The current issue of Package Design Magazine has an article I wrote on variable data label printing. I provide some examples of companies that are effectively using this technology today as well as five ideas that anyone can adopt to leverage the power of variable data label printing.
Seth Godin points out this really entertaining video. It is a parody of what can happen if too many people get involved in design decisions. Because we deal with mostly small companies here at Lightning Labels we don't deal with this problem very often, but if you find yourself in the middle of a "design by committee" custom label project have everyone watch this video. It is a good reminder that if you want to make an impact often simple is better.
I have been a big fan of MarketingSherpa for many years now. They are specialists in tracking what actually works in all aspects of marketing and they produce interesting articles and case studies on a regular basis. So, when a couple of months ago they asked me to do an interview on label design I jumped at the chance.
The title of the article is Label Design Primer: 13 Tips to Help Your Product Get Noticed on Store Shelves, and you can read the full article here. But you need to be quick, it is only available to everyone for the next week (until July 8th). After that you will have to register at MarketingSherpa before you can read the entire article.
Regular readers of this blog and our newsletter will recognize some of the points here. Basically, I talked about what you need to do to get your label to stand out from the crowd. While there are no hard and fast rules that guarantee your labels will get noticed, by following these tips you will be doing a better job than most of your competition.
I think we would all agree that one of the primary purposes of product packaging, including the product label, is to sell your product. You can have a wonderful new product but if it has inferior packaging most likely few people will try it. The Packaging Diva, JoAnn Hines, tackles the question "How to Tell if Your Packaging Will Sell Your Product" in her latest blog post.
If you are involved in the design of your current packaging this article is a must read. Hines presents five questions you need to answer that will help determine whether your packaging will sell your product.
Thinking about these questions will help you analyze your product's packaging. Whether you are just getting started with your packaging, or have an established product, it is always useful to consider the impact your packaging is having on your current and potential customers.
A couple of weeks ago, Mike Carter reported on his Serious About Wine blog about a new study that was published last month in the Journal of Marketing. Titled "Holistic Package Design and Consumer Brand Impressions", the main finding of the study is that yes, we do in fact judge a wine (and many other products) by its label.
Many studies have been done that have emphasized the importance of the label and packaging in wine and any other retail products, but this study went a step further. It tried to get answers to exactly how we are judging the packaging, and what factors are influencing our judgments.
The authors of the study, two marketing professors (one from Oregon and one from Germany), photographed 160 wine bottles. Then they showed these photos to 125 graphic designers to analyze the aesthetic attributes of each bottle. They sorted the designs into five primary design types: massive (or bold), contrasting, natural, delicate and nondescript. Then they showed the bottles to 268 consumers in Oregon, asking 15 questions about each bottle's brand personality. Not limiting the study to just wine, the researchers repeated the analysis with photos of 120 fragrance bottles.
The results of the study will assist brand managers in selecting or modifying package and label design for achieving desired consumer responses to their products. For example, the label pictured here for Wine by Joe is categorized as a massive design, and people found these designs eye-catching but they expected the product to be lacking in sophistication and to be less expensive.
If you are interested in learning more about this study you can read the full report here.
This morning, Seth Godin wrote this provocative post on his blog. It is about type and typestyle, and it is mainly geared at people designing brochures, presentations and other type heavy pursuits. But this certainly got me thinking about type and product labels.
Virtually ever product label we print here at Lightning Labels has some type. Many labels have a lot of type: ingredient lists, nutrition facts and other product information, and I wonder how much thought goes into the design of this type. Spend two minutes to read the PDF tips Godin created and you will achieve better looking labels.
We work with many professional designers, but the vast majority of the label artwork we see here is the do-it-yourself kind. Sometimes the difference is obvious. So heed tip #1 - if you want professional results hire a professional. We have an in-house designer here, but we are just as happy to work with any professional graphic designer. The bottom line is you only have to pay for the design once, and you can use the same design for months or years worth of product labels.
