New Innovative ‘Water Drops’ Holographic Polyester Film

When it comes to retailing your products, how do you make your product stand out amongst all the competition on the shelves?  Using different labelling effects may just help do the trick.

At Royston Labels, we are now offering a new holographic face material called ‘Water Drops’. The film is produced by laminating a metallised polyester film carrying the microembossed holographic face material, which results
in the water drops effect. This is effective as it can catch your customer’s eyes and cause them to look in the direction of your product.

Royston Labels can decorate this material using all of its different printing technologies and decoration techniques to visually enhance impact.

One of the many possible applications of this label could be car products or products that come into contact with or are used on wet services.

For further information and a sample, please call our sales department on 01763 212020 or you can email us at sales@roystonlabels.co.uk.

New regulations on food labelling - are you compliant?

From the 13th December 2014, new allergen labelling laws came into effect for food businesses (including street food and mobile catering) in the UK. The new piece of European legislation is called the Food Information for Consumers Regulation (EU FIC) and it changes the way allergen information appears on labels and on food that is pre-packed, sold loose or served when you are eating outside of the home.

You can find detailed Department of Health guidance on creating a front of pack (FoP) nutrition label for pre-packed products sold through retail outlets here.

With the introduction of new labelling regulations, some companies in the food industry may find that their current label printing capabilities are not able to provide properly compliant labels for packed and processed foods. As information such as country of origin, nutritional information and allergens is now mandatory, it is important that this information be highlighted in such a way to make it stand out on the label.

At Royston Labels, we can help assist and give your company advice to ensure that your products will meet with these new regulations.

For more information, please call the sales team today on 01763 212020.

Welcoming new starters at Royston Labels

To reflect our ongoing expansion, a big welcome to two new starters at Royston Labels: Steph Warner joins as a Business Development Manager and Sharron Page joins as a Sales & Marketing Executive.

Steph brings with her over 20 years experience in the packaging and label printing industry. With a strong project management background and technical and repro knowledge, she is looking forward to complementing Royston’s business development focus in helping to drive future growth. Steph firmly believes that the label should be innovative and be part of the product to increase brand awareness.

And Sharron takes responsibility for the marketing and development of sales for the company. In addition to strategic business development responsibilities, she will be overseeing research, direct mail and email campaigns and trade shows. With a sales & marketing background from the dentistry industry, Sharron is lookingforward to a new challenge and learning all about the labelling industry.

We wish them both well in their careers at the company.

Male grooming shows its softer side with the help of Royston Labels

The allure of our Soft Touch label finish has been used to great effect to complement the recent launch of a range of gentleman’s grooming products from Murdock London. Established in 2006, Murdock London has six emporiums in Central London offering the best in contemporary and traditional barbering & grooming services, as well as gentleman’s grooming products, tools and accessories.

The label, produced in conjunction with brand design agency, Magpie-Studio, was to provide Murdock London with a signature label design to launch their new Beard Collection - consisting of beard shampoo, conditioner and oil.

According to Richard Payne, Royston Labels’ Production Manager, the end result was a culmination of production wizardry by Royston Labels: “The label was produced using UV Flexo technology, with Cold Foil and UV varnish embellishments, in combination with the special Soft Touch lamination.

“The use of Soft Touch finish creates a unique tactile experience like no other. This extraordinary effect simulates the feeling of touching an extremely soft surface reinforcing the gentle nature of the brand and helping to engage consumers.” he added.

To find out more about Soft Touch laminate and other special finishes, please call: 01763 212020.

Stand Out with Sustainable Packaging

Many companies and designers choose PET plastic packaging for their products - it’s a great material because it’s strong, transparent and can withstand a broad spectrum of temperatures. But when the substance chosen to label them is incompatible, these bottles can be wasted in the recycling process.

We can offer both clear and opaque label materials that are 100% recyclable, and actually allow the old packaging to be remanufactured into new bottles. This type of up-cycling promotes sustainability which is recognised throughout the supply chain - from brand owners & packaging designers to raw material suppliers, converters, & consumers.

The main idea is to make it easier for waste management companies to recover more materials, but many brand owners also recognise that sustainability can offer a significant point of differentiation. Retailers and consumers are both influenced by environmental factors, and more sustainable brands are becoming increasingly more popular.

