On Display: Labels - Labels to Catch the Eye
Hot-Stamped Foil
Metallic, multicolor foils are specifically designed for hot-stamping cosmetic packages. The foils can be applied to glass, anodized aluminum, and plastics such as polypropylene, ABS, PET, and SAN. Foil can be used to transfer words, metallic designs, and photo-quality images through one-shot hot stamping. According to the supplier, this is a much easier process than silk-screening in multiple passes and then applying metal stamping. Preprinted images can be applied in up to 12 colors using a combination of metallic gold and silver foil. With an additional coating, graphics are further protected from aggressive ingredients and abrasion. The firm also distributes hot-stamping machines. North Pacific Consulting, Ontario, CA.
Custom Decoration
A company offers such custom items as pewter and dome labels, as well as charms, medallions, and waxlike seals for packaging enhancement. Manufacturing processes include cast metal, aluminum stamping, plastic injection molding, and printing. Customers' logos and color schemes can be incorporated into the stock products. Stoffel Seals Corp., Nyack, NY.
Label Options
A supplier features numerous options for labels. Label substrates such as clear film, paper, and holographic materials are available. Shrink-sleeve labels are a new offering, allowing 360° of a package's real estate to be enhanced with graphics. Printing techniques include flexographic, digital, and screen printing, as well as hot stamping. In addition, RFID technology can be applied to tags for inventory tracking and resource management. According to the company, it has made major technology investments and created partnerships with leading RFID integrators. MPI Label Systems, Sebring, OH.
Multipack Labels
Labels for multipack personal care products are rotogravure printed on high-shrink PVC. An eight-color press is used to perform the printing. A shrink label of this type was produced for Dove's shampoo-conditioner multipacks. A 10.2-oz shampoo was shrink-wrapped with a full-sized conditioner, and a 10.2-oz conditioner was shrink-wrapped with a full-sized shampoo. Fort Dearborn Co., Elk Grove Village, IL.
High-Impact Label
A semitransparent frosted label was created for Garden Botanika using high-definition screening technology. This technology reportedly works particularly well for printing full-color images. Other specialty labels include an expandable-booklet label and a hinged label, both of which provide additional label space. Hangtags can also be produced, as well as short-run digital labels designed for prototyping and product launches. A complimentary marketing CD called "Creating Effective Labels That Sell" is available to new and existing clients. Labels West Inc., Woodinville, WA.
Extended-Text Solution
For its Platinum line of products for color-treated hair, the Kenra brand found a label solution with a supplier's FlexVision extended-text label. Because the brand had decided against putting its primary bottles in cartons, it relied on labels to deliver instructional and marketing information to the consumer. Three additional panels of copy space were added on the FlexVision label, which was attached to one wall of the bottles. FlexVision labels are suited for most containers, including tubes, as they are specifically designed for squeezable surfaces. Ampersand Label Inc., Garden Grove, CA.
Label Prototyping
Prototyping services are offered for customers seeking label samples for test marketing and decision making prior to full-scale implementation. Production-quality prototypes are manufactured to exact specifications in a variety of paper, film, foil, card, synthetic-label, and flexible-packaging substrates. The company uses high-definition flexographic and digital printing and converting processes, as well as advanced color-management software and printing technology. Both single prototypes and groups of prototypes can be made quickly. To ensure that the prototype exactly matches the final label, the company provides customers with access to its full line of matte and gloss varnishes and laminations; screen printing; foil stamping; embossing; and other specialty finishing techniques. Prestige Label Company, Inc., Brooklyn, NY.
Heat-Shrinkable Labels
A manufacturer and converter of PVC, PETG, and OPS heat-shrinkable labels specializes in clear and printed sleeves for containers made of plastic, glass, or tin. Heat-shrinkable printed labels offer a 360º sleeve area for graphics, which provides more opportunity for promoting package design. Up to nine colors can be rotogravure printed with very short lead times. The labels are well suited to both manual applications and those requiring automatic, high-speed machinery. The company's Contract Sleeving Division places sleeves directly onto packages for customers. Ameri-Seal Inc., Chatsworth, CA.
Transparent Look
A transparent label enhances a curvy bottle designed to lend an air of sophistication to four Lux-brand shampoos: Summer Touch, Radiant Moisturizing, Marine Energy, and Splash of Freshness. The clear polyethylene labels were developed through a combination of screen printing, offset printing, and hot stamping in several colors. These processes lend high definition to the image of a woman that appears on the bottles of all four products. Prodesmaq Indústria Gráfica Ltd., São Paulo, Brazil.
Complex Shapes
A range of sleeves was produced for GlaxoSmithKline's Consumer Healthcare division as part of a revamp of the Macleans and Aquafresh toothpaste dispensers and mouthwash bottles. Advanced sleeve-making techniques produced sleeves to fit complicated package shapes. The sleeves used to cover the mouthwash bottles had to shrink 62%; the toothpaste dispensers required a sleeve that could accommodate the large difference between the width of the dispenser's body and its neck. The equipment used to accomplish sleeving of complex geometries includes the Powersleeve, which operates on high-speed lines and dovetails with the Powerskinner, a machine used for infrared shrink sleeving. A high-speed perforation device has also been built in to microperforate the sleeve. Sleever International, Morangis Cedex, France.
In-Mold Labels
A company offers two new grades of in-mold labels. The in-mold label is applied as a plastic bottle is blow molded so that the label becomes part of the bottle and its texture. The two grades, ISE105 and IUE105, feature enhanced performance characteristics, including improved antistatic properties. Both versions are engineered to accommodate an expanded range of blow-molding applications and facilitate ease of handling during the manufacturing process. The grades enable blow molders to run their production lines at lower or higher temperatures without incurring blistering or distortion defects. Furthermore, the ISE105's smooth surface can improve bottle and label texture matching. Yupo Corp. America, Chesapeake, VA.