Lightning Labels Blog

Find inspiration for your own graphic designs, as well as graphic design tips and tricks, and recommended design. You will also find graphic design advice that is specific to packaging design as well as label design here in our Graphic Design Archive.

While the economy is slowly bouncing back, many businesses are being forced to cut costs wherever they can. This thrifty mindset extends to every business activity, ranging from marketing to actual production. Businesses looking to save on expensive graphic design costs may also consider leveraging design crowdsourcing websites such as MycroBurst and 99designs.

Let me be clear. When it comes to designing and creating new labels, hiring a local graphic designer is the best way to create high-quality label designs that match your packaging, products, and… Read the rest of How Design Crowdsourcing Websites Can Save You Money

This entry was posted December 10th, 2011 by James Lowry in Graphic Design | No Comments »

When you need artwork created for your product labels, it’s almost always in your best interest to hire a professional graphic designer. After all, a product label is your most important, cost-effective marketing vehicle.

That said, times are tough. And high-quality graphic design isn’t cheap. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to save money on label artwork design — without being cheap compromising quality. Most of them involve saving time, which is especially important as graphic designers typically bill by the hour. Your time is a high value commodity, too.

1. Determine your budget. Before you contact a graphic designer, figure out how much you can afford to spend on label design. While this may seem like common sense, it isn’t common practice — especially for people working with design professionals for the first time. Keeping a realistic budget top of mind is essential when shopping for a design firm or independent designer. Once you find yourself face to face with a graphic designer, a budget will give you a starting point for planning your label design project.

2. Figure out what you want. You don’t need to hand your designer a full-color drawing the first time you meet, but you do need to determine the message you want your label to communicate, as well as the dimensions of the product container it will be affixed to. Being able to walk into a consultation with these basics already figured out will allow your designer to do what he or she does best — design — instead of billing you for something you can do yourself. After all, you know your product better than anyone else.

3. Hire a local designer. Working with a designer that you can communicate with in person is going to be more efficient than working out every single detail by phone and email. When you are in a face-to-face meeting, you can both focus on the task at hand with minimal interruptions. Good local designers are also easier to find. Ask your colleagues for recommendations. Tap your local network for suggestions and consult your Better Business Bureau. Once you compile a short list of possibilities, conduct interviews. Look for a graphic designer that presents himself as your business partner, one you can foresee working with on a long-term basis. Each firm and independent designer operates differently. Some offer brief consultations free of charge, while others will charge you for an initial consultation. In some cases, the consultation fee is deducted from your invoice if you end up becoming a client.… Read the rest of How to Save Money on Label Design without Being Cheap

This entry was posted October 25th, 2011 by Christy Correll in Graphic Design | No Comments »

Designing an eye-grabbing product label can be challenging, especially for businesses with limited experience. For that reason, many turn to professional graphic designers.

However, brands need to realize that graphic designers aren’t the magic bullet — simply employing an artist and leaving him or her to create a label won’t result in a representative package. No one knows the target audience of a product like the company itself, so businesses should look to be involved in the actual design process when they can be.… Read the rest of Working With Graphic Designers to Produce Labels

This entry was posted October 14th, 2011 by James Lowry in Graphic Design | No Comments »

While some labels are designed to convey information, such as ingredients or nutritional facts, others can help generate awareness and boost sales. As the old expression goes, “There are no second chances at making a good first impression.” Whether consumers are browsing the shelves of a grocery store or picking a bottle of wine from a liquor store rack, labels are often the key to making that first impression.

When it comes to generating sales, getting the customer to stop and look at a product is crucial.

This entry was posted September 12th, 2011 by James Lowry in Graphic Design, Selling Your Products | No Comments »

I often say a label is your most important marketing vehicle. Because of this, it is important to perfect your label design — including its color scheme. If you or your designer are struggling to put together that perfect combination of colors, you might want to check out COLOURLovers.

My Love of COLOURlovers is Not Blind

I adored this site from the first time I laid eyes on it. Over the years, my adoration has blossomed into a love that continues to grow stronger. Back in the day, COLOURlovers was a fairly simple site where you created bars of color schemes similar to paint store swatches, and then shared them with the COLOURlovers community. Since then, the site has added many tools to assist you in the creative design process.

That said, the basic building blocks of COLOURlovers are still there. There are just a lot more building blocks. As of this writing, you can browse more than 1,600,000 user-generated palettes to use as starting points for creating your own. If you want to view new palettes as they are created, you can sign-up to have them streamed to you through an RSS feed.

Now let’s look at one of the many cool tools COLOURlovers now offers.… Read the rest of Why I Heart COLOURlovers | 4 Comments

This entry was posted August 4th, 2011 by Christy Correll in Color, Graphic Design | 4 Comments »

These are some of my all-time favorite quotes about design. What are yours? Email them to me and I will publish them here.

Design is art that makes itself useful. 1984 poster for Die Neue Sammlung, Design Museum, Munich

Marketing without design is lifeless, and design without marketing is mute. Von R. Glitschka

Design to express, not to impress. John Tanedo

Design is the silent ambassador of your brand. Paul Rand

Everything is designed. Few things are designed well. Brian Reed

This entry was posted October 20th, 2010 by Christy Correll in Graphic Design | No Comments »