Guide to Designing and Printing Your Own Product Stickers:
Product stickers are part of everyday life for most of us, and even though we don’t pay direct attention to them, they play a big role in our shopping habits and the way we perceive products in general. A product with a quality label is much more likely to be picked up from a shelf than one with a generic sticker that doesn’t stand out.
That’s why we put together a quick guide for all those that want to design and print their own stickers that they can use to advertise and represent their product. Follow the advice below, and you should be able to make some stickers that will undoubtedly be memorable and recognizable.
Know Your Product
The key to branding your product right is knowing it to its core. That spans from knowing what it is to the target audience that might take an interest in it. The target audience is the key, as the sticker can’t be the same if it’s targeted at kids or middle-aged people. The way those two examples differ is quite simple, but the essence is, you can’t sell the same product to both using the same branding.
Let’s say you are making stickers for a craft beer – you want the label to represent your brand, so depending on that, you adjust your design to fit in with the image you would like the beverage to have. You can also add an easy-to-read description of your product that’s incorporated into the style of the label to make it more accessible.
You Can’t Reinvent the Wheel!
Exactly as the title says – you simply can’t reinvent the wheel, meaning that you should take inspiration from labels you love and that are related to your product in some way. Now, of course, you shouldn’t copy it and change the text, but a healthy amount of looking at their format and the way their label works can do you quite a bit of good.
To get a recognizable label for a product, it needs to fit certain parameters that the product requires, and branding is half the job. So, take a look at what your successful competitors are doing, and think about how you could improve it while also adding your final touch to make it yours.
Use Quality Materials and Equipment
First things first, you are going to need a printer that can support all of these factors. To make it easier, you can check these printers out and find the one that will suit your needs.
Here, we need to return to knowing your product. The label will need to be made from different materials for different products. For instance, the label for a beverage that is served cold will need to be somewhat water-resistant to combat the condensation that might occur on the packaging.
We’ve broken down the most popular and commonly used materials that you can look into to make your sticker fit the product perfectly:
Thermal
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The main difference between thermal stickers and other kinds is that it’s applied by heating the label and, therefore, the solid adhesive on it to bond to the surface you want the label on. They are very commonly used for products that need to be refrigerated, like foods and beverages.
Semi-Gloss
The most common paper-type sticker that you will run into, the semi-gloss stickers are the ones you see practically anywhere. You’ll recognize them by a shiny, glossy finish that’s characteristic of them. They have a vast array of ways they can be used, and they’re great for just about any general product.
Vinyl/Plastic
The most versatile material out there, you can accomplish pretty much anything you want with vinyl stickers. They are incredibly durable and resistant to everything, including weather, temperature shifts, and liquids. They are also very flexible and give you a lot of room to work on placement.
Vellum
Vellum is a non-gloss paper type mostly used for mass production, like printing bar-codes and similar stickers. Once again, these are mostly used for mass production, so they might not be the right fit for you, but they are great if you need to add something like a bar-code sticker separately.
In Conclusion
That should be everything you need to get started on designing and printing your product stickers. Keep it simple and recognizable, and be original without leaving the boundaries that the product sets. Make sure you use the materials your product needs, and that you use a good printer that fits your needs, and you shouldn’t have to worry about a thing.
