Artists and Marketers can't always afford expensive colour printing. This alternative suggests students use coloured card with black and white copy with ribbon or raffia
Making a label can be very effective if you use all of the visual elements of the label in a strong, bold way. How To Write Simple Display Copy is a blog entry that talkes about keeping it simple.
I will tell you how I made this example with tips about making strong visual statements
- Labels often have a strong focal point.
- For this Mango Chutney I drew a simple bunch of mangos on a twig
- I reduced it to a bold line drawing.
- They became cartoons with character and charm.
- I wanted to convey the idea that there are lots of mangos in the jar
- I placed a second bunch replicated but smaller to the side so as not to clutter the visual plane.
- Why did I draw the mangos looking surprised? The Product Range is called Froots Preserve Us! The phrase “Saints Preserve Us.” is one that Irish people say when someone receives a shock. It fits well with the surprised look on the face of the mangos. They are shocked because there is chili in the bottle with them! The chutney is a little hot and I have shown this by the illustration. (No need for a beware sign on the bottle as the ingredients are spelled out beneath.)
- I cut and paste the images into a sized label in Photoshop
- I placed the reduce line drawing into the rectangle
- copied and placed the second copy to the side.
- on a new layer I used Comic Sans script as this is clear and easy to read. It is the script most of us use when writing comics
- I have kept the label simple. The purchaser needs to be able to read and choose at a glance – it is better if the label is not confusing
- Because the chutney is a rich, earthy, orangey, chunky, brown colour and because the bottle range is clear with black lids we have chosen orange raffia to tie the labels
- I set this colour scheme off by introducing a complimentary colour
- lime green cardboard for the label was (although not quite complimentary) a high contrasting match that would set off the display
- After placing the labels into an InDesign layout I set the printer to black and white. (Greyscale)
- the photo was taken with the jar sitting on an analogous background
- the cost of each label turned out to be 2c AU
- the cost would have been much higher had I used full colour stickers
The volume of product required can influence the choice of packaging. These jars of chutney have a hand made local feel about them. If however, I was exporting them by the thousands, I may have choosen coloured stickers instead of hand tied labels. Ease of manufacture and lowered costs of printing high volumes would influence the decision.
On the other hand, the homely quality may be the selling point of the chutney .
The manufacturer might go to great pains to keep this packaging exactly the way it is!
If your Middle School class group is engaged by marketing projects and you would like to display their Graphic Art - please post to the discussion boards or email the .jpg images and I will post them for you.
