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These Color Combos Could Be Hurting Your Labels—Here’s What to Know

In the aisles of supermarkets and product listings online, label design plays an important role in catching the consumer’s eye. For businesses in food, beverage, and consumer goods industries, a well-designed label can elevate your product from shelf space to a memorable brand.

Enter color psychology—the science that taps into how colors affect our perceptions and behaviors. Specific hues can trigger an appetite, convey freshness, or even create a sense of trust. This psychological interplay between color and emotion is important for brands trying to resonate with their audience on a deeper level.

With this understanding comes great responsibility—especially when selecting color combinations for packaging design. This guide aims to help you consider color combinations that may not communicate your message effectively so that your labels resonate with consumers and create a lasting impression.

Understanding Color Theory and Color Psychology in Packaging

The Basics of Color Theory

At its heart, color theory is the study of hues, saturation, and brightness—elements that form the foundation of every color we see. Hues give us the rainbow; think reds, blues, greens. Saturation refers to how intense or muted these colors appear, while brightness dictates how light or dark they are.

Color Psychology

Color psychology takes this understanding one step further by exploring how specific colors influence our emotions and behaviors. It’s a powerful tool for packaging design as it taps directly into consumer perceptions. For instance:

Red often evokes excitement and appetite—a reason why it’s prevalent in food industries.
Blue conveys trustworthiness and reliability making it favored by technology brands.
Green is synonymous with health and sustainability appealing to eco-conscious consumers.

Color Combinations to Use with Caution

When it comes to label design, certain color combinations may pose challenges in visibility or readability. Understanding how colors interact and the psychological impact they have on consumers is worth understanding. Below are a few pairings to approach thoughtfully.

Neon Green and Bright Pink

While each of these colors might be striking individually, together they can create an intense visual experience. This combination often feels highly saturated and may overwhelm the viewer, making it harder to focus on product details.

Consideration:. If you are not looking to be perceived as more bold or “loud”, consider ways to balance these vibrant tones by adding in neutral accents or contrasts.

Red and Green

Red and Green (Without Careful Contrast)

Red and green can be a powerful combination, but it’s important to consider contrast. These colors can be challenging for individuals with red-green color blindness and might evoke strong seasonal associations, which could affect year-round appeal.

Consideration: Consider using strong contrast between these two hues to enhance accessibility and clarity for all consumers.

Dark Blue on Black

Both dark blue and black are often associated with elegance and professionalism. However, when paired together without sufficient contrast, the result can be difficult to read—especially in retail environments where consumers see a product for a few short seconds.

Consideration: Using contrast between text and background can improve readability, allowing your label and its messaging to be more effectively communicated.

Bright Yellow on White

This combination can suffer from low contrast, which may make text and details hard to discern, especially under certain lighting conditions.

Accessibility Considerations:

Accessibility Consideration: Approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women experience some form of color blindness. Choosing color combinations with sufficient contrast ensures that all customers can read and engage with your product effectively.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Color Schemes

Overcomplicating Color Schemes

A complex palette with too many colors can dilute your message, making it harder for consumers to understand your brand identity.

Tip: Sticking to a core set of three to four hues makes your label clear and reinforces your brand without overwhelming the customer.

Ignoring Market Research

Cultural and industry-specific preferences can influence how colors are perceived by different audiences. What works in one market may not translate well in another.

Tip: Conduct market research to tailor your label designs to your target demographic. This will help your color choices align with consumer expectations and cultural nuances.

Forgetting About Compliance Regulations

Certain industries, such as food and beverage, have strict guidelines regarding labeling. These guidelines often extend to readability, contrast, and visibility.

Tip: Familiarize yourself with relevant industry standards early in the design process. This helps you balance regulatory requirements with aesthetic goals.

Chasing Trends at Expense Timelessness

Trends can be enticing, but they also may fade quickly. Balancing timeless design elements with subtle trend influences can keep your packaging fresh without risking it becoming dated.

Tip: Incorporate classic design elements like minimalist layouts, complemented by trendy accents that can be updated over time.

Strategies for Choosing the Right Color Combinations

Navigating the color spectrum effectively can transform a good label design into an unforgettable one. Here’s how to ensure your selections resonate well with consumers and amplify your product’s appeal.

Color Wheel

Harnessing the Color Wheel

The color wheel isn’t just an artist’s tool; it’s a fundamental guide for selecting colors that work in harmony.

Complementary Colors: Located directly opposite each other on the wheel, these combinations stand out due to their high contrast while maintaining balance.
Analogous Colors: These are colors next to each other on the wheel, sharing similar hues which create a serene and comfortable design.

Tip: Use complementary colors for elements you wish to highlight (like logos or call-to-actions) and analogous schemes for background or less prominent features.

Navigating the Challenges of Sustainability and Color Selection

The intersection between color selection for packaging and its impact on recycling and eco-friendliness presents unique challenges but also opens opportunities for innovation.

