The Lightning
Labels blog is one of the many resources available to Lightning
Labels customers. Our blog is over two years old now, and
approaching 200 posts. The intention of the blog is to educate and
inform people about the world of custom labels and digital label
printing.
We realize that not
everyone reads the blog, so in this newsletter we are presenting the
three most popular posts from the last six months. These posts are
all available on our blog at http://blog.lightninglabels.com.
1. Understanding
Bar Codes
Where would we be
without the humble bar code? We would certainly be spending more
time in the supermarket checkout line. Pretty much every retail
product you buy these days has a bar code. This bar code is known as
a UPC code and looks something like the one above. I have written
before about how you can obtain a UPC code, but here I am just
covering the basics of the bar codes themselves.
The UPC (Universal
Product Code) bar code is a 12 digit code used by manufacturers to
identify themselves and their products. The first six digits are the
manufacturer’s number provided to them by the Uniform Code Council
(now known as the GS1 Symbology Committee). The next five digits are
the manufacturer’s item number that is allocated to a specific
product. Every single product a manufacturer sells including the
same item of a different size carries its own unique five digit
number. The last number is a calculated check digit that enables the
scanner to verify that the number is correct.
Here at Lightning
Labels we create UPC bar codes pretty much every day. We use the
inbuilt functionality in CorelDraw to create a graphic file of the
UPC, but you can also use a software package from such vendors as
IDAutomation or Hallogram.
While most of the
bar codes we do are UPC there are other bar codes we produce from
time to time. The bar code above is what is known as a Code 39 (also
known as Code 3 of 9). It is often used on name badges, to track
inventory, and the post office uses it to track packages. You can
encode letters and numbers, and often you will encode a start and
stop character at the beginning and end of the data. If you want to
keep track of your products internally this is a good bar code to
use - we have a couple of customers who regularly request variable
bar code labels using Code 39.
The bar code above
is a Code 128 bar code. It is what is known as a high density
symbology that encodes numbers, symbols, upper and lower case text
as well as returns and tabs. It is known as high density because it
takes up less space than other bar codes (such as code 39) as you
can see here. To create a bar code 128 you will need a start
character, a stop character, and a checksum character. We use the
Code 128 Font Advantage Package from IDAutomation to create these
bar codes - it comes with the Code 128 fonts and an Excel macro that
you can use to generate the correct start, stop and checksum
characters.
The world of bar
codes can be quite complex and is changing rapidly. But these three
bar codes are the most common - and the UPC bar code is so
ubiquitous it will be around for a long time to come.
2. Considering
the Product Container
When deciding how
to make your product stand out on the retail shelf, the label is
obviously very important, but your choice of container will also
have a big impact on the visibility of your product. There are
literally thousands of containers to choose from - where do you
start?
I would always
start by looking at your competitors. You don’t necessarily need to
have a very different container. In fact if their packaging is very
plain you could choose a similar container and use the product label
as a way to really stand out. Alternatively, you could choose an
innovative container shape that will become part of your brand. This
is the route that Method has done with their product containers with
significant success. Or you could use an unusual container with an
eye-catching label to really stand out from the crowd.
At the same time
you are choosing your container you should also consider the kind of
label you want. What size of label is best? Do you want a front and
back label, a wraparound label, clear or white? These are the
questions you need to ask. Another important factor is the shape of
the container. If you have a really curved container you may be
limited to the size of the label. Your label needs to be applied to
a flat surface in order to avoid wrinkling. You also need to be
aware of where your container starts to taper in as it rounds at the
bottom - you will need to keep your label above the taper line.
Most packaging
companies will be happy to send you sample containers so feel free
to experiment first. You could narrow it down to two or three
containers and then request a hard copy proof with your label order
and stick one of the label proofs on each container to see what
looks best. If you need some inspiration and are looking for
something new and innovative I would check out Web Packaging, they
have a wealth of innovative containers on their site, and they even
have an RSS feed so you can get daily updates of new containers that
become available.
3. How to get
into Whole Foods
We have a Whole
Foods Market just a mile from where I live and whenever I shop there
I enjoy browsing the shelves and looking for products with labels
that we printed (there are usually a few). Whole Foods is the holy
grail for many makers of natural products, and here at Lightning
Labels we have a large number of companies providing these kinds of
products. Whole Foods often source locally made products, so even
for new companies you have a chance of getting on the shelves there.
But how? This week Fortune Small Business tackled this issue, and
they provide some very useful advice for any company looking to make
it into a big retail store like Whole Foods.
The article covers
a range of issues such as when to hire a consultant to help, getting
in touch with a Whole Foods "food forager", attending trade shows,
and making sure your product stands out from the crowd. If you are
graduating from selling your products at the local farmer’s market
on weekends to Whole Foods, you will need professional looking
labels. Your products will look far better with a high quality,
durable label than one you printed on your desktop using blank Avery
labels you bought at Staples.
Some people start
their company with the idea that they want a professional looking
product right out of the box. Other people are on a tight budget and
want to do everything themselves. But if you want to get in to Whole
Foods, printing your labels on your $100 ink jet printer just isn’t
going to cut it. Once you are ready to make that leap you need a
great looking label, so your product launch has the highest possible
chance of success.
We usually write
new posts on our blog about twice a week. If you are interested in
reading our blog regularly, you don’t have to remember to go the
blog’s web site. A much simpler way is to subscribe through an RSS
reader. If you use Microsoft Outlook 2007 then you have an RSS
reader built-in and you can receive new posts directly in your
inbox. If not, there are plenty of free RSS readers out there that
are very easy to use. Google Reader (www.google.com/reader) and
Bloglines (www.bloglines.com) are two of the most popular.
By using an RSS reader you will be
notified within just a few minutes any time there is a new blog
post. Blogs are quickly becoming a valuable resource for anyone in
business today. They have proven to be more than a fad, but an
effective business resource that will be around for many years to
come.
