by admin | May 10, 2016 | Customers/Examples, Food Beverage, Label News
Recently, one of our clients came to us asking for the glossiest finish possible for their gourmet food labels. After looking through some samples of our previous work, they still wanted something with a bit more shiny gloss to it than anything we’d produced in the past. This company sought the most brilliantly reflective, wet-look labels available; and we agreed that such a label would really set them apart from competing products.
But how to accomplish this goal?
We already have multiple ways to provide our customers with a varnished, glossy product label. Could we improve on that? Could we make it … shinier? Could we set up the design, and then somehow add a deeper, gleaming shine to the finished run? At Rose City Label, we relish a challenge such as this one.
Experimenting With Label Finishes
For many of our current labels, from food and beverage to personal products, we already use a clear coat—rather like a varnish—as the final step in label printing. This liquid coating is then cured under a powerful UV light. This seemed like a good place to start.
Could the solution to this challenge be as simple as using a heavier dose of clear coat for this client’s food labels? That presented a problem. Too much, and the UV light won’t penetrate deeply enough into the coating. This would result in a tacky, unfinished surface. Still, it seemed to be the best place to begin.
We ended up adjusting the printing press to deliver just the right amount of clear coat to obtain a deep, polished gleam without applying a heavier coat than the UV light can penetrate. It took some trial and error, but we found just the right amount of clear gloss to overlay onto the printed labels for an intense shine, fully cured and smooth to the touch.
Do You Have a Labeling Challenge?
For most labeling challenges, we may already have the ideal solution to provide custom product labels you—and your customers—will love. Your business faces enough trials on a daily basis. Let us handle the responsibility of providing the look and feel you desire for your custom product labels. We’ll find just the right process to deliver a high quality, consistent result.
Give us a call at 1-800-547-9920 or contact us online. We welcome the opportunity to provide the custom label solutions you seek for your product.
by admin | Feb 10, 2016 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples, Technical
Customer behavior testing can help us design better wine labels. Really.
Wine label design is very personal – every wine brand has a unique story to tell. Often, this has meant that everyone was designing by the ‘seat of their pants’ with no science behind the decisions and no validation of what works. Now, thanks to a December 2015 report by Nielsen, we have actual customer data to give us insight into what catches the eye (*and perhaps, why). This great research paper has comments and insights from individuals, but also scientific data that shows where the human eye goes on the shelf, and how long it stays there. This behavior can change over time, so this study will be repeated in the future, but for now, this data is a golden opportunity to put some science behind the highly emotional process of wine label design.
Click here to download the 15 page PDF for the entire report.
As we have written before in this post, your labels must be authentic and reflect your true brand values, culture, and be consistent with other parts of your messaging. Don’t just make a massive switch to your label design based on this report – it won’t work.
Instead, take these insights and incorporate them into the overall conversation about your positioning and branding in the market.
Here are the key points:
- In addition to gabbing consumers’ attention, the label must also convey certain key messages, points of differentiation from competition, and a distinct personality.
- 64% of consumers will try a product because the package catches their eye. 41% will continue to buy a product because they like the packaging.
- The wine category is crowded. 4,200 new wines were introduced in 2014.
- Consumers make most decisions at the retail shelf – the category is fragmented with little brand loyalty.
- Media spending is low relative to other commodities, so shelf appeal is even more important.
- Package design can also help gain distribution – labels appeal to restaurant owners and wholesale distributors too.
Additional key findings:
- To stand out, be colorful and contrarian. The most visible bottles are seen by up to 77% more consumers than less visible ones, according to eye tracking measures.
- Distinct personalities drive engagement. Lower price points tend to succeed with casual, fun themes. Higher price points have more uniform design.
- Millennials favor bold and breezy. This is particularly true on the lower price points, but also on higher tiers. Younger buyers value tradition less.
- There are unclaimed areas in the market. Despite saturation of product, there are open areas to fill. See page 8 of the report for full details.
- Images attract attention, but not always positive. Be careful if your central graphic is controversial – the attention may backfire with some consumers.
- Colors, shape, typeface, and images make the label. These are the key elements that define a label – use them to your advantage.
The wonderful news for winery brand owners of all sizes is that all these design elements are available to almost everyone now.
The power of digital printing technology has leveled the playing field and allowed brands of all sizes to have a fair shot at gaining the consumers’ attention and winning at the retail shelf. Thank you for trusting Rose City Label with your project.
Please call us today and we will help you translate this research into a winning label that aligns with your authentic brand and builds a deeper connection with your consumers.
Cheers!
by admin | Jan 31, 2016 | Customers/Examples, Food Beverage, Technical
Theory and background are important, but now it is time to really begin printing your labels! You need to have the background work done – read more about that in a previous post by clicking here. Once you have laid the foundation and you have a solid brand, it is time to dive into the details of getting your perfect labels printed. Follow the path laid out here, and you will be able to select the correct label technology for your project.
If you believe your new food, beverage, tool or gadget is really going to make people happy or improve their lives, you owe it to the world to get your product out there – don’t keep it to yourself. Go out and make it happen today.
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How Complex and How Stable is Your Design?