Of course, you may have some talent for graphic design and be able to produce excellent looking artwork. Either way, I encourage you to take a look at the type on your labels and make it an integral part of your label design, not just an afterthought.
I have spent several hours a day for the past 25 years staring at a computer screen. So, like many people my age, I have to wear glasses to read. However, I don't need them to drive, so when I am out and about on a weekend I often find myself at the supermarket without my reading glasses. Most of the time I browse the aisles with no problems and find what I need.
But if a product is going to catch my eye when I don't have my reading glasses the product label had better be easy to read. All the important information such as brand, flavor and the product tag line should be featured prominently. There is no hard and fast rule here, but the larger you make the type the more people will be able to read your labels. And with the youngest baby boomers now in their late 40's, designing product labels for easy readability is going to become more important.
This past weekend, Seth Godin had an interesting post regarding Flickr and brainstorming. Flickr has quickly become one of the world's largest collection of online photos with literally millions of new photos being added every month. Most of these photos are tagged and many of them are available for free for commercial use.
What is most powerful about Flickr, as Godin points out, is that it has become an incredible brainstorming tool. Let's say for example you make honey and you are having trouble coming up with a cool idea for your honey labels. Go to Flickr and type "honey" in the search box (I usually use the "tags only" button and click on "most interesting") and you will be provided a list of hundreds of photos relevant to the term honey. You might decide you want a photo of a bee, so you can narrow your search to "honey bee". If you want to see photos you can actually use, be sure you use the advanced search, choose Creative Commons Commercial license so you can display photos that can be used commercially
You may find exactly the photo you want, but regardless you will definitely see hundreds of ideas that you could use in your packaging for your honey. The photo above is an example of just one of the professional quality photos available on Flickr. There are so many photos that no matter what your product category you will find some photos to help stimulate your imagination.
When deciding how to make your product stand out on the retail shelf, the label is obviously very important, but your choice of container will also have a big impact on the visibility of your product. There are literally thousands of containers to choose from - where do you start?
I would always start by looking at your competitors. You don't necessarily need to have a very different container. In fact if their packaging is very plain you could choose a similar container and use the product label as a way to really stand out. Alternatively, you could choose an innovative container shape that will become part of your brand. This is the route that Method has done with their product containers with significant success. Or you could use an unusual container with an eye-catching label to really stand out from the crowd.
At the same time you are choosing your container you should also consider the kind of label you want. What size of label is best? Do you want a front and back label, a wraparound label, clear or white? These are the questions you need to ask. Another important factor is the shape of the container. If you have a really curved container you may be limited to the size of the label. Your label needs to be applied to a flat surface in order to avoid wrinkling. You also need to be aware of where your container starts to taper in as it rounds at the bottom - you will need to keep your label above the taper line.
Most packaging companies will be happy to send you sample containers so feel free to experiment first. You could narrow it down to two or three containers and then request a hard copy proof with your label order and stick one of the label proofs on each container to see what looks best. If you need some inspiration and are looking for something new and innovative I would check out Web Packaging, they have a wealth of innovative containers on their site, and they even have an RSS feed so you can get daily updates of new containers that become available.
In case you are wondering the photo above is from Stull Technologies - an example of one innovative packaging company. Lightning Labels has no affiliation with any packaging company - we focus all our attention on printing your custom product labels.
Last month, JoAnn Hines (known as the Packaging Diva) wrote an excellent article describing 10 ways to improve your packaging. Everyone involved in selling a product in a retail store should read this article. Sometimes we are so close to our own product it is difficult to take a step back and find ways to improve the labels and packaging. This article gives you many ideas to help you do just that.
My favorite idea she mentions is to visit a retail store and walk the aisles outside your product category looking for innovations that could be applied to your product. I am a big fan of adapting great ideas. There are so many great companies out there coming up with new and innovative packaging that you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
Check out the complete list and you are sure to come up with some ideas on how to improve your product packaging.
