non-porous surfaces
3. Ability to use one template to print millions of images
4. No need of re-calculations or adjustment in the middle of the job
5. Capability to print continuous patterns
6. Suitability for solid color printing
7. Equilibrium between safety and durability

Government regulations stipulate guidelines, especially for food packaging. These state that the ink used for labeling shouldn’t wear off, degrade, chip-off or separate easily. However, it is also a fact that most of the food packaging employs various non-porous materials, such as plastic and cellophane, among others, on which traditional methods of printing become futile as traditional ink won’t stick. Flexographic label printing on the other hand sticks to the surface without the possibility of deteriorating or posing safety risks to consumers.

Tips on Devising Attractive Liquor Labels

 Liquor bottles come in a variety of shapes, as this, apart from the use of labels, is one way for various manufacturers to impose their brand’s supremacy in the market. Given this, the production of liquor labels involves the use of assorted text, graphics and other artwork. Creating eye-catching labels for your liquor products requires paring attention to a few areas on which we are going to focus in this write up.

Liquor Container/Bottle First and Label Later

This is a golden rule when it comes to label design and production. Devising a liquor label depends on what type of container or bottle you want to use for your product. Rectangular Labels are good for square or round shaped bottles. On the other hand, if your bottle has a curved or some other unique shape, shrink sleeve labels are ideal for you. They contour to different types of containers perfectly and provide great visual effects to your product. Regardless of the method that you employ, always choose your product’s container first and then consider a label for it after. 

Match Your Label with Your Container’s Dimensions

Liquor labels and labels for other containers, are designed, keeping in mind every inch of your product’s shape and dimensions, as there is no standard size for liquor bottles. Varying from company to company, the size and shape of the product, represent the brand of every company which is why they seek differentiation.

Strike a Balance between Artwork and Text

With so many professional printing companies using the latest technologies for label manufacturing, you have access to infinite options when it comes to choosing artwork for your label. This may tempt you to bring in more elements into your design than is necessary. However, do not forget to maintain a balance between content and graphics. Give due consideration to proper spacing on the bottle. Equilibrium between space and artwork is what makes your label distinct and easily discernable. 

Match the Colors with Your Brand

It is an established fact that colors affect human emotions, which is probably why you feel happy after watching the blue sky. Colors have the power to define and distinguish your brand and its voice. For example, orange exudes energy, adventure, vitality and warmth. At the same time, it may indicate bad taste or a lack of intellectual values, which is why maximum care must be taken, when choosing the colors to go into your brand and labels. Incorporating colors and graphics, which give your labels a unique feel make it easy for your customers to distinguish you from your competition in the market. Owing to this reason, consumers are able to identify great brands without an effort and bring return business and referrals.

While detailing your label is important, do not forget about mandatory information that your labels must have. In the case of liquor labels, certain elements such as lot identification number, directions for use and storage, allergen information (if any), alcohol volume and content must be inscribed. At the same time, also ensure that your content is readable, besides being scannable.

Types of Labels for Promotional Activities

What are some great ways to create an identity for your products and services?

Advertising and promotions are usually the best option, as consumers are always on the lookout for special deals and discount offers. Unfortunately, advertising and promotions require an investment in money and time. Therefore, before you place an order for advertising or promotional labels (such as pouch labels, coupon labels, QR code labels, etc.); let’s examine all of your options when it comes to printing.

Pouch Labels: A custom-designed pouch label is a pouch that is printed exclusively for your liquid product, powder products or pill products to display your product information like flavors, ingredients, company brand and messages. You can display elements on your pouch through custom designs.

Coupon Labels: These are popular across a variety of markets. For example, instant redeemable coupons are popular tools to attract people’s attention towards your products or services by using flashy color materials, or incorporating bold text and graphics into the coupon design. Another option is to use attractive label shapes, like stars or circles, to make your coupon label stand out more. Besides design, top label printers make sure that end-users could easily remove coupon labels to redeem them within the store as part of a point-of-sale strategy.

Piggyback Labels: There are multiple usages for piggyback labels. These labels are popular for mail-in rebates, sweepstakes, business reply cards, etc. They incorporate two layers of label materials. Users can peel off the top layer from the base layer, which stays adhered to the surface. Next, they re-apply the top layer to business reply cards or envelopes. People can also use piggyback labels as instant redeemable coupons.

QR Code Labels: QR codes, engraved as funky square graphics on paper or websites, are common nowadays. They are an innovative medium for sharing addresses, coupon codes, website addresses and other information. These funky square graphics are also labels. Top label printing service providers ensure the accurate printing of QR codes on the labels. These labels are proven to be an effective medium for attracting and engaging potential customers.

Writer’s Take

The label printing industry is not only evolving, it’s also creating new options and a market niche for itself. Pouch labels, coupon labels, piggyback labels and QR code labels are the names of some of the most popular labels. ‘News notes and sticker sheets’ are some examples of innovative applications for traditional label printing.

Summary:

Labels are great to promote products and services. The blog talks about different types of labels and how they have significance in advertising.

Flexographic Printing - An Overview

Flexographic Printing: Flexography is the method of printing images and words onto paper, foil or film. It is the combination of two different forms of printing: rotogravure and letterpress, but it is done with flexible plates. Flexographic Printing is the method of direct rotary printing where a special rubber or photopolymer material is used. The printing plates are fixed to the plate cylinders at different repeat lengths. These plates are inked by a cell structure used to meter the flow of the ink on the roll. The structure carries ink to the plates to print on different surfaces. 