The films we offer are very thin, and deliver the same quality and clarity as alternative label materials. These labels can be printed and decorated in just the same way as other material choices, so they’re an easy way to make PET packaging recyclable and safely reusable.

Want to know more? Please get in touch!

What’s Trending in Baby Care Packaging

Baby care products have really taken off (now catering to millions of babies each year), and a large part of the market is represented by baby body care products like washes and soothers. It’s really important that product labels in this competitive sector effectively communicates to parents, and reflects the caring, gentle nature of the products within.

These are some common design trends we’ve noticed:

• Pastel colours –a gentle colour palate softens the mood and can help create a sense of peace and well being
• Transparent containers – allowing Mums to see products through the packaging is a great way to reassure them about what's inside
• Informal fonts– relaxed fonts are friendly and fun-loving, and can help make baby care products seem more personal and intimate
• Soft finishes – Packaging that is soft to the touch is highly relevant in this sector, as it doubly reinforces kind and gentle messaging. 
• Protective finishes - Because baby care products are often used at bath time, adding a protective varnish to labels helps protect them from water damage, or peeling, which could damage brand perception
• Natural / organic / safe credentials – Not so much a design trend, but more and more parents are becoming savvy about the chemicals they use on their baby’s skin. Demonstrating that products are safe, natural and effective helps capitalise on this key decision factor 

If you'd like to know more about how we can help produce your packaging, please get in touch!
 

A Healthy Dose of Quality

It’s pretty hard to deny that the healthy living market has exploded over the last few years, and there are now many brands out there with products that boast natural ingredients. This is especially true of the drinks and cosmetics industries, where brands have been able to capitalise on consumers who want to nourish their bodies from both within and without. 

In order to appeal to these customers, packaging that includes trends such as vibrant colours, textured papers and relaxed, friendly typefaces tends to be a common tactic. We’ve also noticed illustrative designs featuring fruit and vegetables being used to give a more authentic look to packaging.

Natural products are often priced higher than their counterparts, and therefore the requirement for high-quality print finishes is truly important in this market. Effects such as spot gloss can help make fruity images look more sumptuous and eye-catching on the shelf. 

Another trend in this area is minimalism, which requires carefully selected label materials and adhesives to deliver excellent packaging despite paired back visuals. 

It is crucial that consumers believe in the love and dedication that brands have put into their healthy products, and perfectly printed labels are a vital means of reaffirming this selling point.

Special Finishes Drive Brand Value

A fantastic recent article on The Drinks Report explained that “There is no question that special effect finishes attract greater attention, increase the value of the product or packaging, and can finally boost sales. Brands that want to differentiate themselves from the competition are increasingly using finishing effects that appeal to the senses – It is how designers and brand owners embrace these opportunities that will help them set themselves apart from their competitors.”
 
Our ability to combine multiple effects in the same print pass is second-to-none, with foiling, embossing, soft-touch and tactile laminates all readily achievable. These deliver are a fantastic attention-grabber, enforcing customer experiences with added tactility and luxury.

We also offer some really unusual embellishments, such as colour-flip ink, glitter varnishes and pearlescent materials – giving our customers a range of options when it comes to communicating their unique character, increased quality or exclusivity.

If you’d like to find out more about the different finishing effects available please get in touch.

Not Just a Pretty Facestock

It’s not just labels that we manufacture with expertise here at Royston, our product offering also includes sachets. Sachets are convenient and economical, and they can be a beautiful product marketing tool. We recommend you consider using them if you’re after…

•  A fantastic form of presentation and product display. Sachets make a great compliment to an existing range
•  The ability to offer samples to consumers, and promote returning business
•  A means to encourage your customers to buy less, more often
•  Increased control of your product portions and amounts

Find out more about our work, or contact us.

Welcome Andrew Lazarus

Our new Studio Manager Andy is the latest addition to the Royston Labels team, and we're thrilled to have him on board. Andy's experience and technical know-how is going to stand him in good stead in our busy environment - he brings with him specialist knowledge of colour, foiling and delivering brand consistency.

Our reprographic studio is where we transfer even the most intricate label designs to printing plates and screens, and where the label proofs are made. We carefully and faithfully reproduce label artwork, to bring our customers’ label designs to life in the most spectacular way!

