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Choosing the Right Imagery for Your Product Labels: Tips for Effective Design

Apple visionary Steve Jobs once said, “Packaging can be theatre. It can create a story.” Imagery examples, such as minimal and bold like those on an Apple product, locally themed and intricate on a craft beer bottle label, or timeless and luxe like the embossed and foiled label on Godiva chocolates, serve as the lead narrator of your brand’s story.

How all-powerful is product label design? How can you level up your existing label with imagery and accents matching your mission and target customer? Let’s explore four key concepts for creating impactful brand imagery.

Beer Cans with Labels

1. The Value of Design and Imagery in Product Labels and Packaging

First Impressions Are Crucial

A product that is new to your customer will only get one shot at grabbing their attention. When your product sits on a physical shelf, the imagery on your label is your brand’s last expression and our customer’s first impression. Studies estimate that 60% of consumers decide in the first 30 seconds! How does imagery help your consumer decide?

Evoke Emotions

Imagery evokes emotions — one of the key catalysts for buying behavior. They influence our buying decisions, preferences, and attitudes toward your brand. According to the Harvard Business Review, “emotional motivators” give a better insight into a customer’s future value than any other metric (including brand awareness and customer satisfaction), making them a key driver of growth and profitability.

For example, Nike’s imagery of athletes pushing the limit can spark inspiration and motivation, while depictions of happy people can lend themselves to joy and nostalgia.

Your Label as Brand Narrator

Labels and the imagery you choose to create a visual narrative about your company will shape how your business is perceived. It is your brand’s story and intention in a nutshell, and it should align with your brand identity by bringing photography, illustration, or both together.

You Get One Shot — or 313 Milliseconds — at a First Impression

Your label should provide clarity and relevance. It should act as a key building block to trust building. A visually striking package can capture attention quickly, making it more likely that people will pick up your product out of curiosity and interest. That initial spark of attraction — which one study says can happen in as little as 313 milliseconds — is often the first step toward a purchase decision.

Catch the Attention of New Adaptors

Strong imagery allows your label to attract new customers unfamiliar with your brand. Impactful visuals allow your product to project itself on a shelf amongst a sea of competing items. This gets the attention of new adaptors, who will then go on to evaluate whether this product solves a problem or fulfills a want or need.

2. Eye-Catching Appeal: How to Use Imagery in Label and Packaging Design

Beer can with photography

Photography vs. Illustration

When should you use photography over illustration? Can you use both in a label design for your product? Real product photography works best for food, beverage, and beauty products where trust and authenticity are important. Illustrations are ideal for abstract or complex concepts — the kind of label where the consumer could look several times and still see different details. Adding illustrations to photography can help fill the gaps for any information the photo doesn’t project.

Beer can with typography

Typography as Imagery

Fonts and text placement are the unsung heroes of label design. Bold, creative fonts can become as much a part of the main visual as photography and illustration. Delicate fonts can message sophistication and elegance or become a decorative element. Fonts are also functional, guiding the customer’s eye to important information.

Visual Hierarchy

As we mentioned above, you may have less than a second to talk to a prospective customer. Organizing the label so that imagery, text, and key product information like features and benefits are easily scannable is key to getting your message across quickly and concisely.

beer cans with pattern on label

Textures and Patterns

Your label may be one-dimensional, but your design doesn’t have to be. Textures can convey a message with just as much impact as imagery. Adding a tactile touch through raised UV coating used in screen printing or embossing can give a luxurious feel.

Visual patterns in your design through debossing or foiling can complement imagery, enhance appeal, and create a sensory connection.

Complimentary colors on labels

Complementary Use of Color

Colors have a psychological impact on our buying. This feeling can trigger the emotions we touched on above. Color experts recommend these colors to enhance the impact of your imagery.

Green is associated with joy, tranquility, and nature.
White is calming and conveys a sense of cleanliness. It tends to make individuals feel safe.
Black is linked to stability and intelligence, sophistication and elegance.
Blue inspires creativity and joy; different shades encourage trust and dependability.
Orange signifies energy, appetite, and a sense of adventure.

3. Building Trust & Authenticity

Real Product Photography

The first step in gaining consumer trust? Using real product photography, especially in industries like food and beauty, where authenticity is critical. Customers are more consumer savvy than ever and can spot shortcuts, which can build distrust.

Authentic Representation

Building on using real product photos, you can ensure authentic representation by using photographic or illustrated imagery that realistically reflects what’s inside the package. Fool them once, and well — there might not be another time.

Honey storage container with custom lables

Transparency in Packaging

Discerning customers want to know where their money is going, and a window directly into the product can help! Consider transparent or partially clear packaging to show the actual product and establish trust through honest representation.

