As professionals (about/meet our team) who have been in the labeling and printing industry for more years than we’d like to admit, we’ll be the first to tell you that there’s no “one size fits all” approach to what you’re doing. Every audience is a little bit different, just like every organization has its own unique goals. While there is no one “right way” to design that next terrific beverage label, promotional label or product label… there are certainly a lot of “wrong ways” you’ll want to avoid.
In an effort to help people avoid the types of costly mistakes that are often made when the design possibilities are essentially limitless, here are a number of key printing mistakes that you’ll want to avoid as much as possible.
Failing to Experiment
There was a day where experimentation in terms of printing and label design was a costly affair, as you were essentially locked into a minimum order number that you had to meet. Thankfully, with digital printing continuing to advance, those days are long gone.
These days, a digital press can often be set up within just a couple of linear feet – meaning that when you partner with a provider like Unique Printing & Labels, there is NO minimum order quantity for your run. This gives you the freedom to experiment with different designs for different markets or even to simply A/B test two designs you like equally well to see which is better. It’s never been more cost effective to do so and this is one opportunity that you should absolutely take advantage of.
Avoiding Information Overload
This is something that we see often with product labels in particular – the instinct to hit people with as much information on a store shelf as possible as you try to push them further along the line towards a sale. While making sure that you give people the information they need to make the right choice is key, you also want to avoid overwhelming them at the exact same time.
Never forget the old saying of “brevity is the soul of wit” – meaning that shorter is absolutely better. Focus on printing and labeling designs that are eye-catching and attractive and that give people just enough information to know A) what your product is, B) what it does and C) why that’s so important. A, B, C. Anything that falls outside the boundaries of those three goals may be valuable, but it isn’t valuable in this particular context. Get in and get out – this is how a sale is born.
These are just a few of the top printing mistakes you should avoid – rest assured, there are certainly others. If you’d like to find out any additional information about this particular topic, or if you’d just like to sit down and speak to someone about your own needs or that upcoming project on the horizon in a little more detail, please contact us below!