Andy will be heading up our expert repro team, and taking on the challenge of upscaling the entire studio set-up when we reclocate all our operations later in the year. Exciting!!

Find out more about our team here: http://www.roystonlabels.co.uk/why-royston-labels/our-team

10 Years of Wrapeel™ Labels

We’re celebrating ten years since the birth of our trademarked Wrapeel™ labels.

These little beauties are used by many leading brands, helping them to fit all their product information on their packs. (We now manufacture more than 22 million Wrapeels per year!)

Wrapeel™ labels are a combination of full-wrap and peel n’ read labelling formats, where the ‘booklet’ part of the label stretches all or part way around the component (usually a tube, bottle or tub).

These labels offer a beautiful and functional means to add information without compromising on design, and we can decorate them just like a normal, flat label. Perfect!

Find out more about our work here: http://www.roystonlabels.co.uk/why-royston-labels

Cold Foil Class

Cold foiling can be one of the most spectacular labelling effects – an indulgent way to bring label designs to life, and add a touch of luxury.

The level of fine detail that we can achieve is second to none, and we can add metallic foil in almost any colour (though we typically find that various shades of gold and silver are the most commonly requested).  Bronze is another striking foil that seems to be growing in popularity, and can give a chic or rustic look on pack.

Heritage and lux products in particular can benefit from this opulent form of decoration, which adds a definite point of difference on the shelf. Cold foils can deliver and even greater impression when combined with a matte background (see image), as the differing textures convey a beautiful, premium finish.

If you would like to see some of our cold foiled labels in the flesh, you can request a sample pack via our website.

Products That Stand Out

We pride ourselves on the support we offer our customers – we apply our proven expertise to make sure they get the best possible shelf stand-out from their label designs. (We’ve been in the labelling business for more than 30 years, so we should know a thing or two!) 

 

Here are a few comments from our customers who’ve benefited from our approach:

 “Royston labels have provided us with an unprecedented level of support on a number of projects. I simply cannot recommend them highly enough.”

“They (Royston Labels) offer a wealth of product knowledge, helpful day to day sales contacts and quality labels.” 

“We are delighted with the advice and technical assistance Royston Labels provided.”

“The (Royston Labels’) technical knowledge, customer support and services were second to none. Since launch, the on-going support has ensured maximum sales output.”

Click here to read the testimonials in full.

Luxury, Labelled

Luxury packaging is critical for prestige brands and retailers offering a mid to high end product. It’s the pack that has to communicate, convince and reassure customers of the value inside. It is also a stamp of approval and recognition which, especially in the case of luxury brands, is a crucial differentiator.

Here are a few design features that often benchmark lux packaging: 

Tactile
Labels that are raised, soft or otherwise interesting to touch give off a level of prestige that has been tried-and-tested by many premium brands. Embossing is a commonly used technique, as is the use of tactile laminates.

Contrast
Foiling, and gloss varnishes add shine, while matte and silk give a soft, lux finish. Contrasting these opulent effects on the same packaging ensures a generous end result.  Mixing textures such as warm and cool is another great way to engage consumer senses when the pack is handled.

Fragrance
Delivering products in a package that smells unique goes a long way towards furthering the experience of luxury. Any fragrance can be encapsulated in a printed label, offering prestige brands the chance to add their hallmark scent.

Minimal
Focusing on heritage and craftsmanship often projects a look of discreet opulence and prestige. Invisible labels offer a fine detailed finish while blending seamlessly with the packaging component.

Quality
Execution is everything when it comes to luxury goods, as even the most perfect design can be let down by poor quality production, or badly specified materials. Ensuring that quality is considered throughout the life-cycle of the packaging is vital, ensuring that the consumer’s experience stands up to their preconception of luxury.

More inspiration on our Pinterest board here.

Peel n Read Labels & OTC Pharmaceuticals

With the PAGB (Proprietaty Association of Great Britain) and the big pharma companies campaigning to promote self-care, Research and Markets  projects that the market for over the counter (OTC) pharmaceuticals will grow by 2.3% and 2.5% 2014/2015 and 2015/2016, respectively. In this competitive and stringent sector, brand differentiation can conflict with efforts to save money through packaging optimisation.

Our advanced peel and read labels offer a unique compromise, whereby brands can include detailed product information on their packaging, without compromising on design. They’re comprised from a decorative top layer which can be peeled away from the base to reveal information printed on the inside.

