Therefore, it is essential that the face of your product – the label – is effective in gaining the attention it needs to sell.
Here are some key tips for designing the best food label possible.
Design with customer demographics in mind
The design is one of the most important things about a food label. It is what initially attracts potential customers and what draws the eye to the product.
You should have a good idea about who is going to buy your product. Is it for health fanatics? Is it a family product? Are you targeting Gen Y shoppers with disposable incomes or retailers looking to buy in bulk?
With those questions answered, design your label according to what will attract your ideal customer. Particular graphics, fonts and colours should be used to market to your demographic. Graphic designers and advertising specialists can help with this.
Space is an important consideration and needs to be used appropriately to create an attractive label. The balance between positive and negative space should ideally be about 50:50 to ensure it does not give a congested impression.
Consider the message closely, then consider it again
Unfortunately you won't always be there to tell people why your product is the best one for them: the label has to do it for you.
Decide which messages are the most important to communicate to the consumer. This can be difficult as many selling points seem worth mentioning, but it is important to keep it simple: decide on a few 'must have' messages that to include in the label design.
As words are usually limited, it is often worthwhile to hire a professional copywriter, who is skilled at conveying important messages in a meaningful, creative and efficient way.
Always keep it branded
It is vital to match the style of your product label to the image you want to portray to customers. It should be individualised from other brands so that people will come to recognise your brand among the sea of products available.
If you have a range of products available or are planning to release a related range in the future, you should take measures to keep the brand uniform. This will help people to notice related products and possibly make more purchases based on brand trust.
Make it professional, make it consistent
Perhaps you've heard of the saying, "Hiring a professional is expensive until you try hiring an amateur", which rings true when it comes to the design of food labels. It is clear when a label has been given the expert attention it deserves.
Aim to get your food product label right the first time. Once it is on the market, people become subconsciously accustomed to the current design and may have difficulty recognising your product in different packaging.
