The Importance of Label Design

When choosing a product, this first thing a customer meets is a design of a label. As well as the design of the packaging, it’s the main commercial branding tool: the product with a bright and interesting label always attracts more attention and enjoys greater popularity compared with boring and mundane design solutions.

Actually, there are two directions you can go when you need a high-quality label design:

1. Order professional services: check out DesignContest’s beautiful solutions to be sure the professionals do their business well.
2. DoThe reasons for the great importance of label design are based on the peculiarities of information perception. It turns out that visual images and the non-verbal information are perceived much easier and faster than the text. Label design conveys all the necessary information about the product (qualities, competitive advantages, special characteristics, etc.) to the buyer, communicating with him on both conscious and subconscious level. In many cases, an original and unusual design of a label is the main reason for a buyer to choose a particular product.

   How to Design a Label Properly

   The label contains not only basic information about the product, but also its ideology, nature, and value. It indicates the style and the identity of the brand. The design should be clear and understandable; it should provide all the necessary data to a potential customer, reflecting the positioning of the product (that is, indicating the segment to which the particular product belongs).
   No doubts, label design affects the perception of a product and the formation of its values ​​in minds of potential customers. It helps to position the product as an expensive or an accessible one. Big and experienced companies like clothinglabels4u regularly conduct complex research to find out the criteria underlying the choice of the target audience.
   Therefore, the main task of label design is to identify the product and its competitive advantages.
   
   

   Label Design: Stages of Development

   The development of professional label design in big and experienced companies like clothinglabels4u consists of several steps:
   1. Drawing up technical specifications (brief). In addition to numerous production aspects (size, technology, materials, style), a brief should contain the conceptual issues on direct communication with the consumer:
   • What are the main requirements for the design?
   • What are the strategic and basic requirements for label design?
   • What are the advantages and disadvantages of competitors’ labels?
   2. Developing of a concept. At first, you come up with several conceptual solutions, then choose the best one and use it to create layouts. Of course, you can take the first generated design, but the possibility of decision-making and evaluation of different options will greatly increase the chances of the overall success.
   3. Approval of the design. If you’re designing for yourself, then skip this step. If you work for a client, then he can either approve the layout or make some adjustments. At this stage, you have to establish effective communication since there’s an unprocessed request behind every unsolved problem, in response to which you will be able to improve the design quality.
   4. Design of layouts. Once the concept is approved, the designer adapts it to the existing range of products. Then it goes a lot of painstaking work on edits.
   5. Preparation for printing. The graphics should be created in accordance with the requirements for production (vector editors, CMYK color model, an appropriate size, etc.). At the final stage, a source layout is adapted to the peculiarities of the printing line. As a rule, printing specialists smooth all the shortcomings (graphic designers do not always know all the intricacies of the technology).
   It is important to minimize all risks and to ensure excellent print quality. Color proofing is a must! By doing it, you finally ensure correct color reproduction and readability of some elements of design.

   What Affects the Effectiveness of Label Design?

   #1 Color
   The effectiveness of a label depends on the range of colors and color matching. For example, it is assumed that the white color is a symbol of purity, blue is associated with openness while black and yellow labels are less common due to the complexity of manufacture. Black and gold colors are symbols of individuality and exclusivity; saturated red and yellow give the opportunity to purchase goods at a reduced price or participate in stock.
   Although the shape plays a great role in the design of labels, please implement innovative solutions wisely: they always increase the cost of manufacturing. Try to combine originality with an ease of fabrication.
   #3 Fonts and Texts
   The most common practice is using 2 or 3 fonts. The label fonts should be easy to perceive, fit the product and its functional purpose. Use common and remarkable fonts since they are well recognizable, easy to understand, and readable. Three different font styles is a reasonable maximum.
   A text attracts the attention of a buyer only for 2-3 seconds, so, being incomprehensible or unpleasant, it spoils the idea of the product. Any label should contain the name of the product and a few sentences describing its properties
   #4 Graphics
   Try to create a high-quality image as a central element of design complemented by additional graphic elements that create compelling artistic images.
   #5 Storytelling
   A fascinating story about your brand displayed on the label is a big plus. People love good stories, so you have a chance to make a strong emotional bond with a consumer.
   #6 Material
   Before starting work on the label design, please decide on the materials: transparent, white or cream paper, matt or glossy label.
   #7 Contacts
   A modern label should contain the contact information so interested persons could easily reach the manufacturer. It increases the prestige of the brand and promotes consumer confidence.
   #8 The Number of Labels
   Often, the manufacturers have a choice: to create a single front label or two labels that will be placed on the front and back of the packaging. The use of two different labels allows you to separate the brand name from general information about the product, thereby to increase awareness and improve the visibility of the brand.
   
   The product label is a one of the main channels of communication of the brand with the consumer. High-quality and original label design is the key to the successful promotion of the good on the market. No doubts, an attractive visual design stimulates the growth of both spontaneous and planned purchases.
   Bio:
   Brian Jens used to be an individual freelancer, but now he’s working at the one of the best crowdsourcing platforms – DesignContest. Brian successfully combines design and blogging, so every his research has a strong background.