The most common product label design mistakes are choosing the wrong roll or application format, mismatching adhesive to the product’s actual use, not accounting for how a design distorts on a curved surface, skipping a full-size proof, using too many fonts, and missing required label information. Most of these are cheap to fix before printing and expensive to fix after.
Key Takeaways
• Roll direction and application format depend on whether a label is applied by hand or by machine, and getting this wrong causes real production delays
• Adhesive needs to match how the label is actually used, a tamper-evident label and a simple price label need different properties
• A design that looks fine flat can distort once it wraps around a curved bottle or jar
• Printing a thumbnail of the artwork at the label’s actual size catches resolution problems a screen preview misses
• Saga Designs handles label design as part of a full packaging design process, not a separate afterthought
Introduction
A product label carries more responsibility than most people expect from something so small. It has to look right, fit the container, survive handling, and often carry legally required information, all at once. If you’re new to packaging generally, our guide on what packaging design actually involves is a good place to start before this one.
This guide covers the mistakes that come up constantly in label design and printing, including a few technical details most guides skip entirely.
Mistake One: Choosing the Wrong Roll or Application Format
Labels are typically supplied as rolls, cut singles, or sheets, and choosing the wrong one depends on how the label actually gets applied, by hand, by machine, at one location, or across several.
Rolls work well with automated application machines but can be awkward to apply by hand. Cut singles cost more to produce but suit situations where labels need to be distributed to multiple sites or people. Sheets make sense when a business needs several different label shapes or sizes printed together. This is a decision worth making before a print order goes in, not after, since the wrong format can mean labels that don’t work with the equipment a business or its co-packer already has.
Mistake Two: Mismatched Adhesive and Material
The adhesive and the label stock need to match how the label is actually going to be used, not just how it looks, since a strong adhesive on the wrong material can either fail to hold or refuse to come off when it needs to.
A tamper-evident label often uses a strong adhesive on a paper stock specifically so it can’t be removed and reapplied without visibly damaging it. That same combination causes real frustration if it’s used on a simple price label a retailer needs to remove cleanly. Matching adhesive properties to the label’s actual job, not just picking whatever looks right, avoids a problem that only shows up once the product is already in someone’s hands.
Mistake Three: Not Accounting for Curved Surfaces
A label designed and reviewed as a flat file can distort noticeably once it wraps around a curved bottle or jar, an effect that’s easy to miss until the physical product is actually sitting in front of you.
Text, logos, and fine lines near the edges of a label are most affected, since the curve stretches and compresses the design unevenly depending on the container’s shape. This is worth testing on an actual sample or mockup of the real container before finalising artwork, rather than assuming a flat proof tells the full story.
Mistake Four: Skipping a Full-Size Proof Test
Approving label artwork on a screen without checking it printed at actual size, on the actual material, misses problems a digital preview simply can’t show.
A simple, practical check catches most of this early. Print a thumbnail of any image used on the label at its true final size, and check for fuzziness or pixelation before committing to a full run. Colour can shift between screen and print too, depending on the material and printing method, which is another reason a physical proof matters more than a confident-looking file on a monitor.
Mistake Five: Too Many Fonts or Poor Hierarchy
Using more than two or three fonts on a single label makes it look disorganised, and failing to make the most important information, the brand name and product type, visually larger than everything else makes a label harder to read at a glance.
This matters more on a label than almost anywhere else in a brand’s materials, since the physical space is small and the decision window is short. A customer picking up a product on a shelf decides what it is and whether it’s worth a closer look in a couple of seconds. A label with a clear size hierarchy, the brand name and product type prominent, everything else smaller and secondary, works with that short window instead of against it.
Mistake Six: Missing or Incorrect Regulatory Information
Product labels, particularly for food, beverage, cosmetics, and health products, often carry legally required information, and missing or incorrectly formatted details can lead to real compliance problems, not just a design critique.
In Australia, food labelling requirements are set by Food Standards Australia New Zealand, and the specific requirements vary depending on the product category, which matters most for fast moving consumer goods specifically, where compliance and shelf appeal both have to work together.It’s worth confirming exactly what applies to your product rather than assuming a general label template covers it. This is one area where getting a second, informed set of eyes on a label before printing is worth the extra step, since a compliance mistake discovered after a full print run is far more costly than catching it beforehand.
Mistake Seven: Ignoring How the Label Prints on Different Materials
The same label design can look noticeably different depending on whether it’s printed on paper, film, or a synthetic material, since each surface handles ink, colour, and finish differently.
Paper stock generally suits dry, indoor products well but can struggle with moisture or refrigeration. Film or synthetic materials tend to hold up better for products exposed to moisture, oils, or cold storage. Choosing a material based only on look, without considering what the product’s actual storage and handling conditions will be, is a common way a label that looked great on approval ends up peeling or fading within weeks of hitting shelves.
Mistake Eight: Not Testing Barcode Scannability
A barcode that looks fine visually can still fail to scan properly at checkout if it’s printed too small, distorted by a curved surface, or placed in an area that gets creased or folded during handling.
This is easy to overlook since a barcode’s job isn’t about how it looks, it’s about whether a scanner can actually read it reliably. Testing a barcode at its real, final print size and material, not just checking that it’s visually present on the design, catches this before it becomes a problem at a retailer’s checkout counter.
Mistake Nine: Bringing in a Label Designer Too Late
Finalising a product’s shape, size, and packaging structure before involving anyone with label design or printing experience often means the label gets designed around constraints that could have been avoided entirely.
A label designer who’s involved early can flag issues with a container’s shape, size, or material before they become fixed decisions, rather than being handed a finished product and asked to make a label work around limitations nobody planned for. This is part of why label design works best as part of a connected packaging process rather than a separate, later step, the same thinking behind the structural and strategic packaging decisions covered in our guide to custom packaging design.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the most common mistake in product label design?
Skipping a full-size, physical proof test is one of the most common and most costly mistakes, since problems with colour, resolution, or fit often don’t show up until the label exists in its actual final form, not on a screen.
Do I need different labels for different container materials?
Not necessarily different labels, but the same design may need different adhesive and material choices depending on whether it’s applied to a bottle, a box, or a curved container, since each surface and use case has different requirements.
How do I know if my label design meets Australian requirements?
Requirements vary by product category and are set by Food Standards Australia New Zealand for food and beverage products. It’s worth confirming the specific requirements for your product directly, since a general label template won’t necessarily cover every category correctly.
Can I fix a label mistake after it’s already printed?
Sometimes, depending on the issue. A design or hierarchy problem usually requires a reprint. A format or application issue, like choosing rolls when sheets were needed, can sometimes be resolved without redesigning the label itself, just reprinting in the correct format.
Should label design happen before or after packaging structure is finalised?
Ideally alongside it, not strictly after. Involving label design input while the packaging structure is still being decided avoids designing a label around constraints that could have been addressed earlier in the process.
Conclusion
Most label design mistakes come down to the same root cause, treating the label as a flat graphic rather than a physical object that has to survive real handling, real materials, and real regulatory requirements. Saga Designs handles label design as part of a connected packaging design process, not a separate afterthought. Get in touch for a free quote based on your product.