There are five components involved - ink pan, fountain roll, plate cylinder, anilox roll and impression cylinder. 

The ink pan is a large industrial-type pan filled with ink. The fountain roll is suspended partially in the pan to transfer the ink onto the anilox roll as each of them is rotating. After the ink reaches the anilox roll, the roll gets covered with some amount of ink on its dimpled surface. Extra ink is scraped from the roll. It is the dimpled surface on the roll that ensures the right amount of ink is being transferred to the plate cylinder. The cylinder then rotates to cover the ink on the raised areas. As the cylinder rotates, an impression cylinder pulls the printing material that is to be printed. Every revolution of a printing plate cylinder produces an image. So, if an image is stamped multiple times around a cylinder, several images will be printed in one revolution. 

 Flexography Plates: The first step involved in flexographic printing is the development of flexographic plates. These can be created by using a UV reactive polymer, digital platemaking or by creating a mold. 

What Makes Flexographic Printing Popular? 

● It is simple to operate 

● Either UV or water-based inks can be utilized 

Since the flexographic printing process can be used to print on a variety of materials, it is ideal for the printing of pressure sensitive labels, shrink sleeves, pouches and other packaging products.

How Cold Foil Printing Saves Time and Money?

Cold foil printing, also known as cold foil stamping, is a modern method of printing metallic foil on a substrate in order to enhance the aesthetic of the final product. Cold Foil Printing can be done two ways, through a dry lamination process or through a wet lamination process which is dominant in the flexo label industry.

How It Works:  Using a standard printing plate, an image is printed onto a substrate with the use of a UV-curable cold foil adhesive. A UV dryer then cures the adhesive which becomes tacky. Foil spools from an unwind and is nipped to a substrate.

Foil sticks to the tacky adhesive on the substrate, and an image with a bright foil surface is created.  Foil that does not adhere to the adhesive remains on a thin polyester liner and waste is directed to a rewind spool. Because the adhesive is applied on press like a conventional ink, no expensive stamping die has to be created.
Once printed, the surface of cold-foil images may be varnished, laminated or encapsulated in order to provide a hard-wearing, durable surface.  Some printing substrates are unsuitable for cold foil transfer. The best results are obtained on glossy coated papers and papers with a smooth surface.

Benefits:  The process does not require stamping tools, but instead uses printing plates, which are cheaper and can be made in a few hours. In contrast, delivery time for an engraved or etched stamping tool can be up to two weeks. Cold foiling is also print receptive. Cold foil surface has low surface energy and in case the overprint is small, only then it will adhere.
With technological advancement, several manufacturers have come up with a more printable range of cold foils in the market. The popularity of cold foil printing is growing worldwide and several companies are opting for the procedure because of its speed and cost effective qualities.

What Kind of Designs and Technical Points Matter in Label Printing?

Label printing gives businesses and manufacturers the opportunity to improve their marketing efforts. The technical points regarding label printing solutions are mentioned here:

Clarity and simplicity are considered the hallmarks of label printing. The simpler and clearer the text printed on a label is, the more it will appeal to consumers.

The labels that manufacturers print for their food products should end up having a strong effect and immediately grab the attention of anyone who sees it for the first time. This is what is expected of Food Product Label Printing that should apprise consumers of the unique features of a food item. The label on a gallon of milk should let buyers know about the health benefits they’ll derive from the consumption of this product.

Label printing is also known to enhance communication between buyers and sellers. Buyers are bound to be influenced when a slogan they’ve heard in an advertisement is seen again on the label of a product. 

Customization forms the core of label printing. A manufacturer can get their labels printed in just about any way to differ from competitors.

As far as label printing is concerned, the points mentioned above don’t constitute the entire checklist that manufacturers should follow. They may learn that there are many other ways to enhance the visual appeal of a product label. Keep these in mind in the beginning stages. 

Food Product Labels Printing: Guiding you to eat Right

“Der Mensch ist, was er ißt” (English version: Man is what he eats)

As said by a famous writer, one is always responsible for what he eats. So, it’s better that you eat healthy and live happy. To do this, you must understand what it really is that you’re eating and how it will affect your body. Therefore, look for some tips to finding the right food when you shop. Here’s a few:

Don't rely on the terminology used: Many food labels have marketing claims on the packaging that mention, “Fat-free”, "Natural", "Organic," or the very commonly used "Low Fat." These are used to attract customers to buy their product. So, it is your prerogative to dig into the genuine details of the product as sellers will definitely put up such labels to increase their sales. Beware of these marketing gimmicks in food product label printing and make a smart purchase.

Pay attention to curtailing fat and sodium. In the nutritional facts panel, the level of fat and sodium in a single serving is mentioned. As stated by The American Heart Association, your diet should only consist of somewhere between 20% - 30% total fat. Sodium intake should remain below 1,500mg per day. Following these guidelines will reduce your chances of chronic illness and heart problems drastically.

Try to increase the amount of fiber in your food and check it on the food product labels. It is not surprising to know that most foods, after getting processed, lose fiber. Therefore, avoid processed food as fiber is what keeps your digestive system in good shape. The nutritional facts panel again reveals the dietary fiber that your food has. An added benefit of fibrous food is that it’s more filling and you end up consuming less. This obviously leads to a smaller consumption of calories.

Summary:

In order to purchase good food, it is essential that you understand the nutritional facts on the printed food product labels. Secondly, always try buying food with fewer ingredients (find them on the food labels), as that means less processing.