A supplement label has to do a lot in a small space: sell the product, meet labeling rules and survive the print run. When something goes wrong, it is rarely the big idea. It is a dieline that changed, a barcode that will not scan or a color that prints darker than it looked on screen. Here is what we check on every label before it leaves the studio.

1. The dieline is the printer’s latest version

Bottles, jars and pouches change between suppliers and even between runs. Always design on the dieline your printer sends for this job, and confirm the label size, the overlap and any areas that wrap out of view. A label that is two millimeters too wide is a reprint.

For the Medusa Interface mailer box, the artwork was built on the printer’s dieline and sent with a print specification sheet.

2. Bleed, safe zone and minimum type size

Artwork should run past the trim line, and every important element should sit well inside it. Keep the supplement facts panel and warnings at a readable size; small type on a curved bottle is harder to read than it looks on a flat proof.

On the 15 ml Ekfa Glow packs the panels are narrow, so each face keeps generous white space and only what a customer needs at that moment.

3. Colors are set up for the press, not the screen

Screens show color in light; presses print it in ink. Brand colors should be specified in the way your printer works, whether that is CMYK or spot colors, and anything special such as foil or a white underprint needs its own clearly named layer.

On the Dr. Stroux Naturals carton, gold foil sits on deep green stock, so the foil has its own layer in the file.

See print ready packaging files

4. The barcode scans and the facts panel matches the formula

Print the barcode at the size it will be printed and test it with a scanner app. Then check the facts panel line by line against the final formula from your manufacturer, not an earlier draft.

On a US supplement label, this panel is the Supplement Facts panel. Have it, and every claim on the label, reviewed before you approve the artwork. On the Ekfa Glow back panels, the barcode and the distribution details sit in the same type system as the front.

Design guidance is not legal advice. Have final copy reviewed by a regulatory specialist.

5. One final proof, read by two people

Before approving, read the proof as a customer would and once more as a checker would: spelling, claims, net quantity, batch and expiry areas, and contact details. Two fresh pairs of eyes catch what one tired pair misses.

Final proof is a second check by a fresh pair of eyes. Ask who will do it before you approve print.

We build these checks into every project, and we stay involved until your printer approves the proof. If you are preparing a label and want a second look, send it over.