Printed Labels: Design Tips and Best Practices

Can you believe that the average American consumer encounters over 5,000 ads each day?
Commercials are an obvious form of advertisement, but people can form lasting impressions by encountering images while they go about their day. If you’re doing your best to run a successful business that beats all of the competition, then you need to be mindful of your branding.
Coming up with a creative and helpful label design for your products will go a long way when it comes to brand recognition and sales. Do you need help making the finest printed labels? Continue reading for our top tips and best practices.

Know the Proper Size for Your Printed Labels

The first thing that you should do when you’re designing a new label is ask yourself how big it should be. Some labels need to be large for maximum visibility while others need to fit on tiny products with a unique shape. In some cases, you may need to print a wide variety of sizes if your products have lots of different dimensions.
The last thing you’d want to do is print a bunch of expensive labels and then realize they won’t work for the job. Take all of the necessary measurements before you start creating your design so you can work with the space you have.

Keep Scalability in Mind While Designing a Label

You’ll do yourself a big favor if you can design one label that looks great no matter how much you shrink or expand it. This will make things a lot easier for businesses that have to print labels that fit on many different products.
If your label draft passes the scalability test, then you can feel more confident that you’ve created an incredible design.

Explore Different Color Schemes

While black-and-white color schemes can be classy and save you money on ink, your sales could suffer as a result, too. This is why it’s worth taking some time to play around with some different color palettes so you can find a scheme that’s eye-catching. Colors evoke feelings, so you can use this to your advantage when it comes to shaping how other people feel about your brand.
Do keep in mind that you’ll need to keep an eye on your label inventory so you never run out of colored ink.

Let Your Logo Shine

Your business logo is the largest factor that will help people remember who you are and seek out your products in the future. Every printed label should include your logo in a way that makes it stand out.
While it may make sense to put your logo front and center, you can still draw attention to it by placing it elsewhere. Play around with your logo placement until you’ve found the sweet spot.

Double-Check All Custom Labels to Prevent Typos

If you’re creating one label design that you can scale for all of your products, then you don’t need to worry too much about typos. However, most businesses need to create lots of custom labels to appeal to their target audiences.
If you’re printing new labels on a regular basis, then you need to make sure that you never print anything that has a typo. Typos are unprofessional and it makes your brand look careless. People won’t want to buy from you since it could be a reflection of the product quality as well.

Leave a Border to Avoid Cut-Offs

One of the most common mistakes that businesses make when designing labels is not leaving a border. It’s understandable that you’d want to take advantage of every centimeter possible, but this could cost you. If the label is off by a tiny degree, then you could end up with a bunch of cut-off labels.
Labels that are missing valuable text or images are unusable. Save yourself valuable resources by leaving a small border around all of your labels so you have some wiggle room.

Always Choose High-Quality Images

It’s easy for images to look beautiful on the computer, but this can all change as soon as you try to print them out. You need to do some research to ensure that the images are high-quality and scalable so nothing gets blurry.
Once again, printing out blurry or dull images will make customers think twice about buying your products. Crisp and vibrant images are the key to gaining trust and making shoppers curious enough to buy from your brand.

Think About Functionality as Well

You can’t forget to reflect on how you’re going to use your labels since the types of products you create have a huge impact on what your ideal label will look like. For example, if you sell baked goods, then your labels should be small enough to allow customers to see what’s inside while also meeting FDA compliance requirements.
Your label should showcase your products in the most flattering way possible.

Make Sure You Use the Best Label Printing Supplies

You can’t get stunning results by using a cheap printer from an office supply store. Your business deserves to have access to an impressive commercial printer that’s designed for your industry.
You’ll also need to buy vibrant ink that won’t smudge and print your labels on materials that have an appealing finish.

Now You Know How to Create Beautiful and Effective Labels

Designing the best printed labels isn’t an easy task, but these tips are bound to help. Once your customers see the incredible results, they’ll be excited to give your products a try and keep coming back for more.
Do you want to have access to the greatest tools that will allow your business to print in-house? Contact us so you can get personalized help and find the right supplies for your unique business.

Drew Strickland

Drew is the Chief Marketing Officer and E-commerce Director at TCS Digital Solutions, with over 20 years of experience in the printing industry. His extensive background in marketing within this sector has deepened his passion and knowledge. He offers valuable tips and reviews on the latest printing products and innovations, dedicated to helping businesses and individuals find the most efficient and high-quality solutions for their printing needs. For a closer look into his insights and experiences, you can connect with Drew on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.