Tool Box
Issue No. 42 - August/September 2008
Label printing in detail
Specialist labelling printer, OpenBook Howden hosted a FlavourSA function recently to acquaint food producers with the firm’s capabilities and the information needed to help this vital marketing aspect succeed.
OBH Design Director Mark Pearce says label design
is a complicated process dependent on how the label is applied and how it needs to perform in the marketplace.
“We want to help (food producers) get the best results,” Mark says, noting OBH uses its labelling experience as a unique selling proposition. OBH isn’t the biggest label printer in the state, but is very competitive in the short runs boutique food producers need.
Mark says a first design step is to manage branding issues - is the label going to mesh with the producer’s existing marketing material - and OBH has a long history of creating product packaging for supermarket shelves here and overseas.
“The label processes are different from offset printing and when I came here (some years ago) I had to learn new methods,” Mark says.
“We have a lot of experience in product placement - how the product will sit on a shelf and the legalities of type sizes and warning requirements.
“We know about the standards the bigger shops impose (supermarket chains demand particular formats to optimise their distribution processes) and we know how certain inks won’t work on certain substrates.”
Mark says other details - having a product number system to prevent handling errors - is critical to success in a tightly competitive environment. Cost-conscious producers also need advice about how clever colour selection can achieve the same branding effect at less cost, and how effects like embossing can lift product presentation very efficiently.
Preparing a label is not an overnight exercise, at first. Mark says OBH still gets MS Word documents from new clients who think the label is ready to print from it. But beyond that learning curve the design...
