4 tricks to create beautiful packaging for your business using custom labels

Are you searching for better custom labels for your business? Or are you having problems with your current stickers or just looking for something a bit different?

Whatever your reason for looking, we want to assist you in getting better custom stickers or labels for your packaging.

To start thinking about what label is suitable for you, here’s a list of questions to ask yourself. Answering them will help your search for the correct label:

• What are you sticking your label on?
• Is this surface flat or curved?
• Should you go for plastic or paper stickers?
• Do you need to remove your sticker?
• What temperature will your stickers be used at?
• Will they be in contact with moisture?
• What shape do you want?
• How many do you need?
• Will you apply them by hand or machine?

The list can feel a bit much, but not to worry. We’re going to give the top four tips when using labels in packaging applications. They’re good for 90+% of use cases, so they will most likely help you.

Here they are.

1. Go for labels on sheets, not individually cut

So far, we’ve referred to both labels & stickers in this article, so we’re going to explain the difference between them.

Technically, the short answer is nothing; there’s no difference. They are both self-adhesive pieces of paper or plastic that are usually printed. However, the printing industry typically calls a product stickers when individually cut and labels when supplied on sheets or rolls.

Use these rules for getting the correct type. Most often, we recommend labels on sheets:

• Go for stickers if you are not applying the sticker yourself. A customer is.
• Get labels on sheets if you’re applying yourself by hand. Sheets are easy to store, post and 65% faster to peel & apply than stickers.
• Get labels on rolls if a machine is doing the application.

2. Don’t overdo your sticker

The objective is to pick a suitable material for your application. Here’s a summary of why you’d choose paper or plastic:

• Go for paper for short-term uses. Paper stickers reduce cost. They look great if you get good quality paper, last, and compost with your other packaging.
• Go for a durable plastic label if you’re a premium brand with a longer-term need. You can add a laminate to make your label waterproof & scratch-resistant. An excellent example of a sticker like this is die-cut stickers.

3. Match your packaging

Thinking about sustainability is essential today – recyclable or compostable materials are central to this.

We recommend matching your label’s material with the rest of your packaging. To give you an example, if your packaging is a plastic PP bottle, choose a PP sticker so you can recycle them. Or, if you have a cardboard box, choose a paper label.

There are innovative materials on the market today that are 100% compostable in months. For example, this transparent sticker shown above gets printed on ‘bioplastic’ made using wood pulp – it’s 100% compostable!

4. Make them simple to apply

The best way to make them easy to apply is to choose the right shape. Circle labels are usually the best.

Design your packaging, so the label is placed at a deliberate angle in the corner of an envelope. If the angle changes slightly, no one will notice.

If you get labels on sheets, as recommended earlier, they’ll be so much faster to apply than individually cut stickers! 

And that’s it, four tricks to create beautiful packaging for your business using custom labels. If you’ve got questions or comments, please leave them below 🙂