In the part one
of this series, I wrote about the importance of label. It is however an
imperative now that the label-design must be a parallel creation when the
package is being created and designed. In earlier times one would just decide
on a container depending on the product being a liquid, powder, or a product.
If it had to be a bottle, it would either be glass or plastic and then the shape
would be thought of. For cost effectiveness some products would go into printed
or unprinted LDPE or PP bags. If the product is a solid one, it would probably
end up in a paper-based package like a carton. A bottle would get a simple
screw-on cap and then the rectangular label would separately be designed to
adorn the package. The labeled bottle would again go into a mono carton and
then into a corrugated carton. While the basics appear the same but modern-day
technological mindsets have undergone a sea change on how to go about creating
a package and its labels. Now extensive brainstorming is done before creating
primary packaging on issues such as product chemistry, its construction, shelf
life, usage, lifespan, aesthetics, convenience of product delivery from the
package, product decoration on the label, communication capability of the label
with the consumer with ease, value building for the brand; its enhancement,
protection and its authentification, security features, pricing information,
manufacturing/expiry dates, bar coding, etc.
With evolution, growth of consumerism and increased retail selling;
packaging waste is also now generated in gigantic quantities. So, for this reason
each of the above considerations, the recyclability, waste disposal and
sustainability must be kept in mind at every stage of package design.
Package:
Packaging
design needs to start in reverse from the farthest end in the life cycle of a
product with consumer as the end user in focus all the time at each stage. It
is the consumer for whose attention and impulse to buy and comfort to use, the
package is designed. One would imagine that once the product has been bought
and has been used, its life cycle has ended. However present-day environmental
obligations compel us to start our planning on how the packaging waste will end
up, whether it is bio-degradable, or recyclable or reusable. So obviously the
planning to create a package must begin with the end consumer and environment
in focus at each stage. Now at the very outset we need to study the product
that we have to package. It could be liquid, powder, or an appliance. It could
be a chemical or a food product. Let us for the purpose of understanding the
designing process consider packaging of perfumed hair oil. Large scale bottling
of lubricating oils and cooking oils is done in HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)
containers. HDPE is known to be somewhat porous and on long storage for months,
oil seeps to the surface. Since the lifespan is short and since the lubricating
oils are on shelves of gas stations before they are opened and used up, not
much attention is given to the slight porosity. Similarly cooking oils are
stored in cooking cabinets away from sight again it is not of much consequence.
However, in case of perfumed hair oil which has to sit on dressing tables;
first the porosity can make the bottle look greasy and dust attracting over
long storage and secondly the perfume will gradually evaporate degrading the
product. For this reason, the material of the bottle must be carefully chosen.
Aromatic liquid preparations and volatile liquids like nail polish remover when
packed in HDPE lose their aroma and lose levels due to evaporation. For this reason,
PET becomes the preferred material for such packaging. Glass would be an ideal
material and with full recyclability as it provides the best shelf life but due
to the weight and its fragile nature, plastics are preferred. Similarly, when
we decide to opt for flexible packaging, tin packaging, glass packaging, paper-based
packaging etc., we need to dwell on how the chemistry of the product will react
and stay well in the selected packaging materials. The shape of the package must
be made attractive but at the same time convenience of use is importance. In
case of lube oils, cooking oils and milk packaging the neck is moved to one
side to facilitate pouring. Also, in bigger packs handles are molded-in to
provide ease of lifting to the consumers. Additionally caps with pouring
devices inbuilt or pumps are also used to make dispensing a pleasure. Once the
material of the package has been selected the shape has to be created and it
should keep in mind the behavior of the stability of the package on the
packaging line during high-speed filling, capping and labeling process. Space
needs to be provided for labels and their position, also ensuring that the
label will easily dispense to be positioned correctly. The size of label should
also be such that it takes into account the label printer’s press width with
minimum waste matrix and deckle wastage to achieve cost effectiveness. The
shape of the package should also be such that it can be placed and transported
with ease and safety in secondary and tertiary packs. Another point for
consideration is to provide the space for applying tamper evident label or seal
wherever necessary. Most liquor bottles require government seal to be put on caps,
but the uneven surface makes firm anchorage of the self-adhesive seals a
challenge leaving room for tampering.
Label Design:
\As I said label
has to be in mind all along. It is the communicating arm of the product. It
actually becomes the one part of the package that attracts the consumer’s
attention, tempts him or her to lift it off the store shelf and then becomes
the communication link between the manufacturer and the buyer. At this time, it
does the job of being the best salesperson that the company has. It has the
consumer’s focused attention there on. It is thus that it becomes the all-important
part of a package.
The self-adhesive
label’s journey starts at the label stock manufacturers plant and meets the
label designer’s ideas in the pre-press department, gets decorated and
converted on the label press of the converter. Finally, it meets and is united
with its life partner, the package at the product manufacturers packaging line.
Hereafter begins the harsh journey experiencing product handling by different
people, usage and facing diverse environments. The labelstock consists of primarily
three components i.e., the release liner, the adhesive and the face material.
Each component has to be in the mind of the package and label designer. Even
though the release liner ends up in the waste dump, yet it is the most
important part of the label converting and dispensing operation. The release
levels will ensure speed of conversion and dispensing.
