The perfect product label can make any product—from a jar of spices or a tub of beard balm—stand out on the shelf or on social media. For some shoppers, it might even be the deciding factor of a purchase. Product label design—which can refer to the practice of designing labels for packaged goods or to the aesthetics and layout of a product label—is a crucial factor in whether customers buy your products or not.
That’s also why it’s essential to have a product label that differentiates your product from competitors and communicates its product story and value. Product label design crosses branding, marketing, and sales. Here, you’ll learn how to design a product label that sells, and compare the top label design software and product label design templates, including AI tools.
What is product label design?
Product label design encompasses the aesthetics and layout of the graphics and information on your merchandise labels. Whether your target customer encounters your product on a store shelf or online, an attractive label can capture their attention, highlight the benefits of your product, and boost brand recognition.
Like a tiny billboard, a well-designed product label operates as informative advertising, communicating key product details. At a quick glance, customers should be able to understand what’s inside the packaging, why it’s unique from competitors, and why they might want to buy it (i.e., its value proposition). Effective labeling sets expectations, removes friction from the decision-making process, and effectively incentivizes a purchase.
How to design a product label
When it comes to designing the perfect label, you have options. You could outsource to a professional, test your design skills with popular software like Canva or Adobe Express, use AI tools, or employ a combination of these approaches.
Work with a professional designer
If you don’t have a strong understanding of design principles like color theory, information hierarchy, and typography, you might consider working with a professional designer to produce a high-quality label.
You can find designers on portfolio sites like Behance, Fiverr, Dribbble, 99designs, and Upwork, or reach out to your network on LinkedIn.
Pros and cons of working with a professional designer
Professional designs can elevate how customers perceive product quality and may even justify premium pricing, but they’ll likely cost more.
Pros
- Hiring an expert saves time and effort.
- You can trust a professional to produce a high-quality label.
- You're more likely to get a unique label for your product packaging.
Cons
- Engaging a professional designer can be expensive.
- A designer might take longer (especially if you have multiple product lines and want different designs for each).
- You may feel like you have less control over the output.
Use a product label design software
DIY branding and design software is a popular option, especially for small or newly launched businesses with tight budgets.
Pros and cons of using label creator software
If you’re not comfortable starting a design from scratch, many platforms offer template libraries, allowing you to quickly produce a polished final result, although it may not be as unique as you’d like.
Pros
- Most design tools offer a trial or free plan so you can experiment before committing, or create a concept to communicate your needs to a pro designer.
- You can simply upload your existing designs and easily customize them using preset templates.
- Most software is user-friendly, allowing for fast turnaround times for those with design skills.
Cons
- Relying on label templates limits your options.
- It’s harder to create a unique design with preset options, and advanced features can be expensive (though likely still less expensive than hiring a pro).
- The learning curve can be steep, especially if you’re not already design- and tech-savvy.
Use an AI-powered product label design tool
These days, many design software tools leverage artificial intelligence.
Pros and cons of using AI to design product labels
AI can streamline the creative process, but it can also generate legal and quality control issues.
Pros
- Using AI-enabled software and online design tools can reduce costs and time spent.
- You don’t need design skills to successfully use AI.
- It’s relatively easy to produce customizable, data-driven designs with help from AI.
Cons
- AI tools often produce a generic, smoothed-out “AI look.”
- You’ll need to vet designs carefully to ensure they follow industry regulations and copyright laws, and comply with your brand guidelines.
Product label designs: must-have elements
No matter how you choose to design it, there are certain elements you must include in your product label. For a full list, visit the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) websites.
Basic product label elements include:
- Brand name
- Brand logo
- Product name
- Product description
- Net quantity (where applicable)
- Label durability that lasts for the lifetime of a product
Product- and industry-specific elements include:
- Expiration or best-by dates
- Barcode and batch number
- Allergy warnings and allergens
- Consumption and choking hazards
- Nutritional facts
- Net weight
- Storage instructions
- Dietary labels
Other factors to consider when designing product labels
In addition to the baseline essentials, there are design elements you can include to make sure your product labels stand out on shelves and in social media.