The integration of the patient information with the pack overcomes some other common problems with OTC packaging, such as patient misuse that may occur if customers end up throwing the inner leaflet away.

Packaging differentiation can also be a very important strategy for pharmaceutical brands who wish to make it hard for generic entrants to imitate their products. By opting to use peel n read labels, companies can add high quality foiling and decoration, while taking into consideration safety, cost and environmental concerns.

To find out more about pharmaceutical labelling visit our website or download our whitepaper.

Quality Matters

At Royston Labels we believe that quality is of vital importance, because our labels are the medium through which our customers communicate their branding and product information. 

We take great pride in our work and we don’t cut corners - scrimping on things can have a devastating impact on the way the labels look, feel and perform. We mitigate this risk for our customers by:

• Employing 100% digital inspection at every stage of the process 
• Investing in our team of experts
• Sourcing the best materials
• Being accredited to ISO 9001 and PS 9000 quality standards 
• Quality assuring all labels manually (in addition to automatic inspection)   

Our thorough operational practices mean that we reliably deliver on time and in full, and that our labels are tailor made to deliver excellent, eye-catching results on the shelf.

Soft Drinks Packaging Insights

In the last 2 years soft drinks sales have exploded, climbing by nearly 15%, as a growing number of adults are choosing to avoid or reduce their alcohol consumption. Two common design and branding themes that we’ve seen drinks companies opting for are:

• Vibrant colours and a health-orientated feel 
• A strong sense of style and sophistication (especially where bubbles are involved)

 
A critical factor for brands looking for success in this lucrative market (now worth more than £157 million per year), is their product’s ability to be noticed in a crowded environment. Given that most soft drinks are packaged in glass bottles or are turning to flexible packaging, labelling technologies offer one of the best methods of decoration – allowing brands to communicate their messages from the shelf, and give their product ranges as much visibility as possible. 

We have found that spot gloss, foiling and ultra-clear labels are very popular in this sector. Click here to learn more about bottle labels.

30 Years of Label Manufacturing

We’re very proud to be celebrating our 30th birthday this year! That’s three decades of expertly manufacturing the highest quality labels, and helping our customers to achieve the best possible packaging results.

Here are some of our vital statistics:

• A lot of beautiful labels (we printed over 300 million last year alone)
• 25 printing awards, including 2 World Label Awards
• 300% growth in the last 14 years
• 7 AVT digital inspection units (we were one of the first to run inspection both on presses and finishing lines)
• 14 years ISO 9001 quality standards accreditation
• 4 years  PS 9000 quality standards accreditation
• Over 100 happy customers in at least 7 industry sectors
• Up to 12 in-line printing processes
• Preferred supplier status with many leading brands
• 58 awesome, professional, skilled and all-around splendid personnel :)

And here’s a timeline showing some of our key milestones since 1984:

Want to get noticed? Go invisible…

We’ve witnessed a steadily growing demand for ‘invisible’ or ‘no-look’ label solutions. This trend reflects the ever increasing pressure on brands to offer stand-out packaging - research suggests that up to 60% of consumer’s initial selections are based on look alone, having little to do with what’s written on the pack. Labelling technologies are extremely flexible, and top quality manufacturers (like us!) can produce sleek, premium and highly decorative packaging effects.

There are several ways that this outcome can be achieved, and we’ve worked through the processes with each of them to deliver beautiful results. Take a look at some of these examples:

• Labels that are tailor made to match the surface of the component perfectly
• Labels that are ultra-transparent and can hardly be seen at all
• Stealthy tube labels that are crimped into the pack
• Clever label designs that are expertly specified and carefully printed

Beautiful Labels for the Drinks Industry

Within the beverage sector, self-adhesive labelling is growing in popularity around the world, and with good reason! There are both creative and functional advantages to labelling drinks products - as supermarkets take over from smaller retailing outlets, the need to be different and stand-out is greater than ever.

What brands are looking for now

We’ve seen an increasing demand from drinks brands for transparent label base materials, especially on spirits drinks and other glass bottles. Our carefully specified labels deliver great ‘wet-out’ which means they’re practically invisible on the bottle.

Another trend in beverage packaging is gold and silver embellishments, which really add an extra-premium finish to the bottle. We’re experts in cold foiling, a technology that we can combine with multiple other printing processes to phenomenal effect. 

