How To Use Colour Effectively On Your Product Labels

_{Ian Renton  | 17/10/2017 | Label Design Tips,Label Printing - Miscellaneous,Wine Labels}

When you use colour effectively on your product labels, it is just one tool to help you sell more of your products. Your product label must stand out and colour is one such tool to help you do this.

Your product labels must have appropriate colours to help your labels stand out and be noticed for the first time and in the future. A plain white label with black text is not going to help you sell more of your products. However, such a label is quite appropriate when it comes to listing your ingredients that make up your product.

There is a dilemma here when it comes to product label design. Black text on a white background is the easiest to read. That is why newspapers and books are printed this way. However, black text on a white background is the least noticeable form of printing. Just a simple headline in red and blue would make your text or label stand out amongst others. A colour image would also stand out. Then, images and text in multiple colours will stand out even more.

However, the additional colours and images along with your text might be confusing to your potential customers. It is essential that you hire a skilled graphic designer to use colour effectively on your products as well as including images and text. Such a skilled graphic designer can then make your product label stand out and be easily read and more importantly, recognisable so that future sales are boosted. Your graphic designer can only work with the information that you provide. It is your job to see your product labels focus on your customer.

This means the information, text and images must be used to persuade your customer to buy your product for the first time and then many times into the future.

What Colours Are Best For Product Labels?

Firstly, do not underestimate the simple use of black printing on a white background. This makes it easy to read and there really needs to be some text on your label. Here is a very simple idea. Headlines should be strong colours. Red and blue are popular but black is also effective. The colour black is useful for a headline if the design is colourful and elaborate. Contrasting colours are also useful. One example is blue and yellow. The following link explains how contrasting colours are best used. https://www.thoughtco.com/contrasting-colors-in-design-1078274

The colours on your product labels will usually match your brand colours. Let me make one important point here. Your clients care less about your brand and colours than you do. However, your colours are important if your product is to stand out in a supermarket, at a small market or on your website. Choose colours and colour combinations that will stand out.

Award Winning Wine Labels

To learn about product label design, you could easily turn to the wine industry. The wine industry actually has regular awards for the best designs. Here are some clever designs. https://au.pinterest.com/explore/wine-label-design/

One thing you will notice when you study these images is that there is clever and intricate design work done. Also, bright colours as well as gold are prevalent. Labels with gold or even silver foiling create a perception of high quality and can be very effective. You do need to know how to get silver and gold colours onto your custom foil labels. It is more expensive than other printing but is still worth considering if your label is large enough and the volume of products sold or the margins are high enough. We even have a premium label stock Rentons Premium, a label stock with a foil look, a paperlike feel, and a price that is up to 40% lower than traditional foiled labels. 

Even though awards are given for the best wine labels, I am always a little sceptical of such awards. Just as the Academy Award for Best Picture rarely goes to the film with highest gate takings, the award for the best label design rarely goes to the wine producers with the highest sales. Nevertheless, you can still use wine labels as great examples for the design of outstanding product labels.