“We decided to split up the labels in certain ways so that the writing is the name of the brand and the product, but then we also have doodles that evoke the flavors,” said Leah Marcus, a co-founder of Good Girl Snacks, on a recent episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. The company sells its jarred “hot girl pickles” with bright pink and blue labels at premium Los Angeles health food store Erewhon and New York City’s Pop Up Grocer, which stocks design-forward CPG brands.
The brand’s Honey Harissa flavor, which Marcus described as sweet and spicy, has a pepper and fire illustration to indicate its spice level. The label for the dill flavor features a doodle of a classic pickle.
“Obviously, we communicate the flavors directly on the label as well, and what we'll continue to do, probably, with our new products, is including these kind of characters,” Marcus said. The brand’s quirky visuals and unique fonts are disruptive compared to competitors, and align with its core brand identity.
Consider these factors when designing your product label:
- Brand identity: Adhere to your company’s brand guidelines to signal continuity and build brand loyalty. A brand identity creates a sense of visual consistency across user touchpoints and makes your brand easily identifiable through unified colors and typography, no matter which product a consumer interacts with. Consistent color, typography, and iconography across every label strengthen brand recognition and build shopper trust.
- Target audience preferences: Who should buy your product and why? What do they value, and what visual style resonates with them? The final design should capture those preferences, which are often determined during focus groups and user and competitor research.
- Competitor designs: Study common themes among your competitors’ product labels to help you strategize which visual elements consumers in your market segment expect, and how you can break the mold to communicate your business’s unique value prop and stand out.
- Container size and shape: The packaging design and label size should influence the format and content you include. For example, a small container might require a trimmed word count in a smaller font size. Work with your printers and manufacturers to ensure all labels are cut to size.
- Material: The label material you choose can affect how a customer perceives the product inside. Thick cardstock with embossed lettering might signal a luxury good, whereas a sleek matte sticker suggests a high-end tech item. A clear or white vinyl sticker with matte finish delivers crisp, high‑contrast colors while resisting moisture—perfect for kitchen or bathroom products.
- Product purpose: When you design labels for your products, consider their everyday use. Kitchen or body products, for example, will likely get wet and benefit from water-resistant labels.
- Compliance and regulations: Labels must meet applicable laws and regulations for their sector, in accordance with the FPLA and FDA labeling requirements. For instance, US wine bottle labels must indicate alcohol by volume and include a government health warning statement.
- Sustainability and eco-friendliness: More than 80% of consumers say they’re willing to pay more for products with sustainable packaging. If your product is sustainably sourced or produced, communicate this positive news with custom labels.
In addition to the considerations above, be sure to follow these design best practices to ensure an effective product label.
- Make it readable: A labelcommunicates your product to customers, so ensure important details like the product name and description are clear and easy to find.
- Be smart about white space: A cluttered design can be overwhelming; the right amount of white space makes for a pleasant viewing experience.
- Mix fonts: Instead of using one font, try combining two or three fonts to add visual interest. Font pairing, or using two contrasting looks in tandem, can add depth and keep a viewer engaged. The best practice is to mix serifs and sans serifs, so consider a serif font for the product wordmark, label headlines, and titles, and a sans serif for supporting body copy, for instance.
Top product label design software
There is a plethora of design software available, but these are the most popular.
Canva
Canva is an online drag-and-drop tool with an extensive collection of templates, stickers, vectors, and icons to enhance your labels.
- Pros: Canva is super user-friendly, so non-designers can produce designs easily with its drag-and-drop interface and extensive template library. It also enables teams to collaborate on the same files in real time. Canva offers a variety of AI design and writing tools through its Magic Studio.
- Cons: The free version provides limited features and template access, and tools aren’t as precise as professional design programs, so getting those rounded corners just so can be a challenge. Because the platform centers on templates, it can produce somewhat generic results.
- Pricing: Canva offers a free version, a paid Pro version for $120 per year for one person, Canva Teams for $100 per year per person, and Enterprise pricing on request. Monthly subscriptions are also available for free, $15, and $10 per person, respectively.
Adobe Express
Adobe Express is an all-in-one editing web app and a straightforward solution for creating custom designs with stock design assets or your brand files.
- Pros: Adobe Express features drag-and-drop functionality, video, image, vector, and raster graphics editing, access to a large stock library, and the ability to upload your own images. Adobe Express also offers a template library and AI that its website says “is designed to be commercially safe.” It’s part of the Adobe Creative Suite and PC Magazine gave the platform an “excellent” rating.
