Since so many different products can be sold in bottles, there's no one ideal bottle labeling strategy. Rather, it's up to your business to create bottle labels that fit your specific objectives and branding.

Bottle label production could mean using plastic or glass bottles, producing water or spirits, printing large custom labels that cover the whole bottle or small labels that let the color of the liquid show through. High-quality bottle labels range from subtle and old-fashioned wine labels to colorful, waterproof sports drink labels, or even personalized water bottle labels where every bottle is marked with a different name.

When you have a capable label printing partner on your side, there are few limits on the kind of bottle labels you can produce.

The Wide World of Bottle Labels

When it's time to redesign your labels for bottles — or to create a packaging strategy for a whole new bottled product — there are a host of successful examples that can pique your imagination. Inspiration galleries, such as the one from 99designs, show off the wide variety of strategies brands have used to label their bottled items.

Bottle labels can reach extremes in terms of design decisions. While some wine labels are designed to evoke old-fashioned glamor using techniques like foil stamping and embossing, not every effective bottle label design needs to be so heavily adorned.

Sometimes with a bottle label design, less is more. Using a clear polymer material can reveal the color of the liquid underneath. In the case of a colorful soft drink or sports beverage, that could be a compelling selling point. Even if your product is water, the clear and clean water could be enticing for consumers.

Of course, some factors limit the amount of room you have to work with on the creative elements of the label design. Especially if your product contains alcohol, there are extra disclosures to include, and they're different for beer and other spirits. Getting in compliance and paying close attention to everything from wording to font size, comes first. Once that's settled, you can focus on making compelling graphic design decisions.

Glass Bottle Labels — Wine, Beer, Spirits and More

Design considerations for glass bottles will vary widely. Even within the world of alcohol labeling, there's no one set of standards to follow. Different beverages are defined by their own norms and trends, and tapping into these patterns — or subverting them creatively — will help you stand out.

• Beer bottles: Craft beer is one of the most competitive and creative fields in terms of labeling. Breweries have been trying to outdo one another for decades now. Rather than copying any of the thousands of examples on the market, make sure your chosen design — from font choice to label material and finish — clearly articulates something about your brand identity.
• Wine bottles: Wine label design is typically more reserved than beer labeling, with many brands opting for classy labels that look like aging paper, or subtle labels combining a black or white backdrop with opposite-colored or metallic text. Of course, there is also room to experiment in the wine space: Vineyards have been some of the earliest adopters of tech-enabled augmented reality features on their wine bottle label designs.
• Spirits bottles: If anything, spirits are even more restrained than wine when it comes to labeling strategies. A good bottle of whiskey or another spirit is a significant investment for a customer, so a subtly and skillfully designed label can make buyers feel like they're getting quality for their money. Techniques like embossing and foil stamping can help convey this impression.

Plastic Bottle Labels — Water, Juice, Soft Drinks and More

When creating plastic bottle labels, one of the most important considerations is label material. If your material of choice is tough and water-resistant, the design will keep looking good, even if the bottle gets wet when stored in a cooler, or if they re-cap it and carry it around all day. Graphic design considerations depend on what's in the bottle:

• Water bottles: Custom water bottle labels can be very minimal, giving an impression of cleanliness and purity. Water is one of the product types where less is definitely more. There is another option, too: customized water bottles handed out as favors at events. They can be adorned with a company name, or even personalized with each attendee's name.
• Soft drink bottles: When competing for soft drink customers, it can pay to be flashy and fun. This might be best exemplified by Jones Soda Co., which offers up labels with dozens of different designs rather than sticking with a single logo.
• Juice bottles: Juice products tend to be healthier than soft drinks. This means you can win customers over by making claims about the wholesome contents of your products. The caveat associated with this strategy is you have to ensure your products actually qualify for what you're attesting: The Food and Drug Administration closely controls the definition of various terms.

The Ideal Partner for Custom Bottle Label Printing

Finding a partner organization to print custom bottle labels for your company is a way to lock in quality and performance, helping ensure that your product packaging lives up to your goals and expectations. This label printer should offer label material variety, along with the ability to produce bottle labels in a shape and size that will fit your items perfectly.

Lightning Labels has spent over 20 years becoming the ideal partner for companies across industries, using all-digital label printing methods to deliver sharp-looking labels that will suit any type of product. Digital printing enables variable label production, so you can create unique, small batches of labels when you need them, such as for personalized custom water bottle labels.

Lightning Labels offers effects, such as hot foil stamping and embossing, to make sure wine labels and spirits labels look exclusive and impressive, as well as water-resistant polypropylene materials that enable tough drink labels that won't break down, even when exposed to water. All of this is available with remarkably fast turnaround times.

If you're ready to start revolutionizing your custom label printing strategy, request a free quote today.