A label on a plain jar is one route; a printed box, sleeve or pouch is the other. We design both, so the label, the packaging, the shelf signage and the website show one product the same way, as Beacon Lighting does across thousands of products online. Print design lists everything else.
Label design
Chosen from the shelf in a second.
Label design must win on a crowded shelf and carry every line the law requires. We design product labels and stickers for jars, bottles and parcels.
Kinds
Which labels do you need?
Product label and sticker design covers everything stuck to a thing you sell.
Food
Food and drink labels
Jars, bottles, cans, pouches and bakery boxes. Ingredients, allergens, net quantity, dates and a barcode, all legible at the sizes the rules set.
Beauty
Cosmetics and candles
Front and back labels for bottles, tubs and tins, with the ingredients list, the batch code and the warnings a candle or a cream must carry.
Trade
Industrial and product labels
Rating plates, hazard labels, serial and asset labels, on materials that survive the workshop.
Bottle
Wine, spirits and craft drinks
Textured papers, foil and embossing where the shelf expects them, with strength and volume set to the rules of each market.
Options
Label sizes, shapes and materials
Labels are printed digitally for short runs and by flexo for long ones, then finished with a matt or gloss laminate or varnish. Clear labels need a layer of white ink under the colour, or the colours vanish against the contents.
| Option | Common choices | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shapes | Rectangle, round, oval, die-cut | Rounded corners resist peeling; a custom shape needs a cutter |
| Round labels | 25, 37, 50 and 75 mm; 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 in | Jar lids, seals and tasting notes |
| Wrap labels | Cut to the jar or bottle | We measure the container and allow an overlap |
| Paper | Semi-gloss, uncoated, textured, kraft | Dry goods, wine and craft products |
| Film | White or clear polypropylene; vinyl | Waterproof: bathroom, fridge, outdoor and squeezable packs |
| Adhesive | Permanent, removable, freezer-grade | Chosen for the surface and the temperature |
| Supply | Rolls or sheets | Rolls for a labelling machine, with unwind direction and core size specified |
The rules
What must a product label include?
Whatever the regulations for your product and market demand, at the size they demand it. Food labels in the UK follow government rules on ingredients, allergens, quantity and dates, with a minimum text height of 1.2 mm on most packs; the USA has its own nutrition panel and South Africa its own labelling regulations. Cosmetics, supplements, alcohol and chemicals each have another set.
We know where the mandatory lines go and how small they may be, and we fit them without wrecking the front. The barcode comes from GS1 in your country, printed dark on light at a size a till scanner reads. Your regulatory adviser or trade body confirms the wording, because the rules change often and the responsibility stays with the producer; we make sure it fits. We do not give legal advice.
Stickers
Sticker design for promotions, parcels and windows
Die-cut
Die-cut and kiss-cut stickers
Cut to the shape of your logo or artwork, singly or on a sheet that peels. Laminated vinyl lasts on laptops and water bottles.
Parcel
Packaging and parcel stickers
Seals, thank-you stickers and fragile labels on a roll, so every parcel from the shop leaves looking like yours.
Window
Window and floor stickers
Opening hours, offers and payment logos, printed in reverse for the inside of the glass or on static cling. Floor graphics take an anti-slip laminate.
Promo
Promotional stickers
Giveaways for events, bumper stickers and sticker sheets for schools and clubs.
Included
What comes with a label design
- Print-ready PDFTo your printer’s template, with bleed, the cut line on its own layer and white ink or foil marked as spot colours.
- Every variantFlavours, sizes and scents laid out from one master, so the range reads as a family on the shelf.
- Barcode and legal text setYour GS1 barcode placed and sized correctly, and mandatory text at or above the legal minimum.
- Source filesYours, so a new recipe or a price change is a text edit, not a redesign.
Print & design
Related services
Questions
Questions about label design
Question not here? Send it to us and we will answer it directly.
Ask a questionHow do we get a label designed?
Email hello@redfoxbranding.com or use the project form with the product, the container, the number of variants and the country you sell in. Photos of the container and a sample of any existing label help. We send a fixed quote in GBP, USD or ZAR for the master label and every variant.
What size should our label be?
Measure the flat area of the container, not the whole container, and keep the label inside any curve or taper, or it will wrinkle. For a jar or bottle we work from the diameter and the height of the straight section; for a wrap, from the circumference plus an overlap. Standard sizes cost less than custom shapes, so we fit one where it works.
Do you handle the barcode?
We place it, size it and check it, but the number has to come from GS1 in your country, because retailers will not accept a barcode from anywhere else. A UK or South African product gets an EAN-13, a US product a UPC. We keep the bars dark on a light background and never shrink them below the size GS1 allows.
Which material should we choose?
Paper for dry goods, wine and anything that stays indoors; polypropylene or vinyl film for anything that meets water, oil, a fridge or a bathroom. The adhesive matters as much: freezer-grade for frozen goods, removable for glass that will be reused. Your label printer’s samples settle it, and we design to match.
Labels are half the packaging
Get a quote for label design
Tell us the product, the container and its size, how many variants there are, the country you sell in and whether the labels go on by hand or by machine. Send a photo of the container. You get a fixed quote and a list of the files you will receive. Your label design starts there.