How to Design a Product Labels? The 10 Step Guide!

It is a label that makes a product brandable, marketable, and sellable. And to design a product label that sells, requires research, right tools and skills.

This 10 step guide right here is your go-to article for A-Z of designing a quality label.

What is a Product Label?

A product label is a paper or adhesive sticker that wraps around any consumer durable crafted for various purposes surrounding the product. Compared to an unlabeled product, a labeled one represents a brand, and is often more reputable and reliable.

Importance of Product Labeling

Product labeling isn’t merely confined to the brand and relevant information.

Several factors contribute to designing an impressive label that converts. Equal portions of colorful printing, high-quality images and important product information is what gives the label its due value on a customer durable.

Besides, designing a label also means how well it depicts the product it’s wrapped on to. Misleading pictures or information might lead to the product being looked down upon, leading to a consumer making alternative choices.

Labeling holds that much of significance in influencing a buyer’s decision. Another reason why you have to focus on the design of a product label.

Types of Product Labels in the Market

Based on the function it serves, product labels are classified into the following:

• Branding Label
• Informative Label
• Descriptive Label
• Grading Label
• Law Compliance Label
• Marketing Labels

1. Branding Label

Brand labels reflect the voice of the brand, the logo, marketing tagline, images, color tones, and brand information if any. It might also contain the parent company, its address, contact details, and more.

2. Informative Label

Informative labels, on the other hand, talk about the product that is being packed. It conveys information such as what lies underneath the packaging, the ingredients, their net weight, percentage of composition, etc. Informative labels are highly necessary especially in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical packaging.

3. Descriptive Label

Just like informative labels, descriptive labels also contain product information, but with less of images and more textual. Descriptive labels are mostly chosen by organic or homegrown brands that prefer to be natural in its offerings.

4. Grading Label

Grade labels usually signify the quality, range or the grade of a product based on a predefined scale appropriate to the product. Grade labels also define production standards and help consumers make the right buying decisions.

5. Law Compliance Label

To project that a product is certified or compliant to a particular law, compliance labels are used. These stickers are designed to prove that the product is legit, follows government regulations or is law compliant.

6. Marketing Labels

Labels that carry offers, slashed prices, marketable USPs, and other messages that promote easy promotions are often tagged as marketing labels. These are often designed to make the selling faster than regular branding.

10 Steps to Design Quality Labels

Designing a quality label might include a rather large number of factors. However, these 10 steps here are the basics to any product in the market that needs labeling.

1. Decide the Size of the Label
2. Draft What Information Goes on the Label
3. Branding Before Anything Else
4. Use the Right Material & Printing Tools
5. Make Your Labels Legible
6. Color & Fonts Matter
7. Choose the Type of Adhesive
8. Smart Labels, Tracking & Barcode
9. Pick Your Labeling Partner
10. Quantify Your Custom Labeling Needs

1. Decide the Size of the Label

Well, the label sizes practically depend on the packaging dimensions. Based on the product or package, the relevant label’s size is derived upon. Also, it relies majorly on the manufacturer on what space the custom label design ought to cover in a container, carton, or 1L bottle of wine. With changing market conditions and consumer mindsets, newer versions of labeling sizes are opted compared to the standard sizes that were followed.

2. Draft What Information Goes on the Label

Now that the dimensions have been fixed, next is the need to draft a copy of what should be printed on the label. Based on type of label and its purpose, it could be informative, brandable, a grade scale, law compliant, etc. In most cases, it should also carry precise data like “use-by” date, composition, and instructions of use to make the buyer choose the product for its transparency.

3. Branding Before Anything Else

Whatever function the label solves, for a consumer durable, it is the brand logo that is key to designing. The significance of highlighting the brand knows no bounds. Hundreds of thousands of companies around the world are still chosen for their brand and quality compared to its lower-priced competitors. It is the logo that stands in the hearts of millions of purchasers globally and should never be compromised upon.

4. Use the Right Material & Printing Tools

Paper, polypropylene, glossy, foil, embossed, fabric, and more—the right labeling material is paramount in the design and packaging of a product. And, based on this the type of printing technique like flexographic, surface printing, screen printing, or digital printing, is chosen to create the best quality label that can withstand all the conditions the product is exposed to. Also, with a plethora of designing tools available online, designing a label with a catchy template comes effortless.

5. Make Your Labels Legible

A product whose label is not designed to be readable defies the reason behind actually labeling it. From images to text, legible and easily conveyable information is what a buyer expects from a brand. With confusing information or text that is not clearly visible, the probability of a product being sold is close to nil.

6. Color & Fonts Matter

This point here closely aligns with how legible the labels should be. In a market full of similar products, this is exactly where your products can stand out. Using primary colors in the labels and fonts that align with the brand are vital especially in the eatery industry.

7. Choose the Type of Adhesive

There are different types such as self-adhesive labels and stickers, removable, replaceable, or repositionable ones. Considering the practical usage needs, these adhesives are chosen wisely and in different cases, the adhesive also should resonate with the label being heat, water, weather, or solvent resistant.

8. Smart Labels, Tracking & Barcode

Besides branding and marketing, labels are often used for seamless supply chain management, storage, and tracking purposes. Barcode labels in specific are used in identifying the products, its pricing, the SKU, for warehouse storage, and more. With different barcode generator software and platforms, designing a barcode label is today definitely not as tedious as it used to be.

9. Pick Your Labeling Partner

Here comes the tricky part. Picking the perfect labeling solution for your products is the key to succeed as a brand. With quality design needs and renowned printing services, a good label manufacturer and supplier can do wonders to your brand, product, and profits rather than a do-it-yourselfer. It is the industry-reliant standards, labeling infrastructure, and ability to produce the designed label wholesale is what makes opting for a label supplier a wiser choice.

10. Quantify Your Custom Labeling Needs

Now that you have your dream design as a template and all set to partner with a good label supplier, it is prime to determine the quantity of your labels. Each supplier has a different MoQ and depending on the quantity in stock, get your orders for label designing and printing placed. ‘

To Conclude, Design Creative Labels that Sells

Designing the right label is no joke. It decides the fate of a product and how well it performs in the market. Hence, in addition to the quality, images, text, instructions, nutrient values, composition, grading, and all that marketing that goes behind a label, it is creativity that makes a difference. In short, creative solutions lead to great promotions, ultimately fetching you better ROIs in a short span of launch.