If the release level is
too tight then the waste matrix will keep breaking adding to down time and it
will not dispense labels well. Also, if the waste matrix is too thin it will
also amount to matrix breakages. On the other hand, if the release level is too
easy then the smaller labels will lift with the matrix and may fly off at the
label dispensing line. The designer needs to select a size that will not add to
waste yet provide a waste matrix that will lift easily and will help in faster
conversion. Finally, the liner, if it is paper, is adding to a gigantic waste
problem as proper recycling facilities are not available. A filmic liner is
thinner, decreasing the tonnage of waste generated and it is also recyclable. As
for the liner to be used and the release level the stock manufacturer needs to
be taken into confidence. Largely the optimum release values set by coaters,
work across a very wide range. There is lot of work being done to produce
linerless label materials still there is time before the product is developed
to be used on existing packaging lines. The adhesive is a crucial component and
needs the designer’s attention at the designing stage. It is the link between
the label and the container such that it must adhere and perform well. HDPE is
a hard to wet substrate and normal general purpose acrylic emulsion adhesives
do not deliver a permanent bond. Specially formulated adhesives need to be
used. Further if a removable label needs to be affixed and later removed, then
removable adhesives are needed. Finally, the label material which is the top
layer of the label stock and becomes the face of the product is also called the
facestock. The designers need to do a careful selection as this is the part of
labelstock that along with adhesive goes with the label on to the product. This
is the most important part of label design and its integration with all the
final packaging is what the product will eventually deliver.
Designers need to make the maximum
indulgence in selecting the right face material. To design for printing
excellence, creating appealing and convenient shapes of the packaging is an
eventuality for any consumer product but what to print upon is an imperative
and there is a world full of options. Not much long ago it was just deciding
whether to use paper or film. By and large it still happens this way, however
as vision expands and as we look around considering the possibilities that
exist, labels start looking for an interesting avatar! Some parameters and
inputs could provide the answer on what the label face material should be, but the
way markets are evolving it needs a more intense thought process. To select the
face material for a label we need to be again starting from the extreme end of
the chain. We need to dwell on disposability or recyclability, endurance of
usage conditions, compatibility with the product chemistry, cost analysis, aesthetics
that aid selling, convertibility in supplier’s plants, statutory information,
variable information on the label and capability to accept the desired printing,
decorating and converting processes.
Consider any toiletry in a bathroom; it
must be there all the time facing harsh and diverse conditions. It has to bear cold
water, hot water, dry weather, cold weather, hot and humid environment, soap
and continuous squeezing of the bottle. If the bottle material has been
selected as HDPE, then the label in such a case cannot be paper as it will not
withstand conditions to which it is exposed. Brand owners cannot expect their
product to have a shriveled-up label lying in a customer’s bathroom for other
guests to see such a situation which would have adverse impact on their brand
image. Going further down the chain, a label should ideally be of a polymer
that can be recycled along with the bottle. In a situation like this a PE film
as label face will be preferred as it will behave same as the bottle material
in recycling. However still, the selection of label face material cannot be
limited due to above parameters only, even though they are necessary
considerations. It must be worthwhile to deliver the sales impetus to the
product that it will be applied upon. In present times designers have the
options of a very diverse range of face materials. Examples are uncoated paper,
coated art paper, Kraft paper, textured paper, metalized paper, foil laminated
paper, PE Film, PET film, BOPP film, PP film, hybrid films, metalized films,
clear transparent films, fabrics, cork sheets and the options go on increasing
as per the designer’s imagination.
The final Label design
This needs the magic touch! The shape
of the label must be in synergy with the package. One cannot have a square
label on and oval container! Once the shape of the label has been decided we
again need to design the label with the product and consumer in mind. A pharma
label will be simple line jobs having consistency and legibility. It must carry
all the statutory information, contents usage and dosage information. Recent
government regulations have made it mandatory to print 2D barcodes to
facilitate track and trace mechanism as a measure to counter duplication and
fakes. Given the small size of most the primary pharmaceutical packs putting
all this on a label becomes a very challenging proposition. When we consider
the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) products we are required to decorate the
labels with high resolution images with real skin tones. Capability of the
label printer is of importance as we move to higher end labels. Most labels are printed on flexo
presses. These labels need excellent registration controls on all UV flexo
presses with hot or cold foiling and combining, screen, offset or gravure printing
on hybrid presses for special effects. Shapes are die-cut conforming to the
shape of the package. These labels have a very tough task of convincing the
consumer to buy so they need to be designed to communicate. The label must have
product information with high resolution graphics to hold the customers
attention. Since lot of information is required regarding usage, manufacturing
dates, retail prices, bar codes, licensing details, contents and manufacturers
address, a separate label is provided behind the container. The front label
that is the face is made as attractive as possible to tempt the customer to
reach out for it and the back label starts to communication with the user. As
we go on to wine and liquor labels the need for attractive graphics becomes
even more demanding. As the store shelves get crowded with number of brands and
strict laws restricting advertising of alcohol, labels become the major
platform to advertise and catch the consumer’s eye. Wine and liquor labels
require very high level of decorating capabilities from label printers. The
labels have textures, advanced graphics, foiling, printing with metallic
effects, embossing and additional effects. It is for this reason that companies
who indulge in liquor labels have made large investments in high end
combination presses where in they can incorporate flexo printing with offset,
screen and rotogravure printing to achieve the special metallic colour effects
so prominent in highly decorative labels.
In the next part of this series on
life of label, I will dwell on die-cutting, brand protection, building security
in labels, additional decoration and finally innovations in labels.
The complete 3 part series are accessible at the following links;
https://harveersahni.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-life-of-label-i.html
http://harveersahni.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-life-of-label-ii.
htmlhttps://harveersahni.blogspot.com/2022/02/life-of-label-iii.html
Written by Harveer
Sahni, Chairman, Weldon Celloplast Limited, New Delhi-110008 India, October
2014 and updated in January 2022
