Lightning Labels Blog

From the very beginning, when we were founded in 2002 as America’s first all-digital custom label printer, Lightning Labels has been on the cutting edge of technology. Our Future Technology Archive is the place to find out what we are predicting for the future of the label printing industry, see what others are forecasting, and find out about the most innovative advancements in the printing industry as a whole.

Earlier this month Medea Vodka released a new concept in product labels – a programmable LED label. Even though this venerable Dutch distiller has been around since the 18th century they are very much breaking new ground here in the 21st century.

The LED label has six pre-programmed messages but you can also program your own message. It can have up to six scrolling 255 characters messages, enough for a (very) short story. But the drawback from my perspective is that it is quite a pain… Read the rest of New Vodka Has a Programmable LED Label | 1 Comment

This entry was posted April 27th, 2010 by Peter Renton in Fun Labels, Future Technology, Technology | 1 Comment »

Here in Colorado most people (including myself) were born somewhere else and moved here as an adult. Those people lucky enough to be born in Colorado are called Colorado Natives. Now, a new beer from Coors is taking advantage of this idea. But that is not the real story here.

In many ways Colorado Native Lager is breaking new ground. The product label uses a new technology, it is not being marketed in the traditional way, it is only being sold in Colorado … Read the rest of New Colorado Native Lager Breaks New Ground

This entry was posted April 13th, 2010 by Peter Renton in Beer Labels, Future Technology, Graphic Design | No Comments »

Is 2010 going to be the year that QR codes break out into the mainstream? It could well be. I am seeing QR codes in more and more places these days.

There have been many articles in industry publications about QR codes lately. Just yesterday, Barb Pellow from Infotrends wrote a fascinating article that suggested maybe 2010 is the year where QR codes start reaching their potential in this country. Last month Packaging News in the UK had a detailed

This entry was posted March 16th, 2010 by Peter Renton in Digital Printing, Future Technology, Selling Your Products | 4 Comments »

Over the last couple of weeks, as we end one decade and begin another, I have spent some time thinking about where the label industry is headed. So here are my top five label industry predictions for the coming decade.

1. Digital printing becomes the dominant technology

This is really not a difficult prediction. We started the last decade with digital technology in its infancy in the label industry with just a few installations around the world and top speeds of 24 ft/min. Today… Read the rest of Five Label Industry Predictions for the New Decade | 5 Comments

This entry was posted January 4th, 2010 by Peter Renton in Business of Labels, Digital Printing, Future Technology, Personalization | 5 Comments »

Earlier this month over 100,000 businesses around the country received a QR code sticker from Google that looks like the one here. These stickers were sent to the most popular businesses in Google’s Local Business Center database. The idea is for companies to stick this postcard sized sticker in their front window.

I have written about QR codes before here and here. For a quick recap, QR codes are two dimensional barcodes that… Read the rest of Google Sends Out 100,000 QR Code Stickers | 2 Comments

This entry was posted December 21st, 2009 by Peter Renton in Digital Printing, Future Technology, Personalization, Variable Data Labels | 2 Comments »

Xerox recently announced a breakthrough that could have wide ranging implications for a number of industries. The researchers at Xerox have invented a new ink that can be printed on paper or plastic like normal inks, but this silver ink has a special property – it can conduct electricity. This is a huge development for the new field of printed electronics.

In the future, many electrical components such as simple screens, sensors, solar cells, and radio antennae will not… Read the rest of Xerox Develops a Breakthrough Silver Ink

This entry was posted November 17th, 2009 by Peter Renton in Future Technology | No Comments »