If you have a full color or photographic design, then digital and conventional printing are both very good options. If your design is more of a classic, simple layout, like a traditional wine label printed with one or two colors, then you will have a cost advantage with traditional press printing – more colors mean more cost on a traditional press. How likely are you to revise your design on the next run? If you aren’t in love with the design, this will lean you toward the digital production option because there are no setup fees and no penalties for changing the design on your future orders. Simple design? Consider traditional press. Very rough, unstable design? Lean toward digital printing.
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How many labels can you commit to right now?
The more labels you buy, the cheaper they will be – this is true across all print platforms. Sometimes it makes sense to select a fixed budget – ‘how many labels can I get for $700?’, but sometimes it makes more sense to base the quantity on your sales projections, or your batch quantity for production of your beer, wine, or peanut butter. We never recommend buying more than a year’s supply of labels – buying more than this, generally, won’t lower your cost that much but it will add more risk of wasting labels – in case you move, change ingredients, or decide you want to give your labels a facelift. Depending on the quantity you decide on, smaller quantities generally tend to favor digital production options. The size of the label weighs on this decision too, but in most cases, 50-1000 labels should be printed on our Economy Digital platform, 1,000 to 10,000 labels belong in our Premium Digital department, and initial orders over 10,000 labels run best on our Traditional Press area.
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Do you need metallic inks, perforation, special adhesive or other special operations?
Traditional press printing is still 70% of our business, despite the rapid growth of digital. Because of this, we have many more material choices in the traditional press department – both label materials and adhesives. We also have many, many more standard cutting dies available. Metallic inks, inline embossing, perforation, top scoring, and many other special operations are ONLY available on the traditional press. Finally, because the press is so much larger and faster, the very lowest cost labels will always be produced on the traditional printing press in almost all cases.
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Do you want to add ‘bling’ like embossing or foil stamping?
Once you have decided on the primary printing technology, you get to look at the dessert menu. What do you want to add onto the top of the beautiful label you just produced? With our state of the art foil and embossing equipment, we can add a little extra ‘spice’ to any label – regardless of which press technology was used to print it. Embossing and foil stamping make a label ‘pop’ and stand out on the shelf. These secondary operations aren’t for everyone, and they aren’t cheap, but they do give a dimension to your product that you can’t get any other way. Maybe you have a full line of food, beverage, or consumer products? Consider embossing or foil stamping for your top tier product – the Private Reserve level – this will make it stand out, but still remain obviously recognizable as a part of your product family.
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That’s It – Go Make it Happen!
Once we have the printing technology selected (Economy Digital, Premium Digital, or Traditional Press) and we have confirmed the need for secondary upgrades (adding the ‘bling’), we are ready to submit an order! All orders are quoted and confirmed within 48 hours. PDF proofs are sent back within 3 business days. After PDF approval, typical lead time is about 7-9 working days. That’s it! Your product is ready to be released to the world – go out and make it happen. If you believe your new food, beverage, tool or gadget is really going to make people happy or improve their lives, you owe it to the world to get your product out there – don’t keep it to yourself. Go out and make it happen today.
More questions? No problem – we can help. Follow this checklist and you will be on your way to making the right decisions, but don’t be afraid to ask for help along the way. We do this every day, so we have many more ideas to help you launch your product with great success.
by admin | Dec 14, 2015 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples
2015 Craft Beer in Review from the Brewers Association Reveals Historic Number of Breweries in U.S.; Most Since 1800’s. As of the end of November, there are now 4,144 breweries in the country, topping the historic high of 4,131 breweries in 1873.
Charles Barr gives an excellent recap of this article on Linked In – click here to read the full article
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Brewery openings now exceed two a day.
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Fifteen states are now home to more than 100 breweries: California, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Indiana.
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IPA remained the top style sold by independent craft brewers, and continues to grow faster than the overall craft category.
Over the coming year, nobody sees the Craft Beer train slowing down. In fact, the quality and quantity of Craft Beer should continue to grow, even in (or especially in) craft-dominated cities like Portland. Quality will continue to be important as more and more consumers know the difference between good and great beer. That doesn’t seem to slow people down – opening a brewery is a passion project and a great business idea when you do your homework.
We look forward to supporting more and more breweries in the coming years. Thanks to the 75 breweries that trust Rose City Label with their label needs – we take this responsibility seriously and we appreciate all the referrals you send our way.
Cheers!
by admin | Nov 6, 2015 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples, Technical
For over 20 years Rose City Label has been providing foil stamped and embossed labels, but that capability is going to a whole new level soon!
Here is how this will help you:
- Better quality control on foil transfer – dense solids and fine lines clear and crisp
- Better registration to other elements – printed logos and cutting die edges
- Faster setup and make ready for less waste and lower cost
- Larger image area – up to 9 x 9 – allows more efficient (lower cost) printing
- More powerful embossing impression for rich, sculptured embossing
Embossing gives your labels depth, class, and distinctiveness on the shelf. Set yourself apart with this upgrade today.
by admin | Nov 5, 2015 | Customers/Examples
Not just amazing chocolate but a pretty sweet ride too. Thanks Woodblock for the business and the cool pics of your wheels! Go to http://woodblockchocolate.com/ to see where you can purchase these great treats.
