Designing a Winning Custom Label

There is lot of information available about designing a great label to sell your product. Far too many of these articles rely on the basic knowledge that the label should be colorful readable & “attract attention.” What does all this really mean? Are there certain colors that are better than others? Are some words proven to be more effective? Do lots of pictures attract the most attention?

The concept of designing a label is far more complex than outlining a few basic benefits & hoping your product stands out. Everyday a new product is born & for every product that emerges a new label finds its way to a store shelf. In fact over 122,000 new products were released in 2008 & only 3.5% 4,270 of those products reached over $1 million in sales.

Part of the reason it difficult for new products to be noticed is because over-crowded shelves lead to confusion & when consumers are confused they tend to opt for the “default” brand instead of trying a new product. This is the struggle. This is the fear for creators of new ideas who invest so much in their product only to find that it was left on the shelf.

A good label design may depend on colors or descriptive text but a great design relies much more on consumer behavior & in-depth product knowledge. For example did you know that text placed in the top right or left hand corner of a label is only seen by 1/3 of consumers? Did you know that you only have 5 7 seconds to get the average consumer’s attention? That’s right. If you can’t get someone’s attention within the first few seconds it may be lost forever.

So what does make a great label design? In order to first understand this we have to understand how consumers think. By nature humans are visual beings. We are drawn to things that are visually appealing. While not every person has the same reaction to a certain color we can generalize about how we interpret colors.

When determining a basic color for a label it important to know your product & your competition. One effective sales tactic is called “color blocking”. Color blocking occurs when one product is so different in color from everyone else that it almost jumps off the shelf. If you stand at the end of the shampoo isle see what stands out first…I bet it bright color that is different from all the other bottles. When opting for your own color identity research what would be different. What would stand out? After you have a few different “stand out” colors think about the colors in terms of your product & what will work best with your brand. Now you have a unique color that fits your style. Also remember white is color If you notice a rainbow of colors from your competition a simple white label might stand out better than anything.

Color alone won’t sell any product. Consumers want shopping to be easy. Even the most lackadaisical shopper doesn’t want to spend all day reading every product benefit on each item they are considering. Many studies support a theory we like to call the “one liner”. Essentially this means that shoppers are more likely to consider a product that uses just one line to talk about the product’s benefits instead of multiple claims. Conventional wisdom may have you believe consumers make decisions based on research & facts but in actuality when deciding to buy a new product they want the decision to be clear & simple. Using one-line forces you to outline the product’s best feature while letting go of the extra benefits that lead to overcrowding & confusion.

The hard part of label design is that your product is often featured next to your direct competition. The very nature of label design is competitive. You want your product to look better feel better & ultimately sell better. Graphics can easily give your label a competitive edge. Consumer’s eyes are almost always drawn to the center of a label. A descriptive graphic can be just as if not more effective than a great one-liner. Whether it your company’s logo or a product photo the image should convey the product’s key benefits without the need of any copy. The graphic should relate to the one-liner giving a conclusive & concise message.

When putting the design together there are some obvious concepts that should be relayed. Any & all text must be readable meaning the font can’t be too small or too decorative to easily understand. The graphics or images you choose for your label should relate to your product. The graphic can still be unique fun or futuristic as long as it makes sense. These are just a few simple concepts but they are the most important part of the label. Focusing on these two key elements will help to navigate your way to a great label design.

Here are a few things we now know. First consumers are immediately drawn in by color. Different colors will stand out better & help aide the consumer’s eye toward your product. Once the eye has been attracted to the label the consumer focuses in on the main front display. A descriptive graphic or logo along with one simple product benefit has the highest likelihood of success.

Not everyone is an expert at label design so don’t feel like you have to get it right the first time. There are many resources available to help design your labels. If possible find a designer that has experience with product labels. This can certainly help to take your ideas & turn them into a successful design. Just remember don’t be afraid to take a chance & risk being different. Sometimes being different is just what the consumer wants.

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