3 Tips for Designing Natural-Looking Labels for Eco-Friendly Products

An All-Natural Color Scheme, with a Twist

Herb & Hedgerow, a blog for fans of botanical skincare, decided to take a closer look into the colors that natural skincare brands used in their packaging. After examining 50 different brands, the results showed that these products largely preferred to use colors that are commonly found in nature and convey a sense of simplicity (white), freshness (green), and dependability (blue).

While the Herb & Hedgerow study only considered natural skincare packaging, the results present a noteworthy trend for all-natural product labeling: using natural colors schemes to help push the eco-friendly narrative. This use of label color psychology makes sense, which is why it’s common to see so many of these sustainable product labels with an all-natural color scheme.

Of course, it’s also important to make sure that your product isn’t lost in a sea of muted browns, soft blues, and lush greens. One interesting finding in the Herb & Hedgerow results is that some of the natural skincare companies used more striking colors like pink, black, and red as secondary or accent colors. Pops of color and other eco-friendly product design elements can help make these sustainable labels for packaging stand out without sacrificing a natural look for the label. Each product has its own story, so it’s important to make sure that a natural-looking label won’t get lost on a crowded shelf.

Label Products as Organic or Natural

If a product is organic, you’re going to want to make sure that the world knows it. An organic seal serves as a stamp of approval that shows consumers that a product is made with all-natural ingredients and no synthetic additives. However, not just anyone can slap the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s organic seal onto their product packaging.

There are strict standards for products to qualify as organic. A company that wishes to label its products as such must go through the process of being certified as organic, which can be found in our post on organic food label requirements. Once the USDA give their approval, you can add an organic seal to add a very noteworthy piece to your label.

If you can’t go with organic, you can still potentially promote your product as “natural.” The USDA and Federal Drug Administration aren’t as strict about this verbiage as they are organic if the product in question doesn’t contain anything artificial or synthetic.

Sustainable Label Materials that Match a Natural Aesthetic

The label material can have as much of an impact on a natural look as the organic label design. Label facestocks that appear too fake or non-recyclable can put a serious damper on an eco-friendly product label design. Paper label facestocks can have the look and feel of a recyclable material, which is much more appealing to customers invested in purchasing all-natural products. Certain paper materials can even be made with recycled materials, which helps tie the whole natural product label design and aesthetic together.

Another consideration is trying to source materials that can be reused or recycled. Some packaging is designed around sustainability and reusability, so paper or plastic labels that are easy on the environment can help showcase that a brand does care about their impact, right down to the materials they choose for their green product labels.

Get the Eco-Friendly Labels You Need for Your Products

Once you have a natural product label design in place, you still need to find a printing company that can work with you to create a label that’s right for your eco-friendly product. Blue Label Packaging Company is a digital printing company that can work with you determine your best material options and create labels that match the needs of your product and your budget. Contact us today to talk to us today about your next sustainable label printing project.