The Impact of Colors on Sustainability

Color selection can influence the recyclability of inner packaging. For example, certain bright or dark dyes used in plastics may interfere with sorting mechanisms in recycling facilities, reducing the material’s overall recyclability.

Strategies for Eco-Friendly Choices for Inner Packaging

Opting for Lighter Shades: Lighter colors for plastics and inner packaging are often easier to process in recycling plants and typically require less dye, which may contribute to more sustainable packaging.
Choosing Natural Dyes: Where possible, using natural plant-based dyes can provide vibrant hues without the environmental impact of synthetic dyes.
Material Matters: Beyond the colors themselves, it’s important to consider the materials being used. Biodegradable and compostable materials should be prioritized to ensure that the entire packaging aligns with eco-friendly initiatives, from the ink to the substrate.

Next Steps

We’ve explored how certain color combinations can present challenges in terms of readability and consumer opinion. These considerations aren’t just about avoiding specific combinations, but about improving your product’s appeal through accessible and visually effective design.

At Blue Label Packaging, our expert team understands the nuances of color and how to help you create labels that resonate with your audience.

Browse through our portfolio to discover a world of possibilities for your product labels.

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How to Use Color Effectively in Beer Label Design: 5 Key Factors

When you only have a few seconds to catch a consumer’s eye, it’s imperative that your beer label is on point. Creative, compelling color choices can make your beers stand out among the competition. However, those same colors can pose problems if you’re not careful. Here are five ways that you can use colors to get the most out of your beer labels.

Create the Right Impression

Your color choices play a vital role in beer label design. The colors you use not only allow you to create a recognizable brand for all your different brews, but also influence consumers’ emotions through positive association.

You’ll want to identify what type of feeling you want to convey with each product label. For example, you may utilize soothing blues for a smooth lager that’s perfect for a nice, relaxing time on the porch. Meanwhile a dark grey or black can create an air of elegance and class for a high-end imperial stout. Your label is an opportunity to show your beer’s character, and a good color scheme will do just that.

A trio of cans with colorful beer labels.

Don’t Drown Out Your Brand

Whether you want to establish your products as playful, classy, or something else, it’s important to make sure that your color scheme works with your brand. Exciting color combinations are fun, but consumers should be able to identify your brand with each container. Because of this, you’ll want to practice some caution when designing labels for each product.

A big part of beer branding is your logo. You’ll need to decide whether you want your logo to stay the same for every product or modify it to match different color choices. If you choose the former, it’s good practice to make sure your beer can branding and logo won’t clash with your preferred product pigments. If it’s the latter, you’ll just want to ensure that people can still instantly recognize your brand, even if your logo changes colors or versions. Remember, you want your product to stand out, but you don’t want to hide who you are.

Mix and Match Colors Appropriately

Identifying the right colors is a delicate balancing act. Picking and choosing an array of colors that make sense for your various beers without having them clash, create legibility concerns, or cause other brand issues are just a few of the balls you juggle..

There are a couple of different routes you can go with color selection. One method is to focus on contrasts to help emphasize various label elements. This can help make your label visually “pop” to consumers, especially if you use it to highlight a certain aspect of your label. A color wheel can help you identify opposite colors that still work with each other. A second option is to stick with analogous colors that easily flow together. These colors line up next to each other in the color wheel and create a more relaxed feel for your label.

Regardless of which route you choose – or if you opt for a hybrid of the two – it’s important to make sure that people can read your labels. Certain colors may look great together, but dark-on-dark or light-on-light combinations can cause legibility concerns. Try and use some form of contrasting colors for backgrounds and text to make sure the words on your label don’t go to waste.

Beer can label designs using contrasting colors.

Consider the Container

Your beer label plays a critical role in product packaging, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Your container can have a major impact in the overall look of your product. For example, one label design may work wonderfully on a clear glass bottle, but could clash with a brown one.

Certain colors schemes may work better for some containers than others, so make sure you consider how your design plays with your cans or bottles. Depending on your container, you may simply opt for a shrink sleeve for complete coverage or a clear label that uses splashes of colors to accentuate your packaging. When done well, your container can even complement your label colors, making your beers look more appealing than before.

Maximize Your Materials

Ink isn’t the only way to create colorful combinations. There are a variety of paper and film label materials that can add a new dimension to your desired color scheme. A black vellum label would be a stunning way to create an elegant background for a high-end beer. Clear labels can help you emphasize your container (or even what’s inside your container). Meanwhile, a holographic film can create a fun contrast to add some glitz and glam to a beer can.

A beer bottle label with a colorful design.

Color Your Customers Impressed with Stunning Beer Labels

In such a competitive market, pristine packaging can put your products on a pedestal. Stunning beer labels start with a stellar design, but it takes the right printing company to turn your vision into a reality.

When you need quality, cost-effective beer labels, Blue Label Packaging can help. Our team has the expertise and state-of-the-art equipment to help you enhance your designs. Contact us today to talk about your beer labels.