Decisions, decisions…

Printing your Brand packaging whether it is a label or some other type of flexible packaging can be a daunting task. From the types of materials you will use to the decorations of the final product every decision you make affects the final product. Will it look and perform as you envisioned and need it to? Will it compel your target market to buy it and then come back again and again for repeat sales?

In this analysis we will show you what to watch out for and what to expect when making those decisions that will invariably affect your pocket book.

What you should be looking at or keeping your eye on.

So you’ve done the R&D on your unique and compelling new product along with the market research proves that your demographics will be lining up at first glance to your target audience.

Now it’s time to get into the fun stuff, the design and decoration of your product. This is where you will most likely spend the most amount of time and resources, since how you look will give you a home run or have you strike out.

Here are some key things that you should be aware of that will allow you to keep your eye on the ball through this process.

“As a child my family’s menu consisted of two choices. Take it or leave it”..Buddy Hackett

Material Choices

Your choice of materials for your Brand or product should be considered carefully. Materials in the label and packaging industry have been constructed to serve specific uses and markets. That’s not to say that you can’t get creative.

For example, I have a customer who wanted to really stand out in the Italian Pasta sauce category. He made a sauce that he really believed in. I must admit that being Italian (other than my wife’s and of course mom’s sauce) it really was very good. I know that he didn’t spare any expense when adding his secret ingredients. Other sauce makers might use olive oil or olive oil additives to enrich the flavor of their sauces. My client, not only used the best olive oil money can buy, but only used this olive oil in his recipe. The result was a premium sauce that a family could enjoy as a gourmet meal.

For his premium sauce he chose to go with an estate paper material (primarily for the wine and spirit industry) and print it on the HP Indigo ws4500 to capture all the colors and nuances of his unique design. More about printing methods and colors later.

Material choices for your label or package also have other factors you might want to consider. They include (and are not exclusive to)

• Temperature at time of application
• Final use of the material
• Final use of the Brand or product (will it have to endure weather changes?)
• Feel and texture
• Suitability to the product and design

Your printer should be well versed in all these areas. Make sure they have the type of printing capabilities you require. And ensure that they want to help you succeed. This will mean they will have to be creative.

“Before printing was discovered, a century was equal to a thousand years ”..Henry David Thoreau

What is the best printing process for my product?

As you might already know or have guessed there are different ways to print your Brand. And each method of printing was specifically designed to address your product. Let’s take a look at a few and how they might impact your product:

1. Flexography: This refers to a method of printing which uses a flexible release plate to put your image on a specific substrate. It is widely used for printing on non-porous materials. Industries that have used this form of printing include; Food, Pharma,  Nutraceutical,  Cosmetics.  and Health & Beauty to mention a few. Suitable for printing large runs of labels and other forms of flexible packaging.

2. Lithography: Sometimes referred to as offset printing, this is a method of printing which uses a metal plate for transferring your image to the material. In recent years CTP (Computer to Plate) has eliminated the use of film negatives. Primarily ’Off-set’ is used for POP signage (Point of Purchase), brochures, leaflets, posters, maps, calendars, printed boxes, signage and other types of wide format packaging. Certain parts of the food industry have used this type of printing for large runs of labels for canned and bottled goods.

3. Digital: Refers to the printing of an image directly to a print media (in this case a Digital Press). There are no plates or film. Sometimes referred to as ‘perfect printing’, digital has experienced a big surge in the printing of retail products. Everything from labels, shrink labels, and flexible packaging now can be printed perfectly using Digital. Companies like HP have taken Digital technology to the next level and Brand concerned producers are taking advantage of the great assets Digital provides them. Even for managing inventory and just in time deliveries.

Your Artwork is everything

If you’re making and packaging a product you know how important your artwork is. In fact, it’s what sells your Brand. This is why you need to choose your designer wisely. If you’re going retail, make sure you choose someone (or a design outfit) that has retail positioning experience.

One promising food manufacturer hired an award-winning firm out of the UK to  personify his Brand with killer art. If you keep your eyes open in the sauce section of your grocery store, you will soon see that his artwork really impacts the whole category he is competing in and lets him stand out above the rest (you won’t miss his Brand, I can assure you). You may not have his budget, but you can achieve similar results with the right team and art designer. As mentioned, ensure your designer has retail design and print experience. This will save you lots of time and money.

Art files

Most of the time the thing that slows down the printer is art that is not print-ready. The files are not high res and usually are missing fonts and Outlines the printer needs to replicate the art exactly as the originator intended it to be. Make sure you provide artwork in the following ways. It’s for your benefit:

• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Indesign
• Quark Express

If your files are not set up properly

Let’s say you have your art files in another format, like pdf or eps. Don’t worry, your printer should be set up to convert these files for you. It may slow down the process, but the whole goal is to get you looking great. So rely on your printer for direction in this area.

Expecting the best in your colors

Now the color part of your Brand comes into play. This will be critical since there are different types of inks you can use to achieve your desired outcome. These include water based inks, UV inks, and for Digital what HP calls IndiChrome inks. These consist of CMYK, Orange, Violet, and Green. From these colors virtually all colors and pantone can be made.

Most printers of labels and packaging have gone to water based inks because they are better for the environment. Wherever possible you should try to avoid the use of UV inks for this reason, but occasionally specific usage of the product will call for this.

We live in a colorful world. Talk to your printer about the best ink and color solutions for your Brand.

“I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”…Martin Luther King Jr.

The never-ending goal of getting those costs down

Watching your costs when developing a Brand is very important. As the old saying goes ’it’s not what you make, but what you keep that matters’. I am not sure who said that but it makes complete sense.

Your label and packaging costs are a component of the package that you need to understand. Using expensive materials, high-end printing sources can cut into your profits. That is why you need to understand these costs and how they relate to your particular Brand. Is your Brand mainstream (like bananas and milk) or is it a high end gourmet product that deserves the label and packaging attention and spending that your customer is expecting. After all, on-shelf image is central if you plan to hit a certain demographics.

Here are 3 things you can watch out for:

1. does your printer have Lean Management controls in place?

2. Can you run just what you need so you don’t have to inventory?

3. Ask if there is a way to avoid prepress costs…

Summarizing the key points

1. Choose material that suits Your Brand or be creative

2. Know what type of printing is better suited for your product

3. Pay close attention to your art designer

4. Ensure your colors are right for and work with your materials

5. Keep an eye on those costs