There’s a reason clear labels work so well for snack items and beverages. In fact, customers seem to favor these labels. Why? They are clean, provide the necessary information, and don’t get in the way of viewing the product. Everyone wants a sneak peak of what’s inside!
But what are clear labels? Which products benefit from transparent package design, and how do you pick the best ones? Let’s talk about transparent labels and why you’ll love them…
What Are Clear Labels?
Transparent (or clear labels) are labels printed on transparent film. You can use them to avoid printing product information on the product itself. These labels come with glossy or matte finishes and are timeless and elegant, making your products stand out on shelves. This type of labeling is perfect if you don’t want your product to be covered up, or if the color of your product influences someone’s purchase.
What Types of Products Would Benefit from Clear Labels?
You can use transparent labels for a wide range of brands and products! Here are some common applications of these labels.
- Food and beverage: Transparent labels are commonly used on food and beverage packaging, such as glass jars, plastic bottles, and pouches. They allow for product information, branding, and decoration for printing on the labels without impacting the visibility of the products. Clear labels for food and beverages demonstrate the purity of the product. Examples: pasta sauce, beer bottles, pickles, packaged meats, fresh juices.
- Cosmetic and personal care: For personal care product packaging, such as bottles, jars, and tubes, clear labels are a game-changing branding opportunity. The color, texture, and contents are visible, allowing for more transparency. For cosmetics, the clear visuals also exhibit that the product is good to use. It also helps to spot discoloration. Examples: lotions, perfume, makeup, body wash, moisturizer.
- Electronics and technology products: Transparent labels can be used on electronic devices, such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Information printed on the labels often includes product information, codes, and model numbers. All information can be seen and the aesthetics and design of the gadgets aren’t impacted.
- Home goods and decor: Transparent labels are also common for home goods and decor items, such as glassware, candles, and picture frames. They offer branding opportunities information about the product, its handling and any other essential details without interfering with the design or aesthetic.
- Health and wellness products: For health and wellness products, transparency is extremely important and products with transparent labels garner more trust from consumers. Johnson’s and Johnson’s baby products are often sold in transparent bottles with clear labels, highlighting that they are safe to use. Examples: protein powder, vitamins, gummies.
- Restaurants and cafes: Let’s say your restaurant handles carry out orders, deliveries, and even catering. To add an extra touch of elegance and a personal spin on these to-go orders, we recommend printing clear labels for see through containers. Examples: bubble tea, clamshell carry out containers, coffee. Make sure customers and their guests know where the deliciousness came from!
Transparent Labels: The Clear Choice
Keep reading on for the top benefits of transparent product labels for your business!
- Branding: Clear labels offer greater transparency. The product is in clear view, demonstrating that the company has nothing to hide. They work best for brands that are natural, raw, and simple. Transparency goes a LONG way with today’s consumers!
- Design flexibility: Transparent labels encourage creativity in design. Since the labels are transparent, you can play around with the colors of the bottle or the contents in it. Custom transparent labels can be designed to meet a business’s specific needs, such as incorporating unique shapes, sizes, or colors. This can help make the product stand out on store shelves and attract customer attention.
- Product information: Custom labels can provide detailed product information, such as ingredients, nutritional facts, and other important details. This is greatly beneficial for brands that are mandated by the law. Consumers have easy access to the information helping them make more informed decisions. If your product is regulated by the FDA, this information is vital.
- Product differentiation: Custom transparent labels can help differentiate a product from competitors on store shelves, making it easier for customers to find and recognize the product.
- Cost-effective: Clear labels can be produced in large quantities, which can help reduce the cost per label. It is also cheaper than getting printed bottles, helping to control your bottom line.
Designing The Perfect Clear Label for Your Products
Clear labels look sophisticated and timeless, but if not designed properly, they can fail as packaging. Imprints, air bubbles, or mistakes are more visible on clear labels, impacting the final look. Designing the perfect transparent label can be key to your product’s success. Here are some tips to help you create a great design for your brand’s custom clear label.
- Consider the product and packaging: The design of the label should complement the product and the packaging it will be applied to. Consider the size and shape of the packaging, and the color or design elements already present. For a shiny surface, opt for a glossy finish for the label. The same applies to matte-finish packaging. This rule is bound to give you a flawless finish.
- Choose the right material: Choose a transparent material that is durable and suitable for your specific product. This will ensure that the label looks great and performs well over time. This is very critical for brands that need water-resistant labels based on their usage. When choosing the material, be mindful of the transportation and storage requirements too.
- Keep it simple: A clean, simple design is often the most effective. Use a clear and easy-to-read font for the text, and avoid overcrowding the label with too much information. Messy and busy labels are often ignored on the shelves as they are harder to make sense of and fail to grab attention.
- Incorporate branding elements: Incorporate your company logo, brand colors, and other branding elements into the design. This will help build brand recognition and make your product stand out on store shelves. Maintain consistent branding across product lines so it’s easier to spot them on the shelves.
- Test the design: Before finalizing the design, print a test label and apply it to the packaging to see how it looks in real life. Testing it in real-life conditions will showcase its durability and effectiveness. It will help you make necessary adjustments to ensure the label looks great on the product.
- Work with a professional: If you are not confident in your design skills, consider working with a professional graphic designer who has experience creating custom transparent labels. They can help you create a professional-looking design, tailored to your specific needs. Custom label printing vendors have their designers in-house to help you choose the best visuals and looks for your product.
Trust the Product Labeling Pro’s at M&R Label
We highly discourage small businesses from trying to print clear labels themselves. Why? All clear labels are printed on plastic film, which reacts very differently to printer ink or toner than paper does. Unless your company has its own press, DIY clear product labels are likely to be time-consuming and frustrating. Save yourself from wasted time and money with mistakes!
Overall, designing the perfect transparent label depends on the nature of your product, type of packaging, and branding elements. When you partner with a printing professional like M&R Label, we’ll consider all of these aspects and more while keeping the design simple, attractive, and effective. Working with a full-service label professional will make the process so much easier for you as we can design your labels, manage inventory, manage ink, print high quality labels, and so much more!
At M&R Label, our expert team is equipped to handle all of your design requirements and labeling needs. No company or project is too big or too small for us! With decades of label design and printing experience across every industry, you can rest assured we are the best choice label printing partner for your business.
If you need custom stickers or your logo printed directly onto the product packaging, we can do that too! Want to see our portfolio of examples? Feel free to reach out!