- Cons: There could be a learning curve for those who aren’t already familiar with Adobe’s Creative Suite. The free version has limited features, and some users have reported rendering lags, a lack of functionality for right mouse clicks, precision brush strokes, and spellcheck.
- Pricing: A free individual subscription; Premium, which offers more templates, assets, and AI features for $99.99 per year; Teams for $79.99 per year, and an Enterprise annual subscription with details available upon request.
99designs
99designs is a freelance design procurement platform. You can review portfolios, request quotes, and launch contests for potential designers to submit work to be considered for your project.
- Pros: 99designs is a great option if you prefer to work with a professional designer. The interface is user-friendly, allows for direct communication with designers, and has a money-back guarantee for design contests launched on the platform.
- Cons: The platform incurs higher costs than do-it-yourself design tools, because it providespremium service from expert designers. Some designers have expressed concern about the nature of the platform, which launches design contests to win business, sometimes for low pay. 99designs does not offer AI features.
- Pricing: Packaging or label design contests begin at $449.
Kittl
Kittl is a web app and design creation platform that says it has “everything you need in one place,” allowing users to create graphics, mockups, and more through an intuitive interface.
- Pros: The interface is user-friendly; it’s easy for novices to produce high-fidelity mockups for basic to intermediate-level projects, featuring a large type library, text effects, and conversion-oriented templates, including those for social media. It also offers image editing and AI-powered tools like background removers and image generation.
- Cons: Some users cite generic and mediocre designs, as well as platform limitations, which prevent them from creating truly distinctive custom labels. Support requests responses can take up to 24 hours and don’t include the option to contact customer service by phone. The subscription is relatively expensive, with a highly limited free option.
- Pricing: Free option, Kittl Pro for $120 per year, and expert for $288 per year with unlimited projects.
Vistaprint
Vistaprint is best known as a platform for creating printable graphics for small businesses, but it can also be used to produce professional label designs digitally.
- Pros: The Vistaprint website is intuitive and easy to use, with templates to create product labels on sheets. The platform has a built-in logo maker, but if you prefer a professional design, Vistaprint also offers the option to engage its in-house design team to create a custom designs.
- Cons: Templates aren’t as contemporary as other platforms, with limited design flexibility. Some users also cite low-quality prints.
- Pricing: Pricing is generally by unit. A one-sheet label, for instance, costs under $1 for 48 units.
Venngage
Venngage bills itself as a “design tool for all” that specializes in turning data into infographics.
- Pros: This is a solid platform for producing informational visuals, specifically including infographics, charts, and diagrams. It offers templates and can automatically apply brand style to your creations. Venngage offers AI-powered tools.
- Cons: The platform is centered around infographics that make sense of detailed data, so it’s better suited for text-heavy back-of-label graphics than for developing a look and feel.
- Pricing: Base level free version, Premium for $120 per year per person, Business for $288 per year per person, and Enterprise available upon request.
Product label design checklist
Labels make first impressions. They communicate what the product is and how to use it. They also convey your brand values at a glance. Here’s how to design a great one.
- Do research
- Define your budget
- Gather essential product information
- Plan the layout
- Consider information hierarchy
- Balance decorative elements
- Proofread your work
- Print your labels
1. Do research
Start by researching your target audience and competitors. Host a focus group with representatives from your target market, or share an online survey with your email audience to discover what kind of product label information they find most helpful.
Explore the design trends your competitors have relied on, and brainstorm how you can stand out while still adhering to your brand identity. If you produce a white label product, the final brand that labels the product might conduct their own research.
2. Define your budget
It’s easy to get carried away with flashy design elements and high-end materials, but the cost of a pricey label eventually gets passed on to the consumer, affecting their purchasing decisions.
Depending on your budget, you may choose to hire a professional designer or use a free tool like Canva to design the product label yourself. Determine which materials will complement your product’s packaging without increasing the total price for consumers.
3. Gather essential product information
Aside from the product name, company logo, and product description, there may be other pieces of information you’ll need to make room for on your label. Gather the product’s ingredient list, special certifications, barcode, and other essential information before incorporating brand messaging.