4. How Material Choices and Embellishments Can Make Imagery Stand Out

Give your customers a full sensory experience. Materials like the wide range offered by Blue Label Packaging are as important as the images on them. Glossy, matte, or textured labels give different qualities to the appearance of imagery, user experience, and overall impact.

Rye Whiskey bottle with custom label

Embossing, Debossing, and Foil Stamping

These are all excellent accent techniques to add to any product packaging design. They help draw attention to certain priority areas of a label, like the brand name and logo. Features like embossing and debossing can also add depth to the design. Shiny and reflective foil stamping enhances visual appeal by highlighting specific features, such as logos, text, images, and borders.

Let Blue Label Packaging Bring Your Imagery to Life

Well-thought imagery plays a big role in attracting new customers and significantly impacting profitability. What is the key to selecting the right imagery? It truly lies in understanding both your product and the style that aligns with your brand’s identity and also resonates with your target audience.

Remember — it’s not just about aesthetics and what’s trendy. Quite the opposite, it’s about standing apart from the rest and crafting a memorable visual narrative that resonates with your audience.

Blue Label Packaging can help you curate the perfect custom label that will best suit your imagery and user experience. Check out our designer directory, get a sample pack, or request a quote today!

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The Benefits of 7-Color Printing for Labels

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that color is crucial for packaging, but it may be even more important than you expect. The right use of colors is a signal to buyers about your brand’s personality. There’s also the fact that 90 percent of consumers make snap judgments about products solely based on their color. Your product labels communicate with buyers before people even read any of the words, so it’s imperative that they look great for that important first impression.

Unfortunately, your perfect color scheme may not make the impact you want without the right color printing process. Certain printers may not have the technology or range of inks to recreate your specific colors. Fortunately, 7-color process labels allow you to avoid many of these issues without having to pay extra for spot colors. Here’s how.

A digital printing machine making 7-color process labels.

7-Color Label Printing Gives You Access to More Colors

Digital printing uses four base colors, also known as CMYK – cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (key). These original four colors can only account for 55 percent of the Pantone Matching System (PMS) colors. That’s not a comforting number if you’re set on a specific hue, which is why the 7-color process adds violet and orange or green to the original four. These extra three ink colors allow printers to achieve up to 98 percent of the Pantone spectrum.

7-Color Label Printing Makes Your Colors Look More Vibrant

Another advantage of the 7-color process is that it gives you access to Extended Gamut color formulas. Essentially, this means that you have access to colors that are cleaner, brighter, and more saturated than what you may be able to achieve through the standard 4-color process. This is very important for if you want that extra-vibrant green, purple, or some other shade to really pop on your label without having to spend extra on spot colors.

7-Color Label Printing is Digital

Since the 7-color process is done digitally, it means that you can still take advantage of all the benefits of digital printing while improving your color options. Not only does 7-color printing allow you to achieve more vibrant labels, you can also get them quicker than you would with printing methods that require plates. That lack of plates means no setup and better turnaround times for label proof or finished products. Digital color printing also gives you additional flexibility for your orders, whether you only want to commit to a smaller run or want to combine multiple SKUs into a single order.

Multiple custom 7-color process labels on a table.

Make Your Labels Stand Out Through 7-Color Printing

You should never have to settle for bland colors that don’t fit your brand. Thanks to our investment in the 7-color process and state-of-the-art digital printing technology, Blue Label can work with you to make sure your labels look just right for your products. Contact us today to talk to one of our experts about you next label project.

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3 Augmented Reality Trends in Labeling

Good labels draw customers to your products. Thanks to technological advancements, augmented reality labels can now drive these same customers to interact with your products on a whole new level.

Augmented reality gives companies an exciting, new way to engage with customers. While we’ve seen augmented reality most commonly used to bring food and beverage labels to life, it may seem a bit intimidating for businesses unfamiliar with the technology. Here’s a quick breakdown of how augmented reality labels work and some popular ways that businesses are putting it to good use.

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How Wine Label Packaging is Changing

The wine industry is an old business steeped in tradition, but that doesn’t mean that wine label printing needs to be stuck in the days of Johannes Gutenberg. New trends and technology are helping wineries change the way people engage with their brands and stand out from the competition. Here are a few big trends that are affecting the evolution of wine label packaging.
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Craft Spirits Packaging and Label Design Trends

If you are in the craft spirits industry, you know that the competition has gotten more fierce in recent years. More small brewers and distillers are entering the game, and setting yourself apart is the only way to capture a narrow — but rapidly growing — market. While you have to make a smooth concoction to keep loyal customers coming back, sparking that initial interest is a bit more difficult. Unique, eye-catching labels help to garner interest in your brand that can quickly grow into a loyal following.

Here are trends in labeling that you should consider as you decide on the alcohol bottle label design for your craft spirit labels.

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