Label Planet
How to choose the perfect labels for labelling bottles and jars.
We have many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many customers who use our labels to label bottles and jars, which they use to contain the products they sell (and often make), such as cosmetics and food and drink.
We have even more people getting in touch with us day by day who want to find the perfect label for their bottles and jars.
So we thought it was high time we put together a bit of a guide to help people out.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT SIZE OF LABEL
Step 1. Remember that bottles and jars come in ALL shapes and sizes.
The most common query we get simply says “I need labels for my bottles/jars”.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a range of labels that will fit EVERY different shape and size of bottle/jar – so the first thing you need to do is get the measurements of your bottle/jar so you have a starting point to work from.
Step 2. Remember that bottles and jars come in ALL shapes and sizes.
Basic measurements won’t help: you need to make sure you’ve taken into account the shape AND size of your bottle/jar.
For example, some customers ask for labels for a 50ml bottle or a jar that is 10cm tall and 5cm wide. These measurements don’t account for any variations in the shape of the bottle/jar, including any variation in the curvature of the surface or any shaped areas such as a narrow neck or deliberate shaping at the bottom of the container.
Step 3. Choose a label size that suits the shape and size of YOUR bottle/jar.
The best thing to do is to measure the surface area of the bottle/jar where you want to add a label, decide on the shape you want your label to be and then work out what dimensions will work best in the space that you have.
Think carefully about how you can make the shape of your bottle/jar work for you.
For example, can you fit a decent sized label onto the lid of your bottle/jar? Does your bottle/jar have “sides” which you can use to create a “front” and “back” or is it a cylinder that you can drape a label around?
Step 4. Consider what you want to include on your label and think about how it will look when the label is applied.
It’s helpful to have the design and text you want to include on your labels to hand when working out what size of label you need. If you don’t know the exact design you want to use, at least make a list of the bits and pieces that you want to include – even if you haven’t written the final text just yet – so you can estimate how big your labels need to be to fit everything on. This way you can pick a label size that is small enough to fit on your bottle/jar but big enough so your text and design is easy to see and read.
If you’ve got a lot of information to include (particularly if you are labelling products that require ingredients and health and safety information), consider using multiple labels; for example, you could include the name of your product and your logo on a single label at the front of your bottle or on the lid of your jar, and then use a bigger label on the back of the bottle or side of your jar to include more detailed information.
You also need to take into account any curvature of the surface of your bottle/jar. While some bottles and jars are produced with a squarish shape, so that they have generally flat sides for you to apply labels to, most are cylindrical, which means you must make sure that your label design works as the label curves around the bottle/jar. Using long, thin labels will force people to turn the bottle/jar around to read the label, which can make it difficult to see important information about your product – you should consider either grouping your information so that people only need to look at one area of the label for one bit of information, or divide your information across two or more labels.
Step 5. Look through the sizes available on the Label Planet website to find the nearest fit.
Due to the sheer variety in bottles/jars, we may not have the exact size of label you come up with by following the above steps. We don’t offer bespoke sizes, so the best thing to do is look through the sizes we have and see which one is the closest fit and decide if that size will work for your design.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT LABEL PRODUCT
Step 1. Make a list of requirements for the labels you need.
This list should include both practical and decorative requirements for your labels.
PRACTICAL: you need to consider what the bottle/jar will contain and the environment that the bottle/jar will be used and/or stored in.
For example, most people need bottle and jar labels for cosmetics and food/drink products. In these cases, many customers want their labels to be waterproof so that they will survive in kitchen and bathroom environments during storage and use. We have a range of waterproof labels for customers to choose from, as well as a range of “splashproof” labels, which are NOT waterproof but do offer light protection if a label gets very lightly damp or dirty.
DECORATIVE: list any requirements you have for the look of your labels.
For example, do you prefer a gloss or a matt finish? Do you want white labels, transparent labels, or coloured labels?
Step 2. Take a look through the label products on the Label Planet website.
Our Product List page contains ALL of the different products we have available, along with the basic properties of each one including the material the labels are made of, the type of adhesive used, whether the labels are waterproof or not, and whether the labels are suitable for inkjet or laser printers (or both). This list is a good place to start as it allows you to see the options available and you can click on each of the options to find out more information about each of the products available.