Designing professional labels

… advice from our in-house designer Mirsad Ramic

Whether you design your own labels or choose labelletiquette.fr’s design service, professional label design is an art. Creating an attractive label is no easy task.

Mirsad Ramic, in the business for over 10 years and graphic designer for labelletiquette.fr’s design service, gives you tips on label design to increase the success of your products, whether you design them yourself or let us do it for you. But first, let us introduce ourselves:

“Hello, my name is Mirsad Ramic (34) and I’ve been working as a graphic designer for 12 years. At labelletiquette.fr I love creating labels for our customers. For me, graphic design is not only my profession, it’s also my great passion. I love seeing every time how proud the customers are of their products, for which I designed the labels. I like to share my knowledge, so here are a few tips for label designers. But even if you let me design your labels, I’ve got a few tips for you!”

6 tips for designing successful labels

1. Be unique! Unleash your creativity and rely on originality! Unique designs are essential to stand out from the competition. But also because you don’t want to get into legal trouble with other brands. Boring, copied designs are a no-no! Be innovative and opt for fresh ideas that will make your product an object of attention. Don’t forget to include your company details and product barcode in the design – these are essential elements for the authenticity and integrity of your design.
2. The format must perfectly match the size of the packaging. Whether you choose a simple label, a double-sided label or a wrap-around label, it has to fit! But before deciding on the format of your label, it’s a good idea to gather together all the information and images you want and/or need to include on the label. Only when you have a clear idea of what you want to include on the label can you determine its size. Important: a well-designed label should have a strong design, contain the right information and fit in perfectly with the packaging.
3. Make sure it’s easy to read! A label generally contains text including the product name, brand name, ingredients, units of measurement, etc. It’s important that the text is easy to read. It’s important that the text is easy to read. Keep this in mind when choosing the font and its size. Avoid text that’s too small; use at least 7p for letters. Make sure that your customers can also read the details clearly. It’s also important for legibility that the text color contrasts well with the background.
4. Typography is important: when placing the different parts of the text in your design, make sure that the information is presented in a logical way. Don’t hesitate to mix different fonts to create contrast and style. When choosing the font, remember that it should match the product and reflect the look of the brand. I wouldn’t use more than three different fonts in the same design, or it would be unprofessional. On the other hand, it’s perfectly possible to use a single font, in different sizes, for the whole text, to keep the design consistent and looking professional.
5. Don’t be afraid of empty spaces! The presence of “white space” is particularly important if you opt for a minimalist design. White space separates information and creates visual clarity. It gives the label a simple, “clean” appearance, synonymous with honesty and purity. The use of white space is particularly recommended for labels on cosmetics, baby products and so on.
6. Printing your label. Once your design is ready, there’s one very important step: printing the labels. To do this, choose the right label material. Of course, the design has to look good, but the material also has to match the desired appearance of your product. It’s also important that the material is adapted, from a practical point of view, to the way your product is used and stored. That’s why I recommend that you first order one of our two “Test Print” packages before ordering a larger print run of your label. This allows you to test not only the materials you’ve chosen, but also your design and printing: is the text clean and easy to read? Are the colors correct? Is the overall design well presented? If all goes well, you can confidently place your label order with your own design!

Tips for designing your label at labelletiquette.fr

If you use labelletiquette.fr’s design service, a personal contact will be waiting for you. Please note the following points:

1. The logo is a game-changer! It allows your product to be recognized at first glance, and adds value to your brand. Imagine: a product without a logo is like a book without a title – it’s a bit incomplete, isn’t it? That’s why it’s so important that you send us your logo in vector format. It’s the only way for us to make sure it really fits in and gets your brand off to a flying start. And if you don’t have a logo yet… we can design one for you too!
2. A mood board is a must! To create a design for you, I need to dive into your world, so to speak! Send me designs you like and tell me your favorite colors. This really helps me to understand the style you want for your labels. The aim is to make your design exactly what you want it to be, and to make your brand stand out! So share your vision with us so we can create a personalized, elegant design that will make you happy! You can also send us illustrations, photos or other sources of inspiration to show us the kind of design you like.
3. Send us your packaging. To ensure that the label will fit your bottle or packaging perfectly, it’s best to send us a copy of your packaging. Based on precise measurements, we can then determine the optimum label size. Similarly, I can determine the color of the design to match the bottle, for example. In other words, once we know your packaging, we can develop a label design that perfectly matches your product.
4. Think special finishes for your label. Imagine how cool your label can look with fancy finishes like hot foil stamping or digital spot varnish! These finishes give your design a real wow factor, making your product stand out instantly in a crowd. Which brings me to my final tip: you can order a free sample book to see what materials and finishes you can choose from us. Let yourself be inspired and give your products that little something extra!

Any questions? You can reach us by phone on +33 (0)4 81 68 19 73 or by e-mail at info@labelletiquette.fr. We’ll be delighted to help!