A third label effect to mention is added surface texture. In order to appeal to customers on more than one level, many brands are seeking tactile enhancements for their bottle labels. In these cases we often use special varnishes to deliver raised effects that customers can feel when they lift the bottle from the shelf. (And now we have a new soft-touch material in our repertoire too!)

Our special offering

Our beautiful self-adhesive labels allow drinks brand owners to reflect their own unique design values. We offer a huge array of decorative options which can be combined together on the same label, such as raised and textured labels, beautiful metallic enhancements, and colour-shifting inks. Check out our Twitter and Pinterest feeds for lots of design inspiration!

We also deliver on functionality - our high-quality labels are resistant to moisture and temperature, and they can withstand environmental factors such as ice box storage and high speed bottling lines. Our labels are 100% digitally inspected to make sure they’re always fit for purpose. Request more info.

With our 30 years of experience at helping brands to get the best performance from their labels, we can provide expert service every step of the way.

Chocolate Fragranced Stickers for Kew Gardens

This Easter, Kew Gardens are celebrating 50 Whipple-Scrumptious years of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! The Gardens, in partnership with the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, are hosting ‘Charlie’s Chocolate Adventure’ with lots of Wonka-inspired family activities. 

Charlie’s Chocolate Adventure runs from Saturday April 5 to Monday April 21 2014.

The festival will feature The Whipple-Scrumptions Plant Hunt, Easter holiday face painting, hands-on sessions in the Great Glass Lift  and a chance to be immersed in Roald Dahl’s stories and poems as told by storytellers  (to name just a few goings-on!).

To help spread the Easter fun, we’ve printed some amazing and fantastic chocolate scented stickers – they smell just like the inside of a chocolate factory! Printed with illustrated designs by Quentin Blake, the stickers will be given out to visitors on Easter Sunday as part of the Easter egg hunt. To make the stickers, we took the choc-tastic smells and encased them in teeny-tiny capsules, before we mixed them all in with our printing inks. So when you rub the stickers the yummy chocolate is released!

Making Cosmetics Show Review

We’re back in the office now after two busy days exhibiting at Making Cosmetics in the Ricoh Arena. We had a great time, and really value the opportunity to demonstrate our labelling expertise, and to showcase some of our finest products.

This year we showed Ren, Dr Organic and Josh Wood on the stand, along with several other beautiful examples. Our fragranced labels, which always spark interest, attracted a lot of attention, as did our beautiful soft-touch innovations.

The cosmetics sector is where we have specialised labelling skills. We’ve done so much R&D with our clients over the years, and delivered the highest quality labelling results. Overcoming the packaging challenges presented by the personal care industry means we have a bank of proven knowledge, solutions, and expertise, ready for our customer’s disposal!

We’ve seen a huge uplift in demand for ultra-clear labels and ‘no-look’ labels in recent months, and this was very much the case at Making Cosmetics. We also had a lot of enquiries for foiled labels, and those with a tactile finish. 

Our advanced printing capabilities allow us to include multiple types of decoration, like those mentioned above, in the same print run. We’ll be happy to tell you more about this, so please feel free to get in touch.

Environmentally Viable Label Materials

We’re committed to offering self-adhesive labels that are sustainably sourced, recyclable and economically viable. We now have over 300 FSC certified materials in our portfolio, including wine labels and filmic materials.

What is FSC certification?

The Forrest Stewardship Council (FSC) was established independently in 1990, when concerns about accelerating deforestation, environmental degradation and social exclusion reached a peak. The organisation went on to establish a system that could credibly identify well-managed forests as the sources of responsibly produced wood products.

FSC runs a global forest certification system with two key components: Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification. This system allows us as consumers to identify, purchase and use label materials that are produced from well-managed forests.

What does this mean for our customers?

Sustainability and ethical packaging is a priority for many of our customers. Our environmental policy of offering recycled, recyclable, biodegradable and thinner self-adhesive labels supports their greener packaging initiatives. This in turn can improve sustainability and reduce our impact on the environment.

We are also actively committed to:

• Reducing manufacturing waste
• Implementing greener, more efficient working practices
• Searching for more environmentally friendly products and printing techniques
• Working closely with suppliers who can demonstrate their commitment to the environment