Think product labels are a box-ticking exercise to keep compliance folks happy? Think again!
Research published in Forbes shows that 72% of consumers read food labels before buying a product. And for customers watching their weight, this increases to 81%. So if your latest product range is low in fat or high in vitamins and all that other good stuff, you’re missing a trick if you don’t shout about it on your packaging!
So, now that we’ve established the importance of product labels, let’s talk about the key steps in the packaging design process and the tools that can help you out along the way.
- Asana – best for managing label and packaging projects
- FigJam – best tool for collecting label inspiration
- Canva – best online creator and label printing software
- Adobe Creative Cloud – best professional label design software
- Filestage – best approval platform for reviewing label designs
- DeepL – best for translating label information
- Bynder – best digital asset management tool for distributing labels to markets
Let’s take a closer look.
The fast way to get feedback on label designs
Get clear and collaborative comments right on top of your label and packaging artwork.
1. Asana – best for label and graphic design project management
If you want to run your label design project like clockwork, the first thing you need is creative project management software. And, from my point of view, Asana is the best of the bunch!
Asana lets you set up a dedicated project board for each label design you’re working on. From there, you can:
- Use kanban columns to define key stages in your project
- Create tasks and subtasks to break things down into bite-size chunks
- Assign tasks and subtasks to make responsibilities clear
- Set due dates and dependencies to keep things moving forward
- Tag teammates and share files to keep information centralized
- Integrate the tool with specialized inventory management systems and track your orders
On top of that, you can also integrate Asana with other tools in this list – like Filestage!
And if Asana isn’t your cup of tea, check out our favorite Asana alternatives.
Pricing
Asana has a free plan called Basic, which includes unlimited projects, tasks, and comments.
If you want a timeline view of your projects or need advanced workflow, reporting, and security features, you may be better off with one of their paid plans.
Premium starts at $10.99/user per month, and Business is from $24.99/user per month. There’s also an Enterprise option, but you’ll have to contact Asana for a custom price.
2. FigJam – best tool for collecting label inspiration
OK. You’ve set up your project and defined the key stages along the way. Now you’re ready to start having some fun!
The first step on the path to professional looking labels is to collect as much inspiration as possible. Pinterest is a great resource here, or you could get a serious headstart with our roundup of the best label design examples.
Once you’ve found a few you like, you’ll need somewhere to put them – and that’s where FigJam comes in.
FigJam is an online whiteboard tool that makes it easy to collaborate in the early stages of your label design projects. Here are a few ways you can use this operating system:
- Let teammates or clients add their label inspiration in one place
- Add comments to point out what you each like and don’t like about the designs
- Use emoji stamps to star the best designs and narrow down your favorites
By the time you’re done, you and your team will be aligned on the direction and style you’re looking for.
Pricing
FigJam has a free plan called Starter, which includes three FigJam files, unlimited collaborators, and a bunch of ready-made templates.
For more advanced features like open sessions, voting, and org-wide libraries, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Professional starts from $3/editor per month, while the Organization plan starts from $5/editor per month.
The fast way to get feedback on label designs
Get clear and collaborative comments right on top of your label and packaging artwork.
3. Canva – best online creator and label printing software
Boom! You’ve gathered inspiration for your labels, now you need an easy way to design labels and bring your ideas to life.
Enter Canva, your new best friend for designing and printing labels. In just a few minutes, you can:
- Find a label template that fits your brand and desired style
- Design labels and concepts ready to share and discuss with your team
- Print labels and get them posted right to your door
Canva is a great choice if you want to work with a label template and print labels for a low cost. It’s also the best label printing software we found that doubles as a design tool. All you’ll need after using Canva is a good barcode generator to create barcodes, and your label will be ready to go out in the world!
But if you want to create custom packaging labels to your heart’s content, you may want to explore Adobe Creative Cloud.
Pricing
Canva has a Free plan that includes features like their drag-and-drop editor, 250,000+ free templates, and over one million free photos and graphics.
They also offer a Pro plan for $10.99/user per month, or a Teams plan for $12.99/user per month. These include things like advanced AI features and 24/7 support.
Printing, of course, comes at an extra cost. To give you an idea, you can get 10 sheets of rectangle labels from $21.50.
4. Adobe Creative Cloud – best professional label design software
If you want to create truly professional labels for your products, you need to step into the world of Adobe Creative Cloud.
Create logos, vectors, and fonts in Illustrator. Perfect your product photography in Photoshop. Then bring everything together in InDesign and add your bleed and crop marks ready for your label printer.
It’s not cheap – and it’s only worth the investment in the hands of a designer who knows what they’re doing. But if you want to create labels professionally and make an impact in your industry, Adobe Creative Cloud is the only way to go.
Pricing
Adobe Creative Cloud starts at $54.99/month for individuals or $84.99/month per license for teams. This includes all the usual suspects like Photoshop, Acrobat Pro, Illustrator, and InDesign.
They also offer a students and teachers plan from $19.99/month.
5. Filestage – best design approval platform for proofing label designs
Got a design you’re happy with? Great – but don’t press print just yet! After all, you don’t want to order all those labels and stick them on your products only to spot a silly (maybe even costly) mistake down the line.
That’s where online proofing comes in. With Filestage, you can:
- Share label concepts and invite stakeholders to add all their comments in one place
- Create a review workflow to reflect your approval process – e.g. Design, Product, Compliance
- Compare versions side by side to verify that important feedback has been met
- Track approvals so you can send print labels with confidence
This allows you and your team to check key details like price tags, QR codes, ingredient lists, and more. You can even add a dedicated review step for market translations (more on that in a second!)
Pricing
Filestage has a Free plan that offers two projects and two review steps with unlimited files, versions, and reviewers.
If you need more projects or advanced features like automations and project templates, the Basic plan starts from $49/month and Professionals starts at $249/month – both of which include unlimited users.
The fast way to get feedback on label designs
Get clear and collaborative comments right on top of your label and packaging artwork.
6. DeepL – best for translating label information
If you’re running a global business and shipping your products worldwide, chances are that you’ll need to translate some of the finer details on your labels.
For this, DeepL is a great place to start. You can copy and paste text like ingredient lists or safety information into their translator. Then choose from 30+ languages, including Spanish, French, and German.
Of course, it’s always a good idea to get your label copy checked by a native speaker. But DeepL is a great way to get placeholder text for your designs so you have a rough idea of how much space you need.
Pricing
DeepL’s copy-and-paste translator is totally free. They do offer paid plans from $7.49/user per month, but these are more suited to teams who need entire documents translated.
7. Bynder – best digital asset management tool for distributing labels to markets
You’ve gathered your inspiration, designed and proofed your labels, and made sure everything is tip top from a translation point of view. Now, you’re ready to send them out to your regional and global markets!
Digital asset management software (DAM) like Bynder can be a huge help here. It’s your all-in-one solution for distributing files, keeping them organized, and controlling access and usage rights to minimize risk.
From there, your brand and marketing teams can download your designs, print QR codes, send them to their local printers, and make sure products are always on brand – wherever they show up in the world.
Pricing
Bynder doesn’t share pricing information on their website, so you’ll have to get in touch to see their costs.
Final thoughts
For every stage of your label design project, there’s a tool to make the process faster, simpler, and more collaborative.
But if there’s one thing you should remember from this article, it’s that you should always, always, always proof your label designs before sending them to the printers.
Got a design you need to proof with your team? Try Filestage for free today →
