labels Salsa label suggestions needed

salsalady

salsalady

Business Member
Hey, y'all.  Time for another label critique/suggestions thread for Texas Creek Salsa!
 
I need to streamline production for the salsa and maybe launch into some new markets.  This salsa has been made and sold for about 20 years.  The Chile Pepper Guy and Gal have been on the label since the very beginning.  They were sketched by tattoo artist Tim Sconce with colored pencils on a plain piece of white paper.  The original sketches were lost when the original print shop went out of business and pitched the hard copies. :(  (a big regret of mine). 
 
 
There are several things going on here so please bear with me as the items are addressed.
 
Here's the scenario-
I have one basic label that is used on all salsa tubs and then each tub gets a flavor sticker with  "Mild Medium Hot Scorcher". 
 
Right now, the rectangular label is applied to every tub and then the Flavor dot is applied.  I've looked at getting printed tubs (with a minimum of about 48,000) and that would only be for the basic label and each flavor dot would still have to be applied by hand....or do 4 runs x 48,000 for the 4 flavors..... :eek:....[maybe next year~~~]
 
 
So I'm back to looking at getting printed labels that would be hand applied.  4 different label versions for the front panels and one label for the back which would have NIP, bar code, ingredients, contact, etc.  I can get 5 separate labels printed fairly economically compared to doing a LARGE run of printed tubs. 
 
Here's the basic label and the 4 flavor dots-
IMG_4958.JPG

 
Because a rectangular label is applied to a tapered tub, it doesn't lay out even on the tub (the ends of the straight label curve up following the contours of the tub), but it is what it is.... the flavor dots are applied to the right of the main panel and covers the stem of the GreenGal chile.
IMG_4957.JPG

 
 
Basically, I'm looking at getting some custom die-cut labels which would have a camel hump top-center where the flavor graphic would be so I don't have to apply each individual flavor sticker on each tub.  What you see below is mock-ups using my current labels.  When I say Flavor Dots, it would no longer be a separate sticker applied by hand, it would be printed on the label.
 
My questions for y'all are----
 
The original flavor dots are round and oval.  Should they stay round and oval as required by the length of the words or should they all be oval?  Literal Cut-n-Paste examples- Oval Medium and 2 options for HOT, one original round and one oval-
IMG_4965.JPG

 
 
Should the Flavors be aligned STRAIGHT atop the main panel or should they by slightly off-kilter like they all are on the hand applied dots that we've been doing for 20 years?
 
IMG_4960.JPG

 
IMG_4961.JPG

 
 
 
I remember about 15 years ago when my dad was helping label a batch and he was spending a lot of time making sure the flavor dots were all nice and straight and I told him to just stick 'em on there!  I like that they aren't straight!  It's part of the hand made thing~~~ but...that's just me~  If I print a run of several thousand labels with off-kilter flavor dots....will it fly or flop?
 
Recap-
should the yellow flavor dot graphic be oval and round or all oval?
should the flavor dot graphic be aligned straight with the rest of the text or can they be printed slightly off-kilter to make it look more like hand applied stickers?
 
The main logo graphics will be adjusted a liitle outward and shallower to accomodate the flavor dot at the top.  All the other S-n-S (sheet-and-schtuff) will go on another label either on the back or the top.  Haven't decided which would be faster for packaging.  ~
 
Thanks for your opinions.  Hope this makes sense.
 
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Have a beer and go to sleep, amigo.  I'm not going to press tomorrow.  Heck, it'll be March before the draft horses can even get the press to town!
 
 
 

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I like them off-kilter, however may change the colors so they don't look so generic.  Mild-green, medium-yellow, Hot-orange, scorcher-red........ or green, orange, red, flames looking scorcher.  /shrug Just my 2 cents.  When I see generic looking stickers on items it makes me think that maybe the store got a giant tub of it and repackaged, and I won't buy that stuff since it is usually some off brand of junk they repackage for more money or is about out of date.
 
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My 2 cents: I definitely like the off kilter look. It keeps there from being too many straight lines on top of each other. And I think I'd go for oval, but I'm less sure on that point. 
 
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I'm not as much a fan of the off-kilter look as others but it's ok either eay.

What I'm not feeling is the egg-yolk round yellow dot.

Maybe consider making it a mini sunburst with little points around it - that's a very familiar call-out on packaging ("New & Improved!", "now with less feces!", etc)

Something Like this:
http://www.wavemaker.com/archive/wavemaker-50-new-and-improved/

Or make concentric circles by doing rings of different hues of yellow...anything so it's not a big egg yolk at the top.
:)
 
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What about label printed on white lids? Or is that what you meant when you said printed tubs?  I see that a lot around here, including the little salsa factory next to my work.
 
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:lol:  ^^^
 
 
hogleg, the tubs need the logo etc on the sides of the tub, not the lids.  The Info panel (NIP, Etc)  might be able to be printed on the lid, but I'd have to do about 48,000,  that's 96 cases. 
 
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Lose the bubble top, take out the word Premium, and put Mild Medium Hot Scorcher there, but printed, not sticker.
 
Texas Creek
Mild
Salsa
 
Texas Creek
Scorcher
Salsa
 
Premium is gasoline.
 
And they all have different ingredients right? So you need 4 different back labels, make 4 different front. :)
 
They can all have a different look. Scorcher can have a fiery font, etc.
 
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All the same ingredients-
 
"Ingredients- tomatoes*, tomato juice, onion*, green pepper*, cilantro, vinegar, hot peppers (except Mild), spices, salt, sugar, xanthan.  *FRESH  No MSG or Preservatives."
 
And if I do put a little chile in the Mild, then that ( ) would be removed.
 
I'll get some more labels and see how it looks with the sticker in the middle.
here's another question-  since tomatoes is plural, should onion and green pepper be plural?  or should tomato be singular with onion and green pepper?
 
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Don't OCD over matching singulars to plurals, some words work better for each and it's fine.
 
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rethinking this a bit...I like the oval better if it's an angular ("off-kilter") positioning of the word. I like the round better if it's a horizontal word. 
 
But I'm still not loving the simple 1-color round look. The only way I think that pops is if the word is coming out of the circle, like this (for example): 
12573074_10153754074405340_8861197266948556794_n.jpg

 
Otherwise I'd much prefer something that's eye catching for that kind of call-out, like the starburst: 
 
12494967_10153754083215340_5994282029960081156_n.jpg

 
To me it just pops more than the plain circle. 
 
You could also try the bullseye effect if you don't like the ridges of the starburst: 
 
12523897_10153754096070340_4323485135117957758_n.jpg

 
Just food for thought on making that pop more. 
 
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