4. Plan the layout
Once you know what information your label should convey and what materials you want to use, you can start planning a design. Whether you’re sketching your idea on a napkin or creating it using software, remember to keep your margins and the “bleed area” in mind.
5. Consider information hierarchy
Next, consider your information hierarchy. A great label doesn’t just look nice, it also relays key product information, so the name of the product and your company logo should stand out.
You’ll also need to include ample space for ingredient or product information, a barcode, and the price, if necessary. Generally, a six-point font is the smallest size that ensures readability; a 10-point font is usually good for more important information.
6. Balance decorative elements
By keeping a few graphic design ideas in mind, you can plan an eye-catching label. At least one decorative element will enhance your design, and white space will help balance it.
Try pairing two complementary fonts, like a serif and a sans serif, to differentiate information and give your design more visual interest. At the same time, you don’t want a label that’s too busy or hard to read. Stay with two to three colors and avoid complicated patterns.
Once you’re done, step away from your design and consider how it looks from a distance. Does it jump out at the casual passerby? Can they read it? Is it accessible and legible? If not, consider what you can delete from your design and reassess font size. You may be surprised at how much it can improve the result.
7. Proofread your work
Enlist the help of a copyeditor or detail-oriented friend to check that all of the text is spelled correctly, makes sense, and is legible. Having a second set of eyes on the final design can also help you spot misleading punctuation or confusing phrasing you may have overlooked.
8. Print your labels
The number of labels you’ll need will likely determine the most cost-effective way to print them. You can print small batches on a home printer, but a larger order will likely require the use of a printing service, like Vistaprint, mentioned above.
If you only need a small trial run, you can print labels on a high‑resolution desktop inkjet or laser printer using the settings recommended for your stock.
Once your artwork is finalized, partner with a trusted printer to print product labels in bulk so every unit looks identical and professional. For large production runs, ask the printer for roll labels—they feed directly into automatic applicators and speed up assembly lines.
💡 Tip: Before you send files to the printer, confirm that your artwork meets all applicable labeling regulations in every market where the product will be sold.
Product label design FAQ
How can I design a product label?
To design a product label, gather all the essential information that must be included, such as your brand and product names, logo, product description, and industry and legal requirements, including expiration dates, ingredients, and net weight. (For a full list, visit the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA) and FDA websites.) Conduct market and user research to evaluate market needs. Then, engage a professional designer or use design software to put all of those elements into a label design that is consistent with your brand identity.
Can I design my own product label without hiring a designer?
Yes, you can create custom product label designs yourself by using software such as Canva, Adobe Express, or Kittl. Learn the basics of design, including information hierarchy, and ensure that you include all the essential elements of a product label listed below.
What are the essential elements of a product label?
- Brand name
- Brand logo
- Product name
- Product description
- Net quantity (where applicable)
- Net weight
- Expiration or best-by dates
- Barcode and batch number
- Storage instructions
- Dietary labels
- Nutritional facts
- Allergy warnings and allergens
- Consumption and choking hazards
- Label durability that lasts for the lifetime of a product
How can I design a product label that reflects my brand identity?
To ensure labels reflect your brand identity, they must include unified visual elements and follow your brand standards manual. Your label should have the same logo or wordmark, color system, visual style, tone of voice, and typography so that users have the same experience no matter where they come into contact with the brand.
What information is legally required to be on product labels?
The FPLA requires household consumer commodities packaging to have labels that include:
- A statement that identifies the commodity (like “soap,” “brushes,” etc.)
- The manufacturer, packer, or distributor’s name and place of business
- The contents’ net quantity by weight, measure, or numerical count (in both metric and imperial units)
This list is a starting point and should not be considered exhaustive. Always conduct your own research and confirm the legal requirements where you conduct business and sell your product.
What’s the best product label design software?
The best software depends on your skillset and needs, but broadly, Adobe Express, Kittl, and Canva are effective tools for customizing designs, as they offer templates and AI-powered tools, and can produce relatively high-fidelity results.
Can AI design product labels?
Yes, you can use AI to design labels by prompting AI image and copy generation tools with your design requirements, product specs, and copy. To create designs efficiently using AI-powered tools, consider a platform like Adobe Express, Canva, or Kittl.
