The world we live in today is dominated by consumer goods. The beauty product industry is probably one of the most crowded in the consumer goods category. Selling your product is such a crowded space means that getting noticed is the first and often most important challenge.
Your beauty product packaging needs to stand out in order for you to sell. It needs to catch a shopper’s scanning eye and draw them in immediately. This is done through product packaging, and more specifically, product labeling. Product labeling involves a process of designing a label, printing it out, and attaching it to your product. How you choose to design plays a large role in how well your product will be noticed.
Colors
The colors you use for your packaging and labeling have the ability to draw people to your product. There are a lot of color factors at play in every product packaging design that you may not be aware.
First the color of the package or bottle itself. If you have a handsoap, your packaging might be clear so that people can see the contents of the bottle or wrapper. If you decided to go with a clear package or bottle, you need to consider the color of your actual product and how that will influence the design of the label.
Different colors also elicit different emotions from people. For example red and yellow are often colors that make people purchase immediately. However, it isn’t necessarily the color for your product. Research your competitors and see what color schemes they are using. Since you want to stand out, it is best to use color schemes they are not using.
Fonts and Typography
The typography of your label is not something to take lightly. Boring fonts that you typically would use for a research paper or a blog post (yea, this font you’re reading), is not usually the font you want to use for product labeling. They are great for papers and blogs because they are extremely legible.
While legibility is important, you also want excitability. Consider the type of product you are providing. A gentle, lavender lotion might involve some sort of fancy, cursive font. An organic, kid-friendly shampoo might involve some sort of font that looks like it was drawn with a crayon.
Don’t settle on fonts that you see listed in your word processor. Check out sites such as dafont.com to find an incredibly unique font for your label.
Label Material and Finish
Another factor in making your product stand out, is the type of material your label is made out of. Your options are generally limited here but you still have options. Again, consider the type of product you are putting out there.
If you have an organic beauty bar, you might want your packaging and labeling to use recycled paper. This way you stick to your organic theme. Shimmering, glittering nail polish could benefit from a shiny foil labeling.
The label finish can be presented as a glossy shine or a matte finish. The finish you choose for your label can alter the way the colors are perceived. For example a glossy black definitely has a different look than a matte black. Determine which finish you feel gives you the best edge at standing out.
Graphics or Photography
Not all beauty products will include graphics on their packaging or labeling but it is something you’ll want to consider.
Drawings, photographs, and logos can really help to establish a brand identify for your product and further your chances of being seen amongst the rows of beauty products. If you are going to go this route, consider hiring a designer or artist to work with you in order to develop the graphic. Your years of experience using Microsoft Paint will not come in handy.
The Shape and Size of the Label
Labels come in all shapes and sizes. The shape of the label is something that can help your product stand out. You can choose from any multitude of shapes including squares, rectangles, circles, hearts, ovals, and more. The shape of your label is very much personal preference as it is a way for your product to stand out. Sometimes simple is better and we most certainly do not recommend a starburst.
The size of label isn’t something you can control as much as the shape. The size will depend on your overall packaging. A large bottle of hand lotion will have a much larger label and a bottle of nail polish. However, you can choose to place a label on the front and back of your product, or create a label that wraps around the entirety of your packaging.
Label design and packaging design is an incredibly important phase for your beauty product. Don’t take this step lightly as once your product is launched and has garnered success, it will be a lot more challenging to redesign everything.
Andrew Fujii is a marketing professional with expertise in digital/web and content marketing. He is also a copywriter for multiple agencies producing copy for blogs, articles, websites, product packaging, mobile apps, and more.
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