Label Planet
We're taking a closer look at the requirements you should keep in mind when picking the perfect product labels.
Product labels often have a number of important roles to play; they may carry important information about your product, carry barcodes or QR codes that contain vital tracking information, or quite simply might provide a significant opportunity to help make your products, brand, and company stand out from the crowd.
Getting the right product label is an important choice – especially if you’ve spent months or even years developing your product and you want your labels to work just as hard as you have to help get your product sold.
With this in mind, we’ve put together a hit list of decisions that you need to make when choosing your product labels.
What Are You Sticking Them Onto & How Long Do They Need To Last?
- Labels For Product Packaging:
Packaging labels need to remain firmly in place so you should make sure you choose a PERMANENT adhesive. If your packaging is made using unusual materials (especially plastic bags or boxes) you may find that standard permanent adhesives struggle to bond properly, which means you’ll need a stronger adhesive such as a HIGH TACK or MARINE adhesive. You may also be looking for a label that improves the security of your goods (especially for high value goods); we supply a TAMPER EVIDENT product, which can be used to provide evidence of tampering, to securely seal packaging, or to act as a warranty label or seal.
If it is of the utmost importance that your labels remain on the packaging, even if the items are to be moved around a lot, then you should consider choosing a POLYESTER, POLYOLEFIN, POLYPROPYLENE, or POLYETHYLENE label; these materials are much more durable than paper and offer protection against a variety of environmental factors including exposure to water and sunlight, which makes them perfect for use as long life tracking or asset labels. - Labels For Products (That Must Be Permanent):
Some product labels are used to add vital product information to items, which means the information must remain with your product for the lifetime of each item – so you must use a PERMANENT adhesive. If your products are made with unusual materials or have a curved or uneven surface you should consider choosing a stronger, more specialised adhesive (e.g. a HIGH TACK or MARINE adhesive) to ensure that your labels stay firmly in place. You may also want to apply one of our VOID label products to act as a warranty label or to indicate if an item has been tampered with. To create long life tracking or asset labels, you should choose one of our more durable materials; we have a range of POLYESTER and POLYETHYLENE labels, which are long lasting, waterproof labels that will survive in a variety of environments and conditions. - Labels For Products (That Must Be Removable):
It may be that the content of your labels is only required temporarily (e.g. pricing information) and so your labels should remove cleanly and easily from your products without doing any damage. In this case, you should choose labels made with a REMOVABLE ADHESIVE. If your items are particularly delicate (especially items made of paper or glass), then you may even want to consider a SUPER REMOVABLE ADHESIVE to ensure that your items remain undamaged when a label is eventually removed.
What Environments Do They Need To Work In?
Depending on the type of products you are labelling, you may need to take into account the environments that your products will be stored or used in when picking a product label. Two of the most common examples are food and drink products and cosmetic products; the former are likely to be exposed to a variety of conditions in kitchens (including exposure to liquids and variations in temperature), while the latter are likely to be used in bathrooms where they may be exposed to water or other liquids.
If you know that your labels need to survive in conditions where they may get wet then you should make sure you select a WATERPROOF label (or, as a cheaper alternative, a SPLASHPROOF label). Likewise, if you’re selling food and drink products that need to be stored in freezer conditions then you’ll need to make sure you choose DEEP FREEZE labels, which are made using a special adhesive that is designed specifically to function efficiently in freezer conditions.
How Much Content Do You Want To Add?
When designing labels for products, you’ll need to make sure that all of your information is clear and legible (especially for products that are required to show ingredients, allergen warnings, instructions for use, best before/use by dates, or health and safety warnings) AND that your branding looks attractive and professional.
A good tip is to make a note of everything you want to include on your labels (although actually typing it out is even better); if you find that you’ve got an awful lot of stuff to include but not a lot of space to add a label big enough to display it all neatly and legibly, you might want to consider breaking it up and using two or more smaller labels to create a cleaner appearance. This means you won’t end up compromising by either reducing your font to teeny tiny text or plastering a massive label all over your products and/or packaging.
What Do You Want Your Product To Look Like?
If you’re trying to create a particular appearance or build up brand recognition, you’ll want to make sure that your labels fit in with the overall ethos that you’re aiming to promote. Simply plastering a standard paper label onto your products could undermine any special design features that you’ve worked hard to add to your products and packaging, so it’s always worth looking at different material options to find the one that best matches your brand image:
Gloss Labels: these labels have a shiny smooth coating that creates a finish that is both decorative and professional in appearance. Our gloss polyester labels are particularly popular for use on cosmetics products, while our photo quality gloss paper labels are perfect for printing detailed designed work at a high resolution, even if you’ve got photographic images as part of your design.
Premium Quality Paper: made of a premium quality paper that has been treated with a special coating to give it a supremely smooth finish, these labels can help to produce excellent high resolution print that is sharp and precise. Our MPQ material is particularly popular for creating a professional finish, especially for branding and marketing labels that should be smart and crisp.
Coloured Paper: coloured labels are a brilliant starting point if you want your labels to be bold and bright, whether you’re trying to create a fun, fabulous brand identity or you simply want to draw attention to your products. We’ve got a range of subtle pastel shades for those who prefer a gentle bloom of colour or a choice of five fluorescent colours to really give your product a kick start.
Kraft Paper: made with an unbleached, uncoated Kraft paper, these labels have a ribbed brown colouring, which creates a natural appearance with a subtle touch of pattern and texture. Our Kraft Labels are especially popular for use as product labels where the products are homemade/handcrafted or gift items, or where a company wants to promote their products as being natural, bespoke, or handmade.
Metallic Paper: available in gold or silver, our metallic paper labels have a very attractive semi-gloss textured finish, which makes them a popular choice for product labels that are promoted as luxury or gift items, or to create promotional or marketing labels.
Mirrored Silver: our decorative silver material is perfect for grabbing attention and provides a fun finish for items intended for special events or occasions.
Transparent Polyester: transparent labels are a perfect tool for creating decorative and professional product labels because they provide design opportunities that other labels simply cannot provide. For example, they are brilliant product labels for use on products or packaging that are made with transparent materials (especially glass or plastic bottles), a perfect way to avoid problems with exact colour matching, and a simple solution to the issue of adding additional information to existing print work (where non-transparent labels would end up covering up some of your existing print).
Silver Metallic Polyester: with a matt metallic finish, these polyester labels are often used as professional long life tracking or asset labels – particularly on high value goods and electrical or electronic appliances.
You can find all of our label product options listed on our All Materials page; remember, you can also Request A Sample to try out a few different options to see which one will work best for you.