What makes the best layout for clothing labels?

Keeping it simple

When thinking about your clothing labels and there design the simpler the better.

Keeping designs minimal is usually the best course of action. There is only one thing that your main clothing label should tell a potential customer; who you are – it’s as simple as that! How you achieve this is down to your imagination and flair, but all a clothing label really needs to convey is your brand.

Many people try to get as much information into their label artwork as possible including wash care instructions, sizes, country of origin and even full postal and web addresses! This maybe great information but all it does is distract from the main reason you are using clothing labels and that is to brand your garments. You need your labels to stand out rather than get lost in a wealth of information.

The biggest brands in the world don’t need to tell their customers where to send them mail or give them a call because there branding is strong and their products and the qualities of those products is demonstrative of this quality. A distinct logo, name and slogan can go a long way to defining your brand compared to anything else, no matter what the company or product.

The most recognisable brands use clothing labels which consist of just a single logo or device such as Nike, CK (Calvin Kline), Lacoste. Even car manufactures only use a single badge or a logo as a really effective method of showing off their brand. This can be done through the use of colour, companies such as Nike will use a wide range of vibrant colours to promote their athletic and “youthful” looks, whereas companies like Calvin Kline and Hugo Boss tend to use blacks, greys and whites to promote to a more sophisticated client base.

A lot of companies also use a specific type face on their labels for their name to reinforce their brand credentials. Many high street brands tend to do this such as Next, Coast, Marks & Spencer and Primark. All of these brands use simple type faces and colours on their labels when branding their goods. Any extra information given to the customer is usually given on separate labels such as satin wash care labels or swing tickets.

Clean simple clothing labels shows the customer what to expect from the company reputation, clothing quality and styles. The colours tend to stay the same as people recognise them, the green of M&S the black and white of Next are easily recognisable whether on a label in the back of a garment or on 15 meter high signage at a retail park. People know and trust the brand and that’s why it’s used on every product they sell.

A big part of some companies branding is their slogan. A simple phrase that can tell a potential customer what the company does, what its values are or even what it wants you to do with its products.

Slogans are great for labels with back folds such as loop folds and center folds as it can give you the space to put you slogan and maybe even a web address. If web addresses are being included on their label, most companies leave the “WWW.” off to save on space as most customers understand how to search the internet.

That is really the basics of successful clothing labels. The key element to remember is to make the most of your brand and ensure that you get your message across in the space you have available. Not every piece of information you think the customer needs has to go on your main label. It’s always better for the customer to contact you to find out the information they want and this could be an opportunity to engage with them directly.

Remember, when designing your garments labelling that there are a wide range of different types of labels for different uses. For example, wash care labels, promotional swing tickets and sizes labels are all used for specific purposes leaving your main label free to define you and your products.

Hopefully in this guide we have given you a bit more clarity on what information you should have on your main label when starting from scratch. For more tailored advice or help with your label design, contact us.

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