As a new brewer, your main focus on entering the brewing industry is to work hard to develop unique products that taste and look great.  The competition in craft brewery is increasing steadily as more small and individual companies are entering the fray.

As a result, there is even greater need to have a unique beer label design so as to draw the attention of the crowd instantly towards your brand. The next job at hand is for you and your team to build a brand identity around your beers and their taste.

Your beer label design is not just any other visual. It stands for your brand values, message, and taste of your craft beer whenever they see your label design in the market. So the design and printing of your label requires careful planning.

We understand that it is the label that has the customer choosing your brand because of what they see and we like to say, “The label may sell the customer on your product the first time, the taste is what will have them coming back for more!”

There are hundreds of bottles and cans on the shelf. People will choose your bottle if they are drawn to the printed label because it is unique and memorable. Your customers will talk about the experience, flavour, and texture of your beer. They will also talk about the impression they get from the label design.

Today many of the young customers are impressed by a great beer label and share it with their friends on social media platforms. This is a great sales opportunity for any brewer but also demonstrates a connection and pride in purchase choice stimulating brand loyalty in others.

It’s only a pint, right?

Label packaging seems deceptively simple when you think about the end goal, it’s just a printed label, right?

It is important to choose your printer with care, ideally work with a label company with decades of experience and accreditations (such as ISO 9001:2015, BRC/IoP Global Standard Food Packaging standards).

A considerate printer that truly wants to partner with you in the success of your business should have a desire to share information, empowering you to make the best purchasing decisions. An established printer with a background in your market will be able to offer ideas and solutions that will help you avoid common pitfalls and packaging problems.

You do not want to be limited to just few standard sizes on a limited selection of stocks, as this will limit your labels appeal and creativity.  When choosing clothes would you prefer them tailored for your individual measurements or buy a generic one-size-fits-all? In the same way, when you order labels, your brief and communication is key to helping you and your printer to select the proper label material, adhesive, and liner combinations to fit your bottle and cans. This is especially true when launching a new product, and of course when you are ordering labels for the very first time.

You will also need to consider all aspects of the label’s form and function – Not only that it meets the legal obligation for government information, including alcohol warning and capacity.

Function of your label is a crucial question that must not be overlooked. What environments will your label face? There are a variety of adhesives, label materials and protection options designed specifically for hot or cold environments, and damp or humid environments. (Freezers, the outdoors, refrigerators, ice buckets, beaches…etc.) Be sure to consider the real world scenarios your labels need to perform in, including how they are stored and transported. These situations will help guide the selection of label material, adhesive, and protection choices such as varnish or lamination.

The printer will need to know your bottling specification too –Will you be machine applying or hand applying your labels? Label application machines have varying requirements for roll size, core size, and rewind direction. If you are hand applying your labels, rewind direction will not matter, unless you have a preference based on your workflow.

With an amazing variety of choices, from colours, to label materials, adhesives, protection options, and embellishments, there are a lot of ways to build the best label. Knowing what you want and what you have budgeted for will help your printer find creative solutions that look great, work well, and stay with in budget.

With label printing, like all forms of commercial printing, prices scale down as quantities increase. The fewer labels you order, the higher the cost of each individual label. Quantity considerations that account for future need can help you see savings on reorders.

Label size and shape may also effect pricing, particularly if you require a custom shape that has to be produced with a custom die. Most printers hold common bottle shape dies and you may be able to choose an existing size to avoid costs if budget is driving the shape of the label rather than design.

Your deadline for delivery of labels is vitally important to planning the printing process, since there are several stages to ordering, proofs and approvals, and printing your labels. It is wise begin the order process early, after agreeing all design and print specifications it is good practice to create a shared timeline based on the bottling date and approve proofs quickly to avoid delays.

Stand out shelf appeal

Decorative paper and Specialty printing techniques like foil stamping, sculpted embossing, screen, and die cutting can offer many creative and personal dimensions of touch to labels. Tactile effects that help make the vital difference between products left on the shelf and those that make it home with the customer.

Silver, gold, brushed metal and mirror-finish products express a high-value appearance or celebratory sparkle. Iridescent, Holographic and tinted opalescent materials can be subtle yet stunning, and add a touch of class that reflects a superior product with design intrigue. As a base material, the metallised film can create a unique look in combination with the ink printed over the bright metal. Foils ,screen  and multiple varnishes can be used where a premium or top shelf look is desired.

Speciality, textured, and smooth label stocks appeal to the dual senses of sight and touch. Embossing produces a raised impression of the paper stock. Embossing on your label adds a multi-dimensional look and feel to your label. Colours can be added on top of the embossed area or leave it without colour for a more natural finish.

Labels can be embossed in small areas to add definition to your graphics or in large areas to add texture to your label. This texture draws people to touch the label and pick up the bottle from the shelf, research has demonstrated that customers are more likely to buy a product they have held, so the tactile nature of a label is extremely important.