5 eye-catching design possibilities with pressure-sensitive beer can labels

Bold lettering, tactile touches and brightly colored designs. Creating an eye-catching beer label design is an elemental part of your beer packaging.

Having more arrows in your design quiver — well, that’s going to increase your odds of hitting a design bullseye. And in a space as crowded as the beer market, a striking design means more eyes on your product and more cases in customers’ shopping carts.

The type of label you choose for your beer will have a marked effect on what’s possible (and what’s limited) with design. In this article, we’ll discuss the design limitations of traditional beer can label options. Then we’ll explore exciting possibilities that pressure-sensitive beer can labels can provide for your soon-to-be standout design.

Designing with traditional beer can labels vs. newer pressure-sensitive technology

Shrink sleeves labels

Made of specialty printed film, shrink sleeves are slipped over cans then tightened using heat. Bright colors and opacity are possible for can designs, but they’ll leave a noticeable seam and produce a plastic, glossy texture (which can become more apparent as the can bends while the consumer is drinking it).

You’ll need to make considerations for reducing shrink distortion to prevent a warped design. And finally, depending on the size of your run, it may not be a cost-effective solution for your brewery.

Pre-printed aluminum cans

Pre-printed cans are created by printing designs directly on aluminum cans. It does offer the nostalgic factor; some customers, “appreciate the feel of the aluminum touch versus the plastic sheathing on can sleeves.” But with the exception of some recent novelties, like re-sealable aluminum bottles and extra openings on cans, there’s been little design evolution for this labeling option.

Further, inks can become transparent when printing to can, and there is also a limit on how many Pantone colors you can use on a single can design. Great designs can still be achieved, but you’re working out of a smaller aesthetic toolbox.

Brew Wrap pressure-sensitive can labels

An innovative beer can label product, Brew Wrap, lets you add almost any design customization to your label — while eliminating many of the limitations listed above.

Brew Wrap is a pressure-sensitive label for full beer cans. A cost-effective custom beer label option, Brew Wrap is used for smaller orders of beer can labels. Since it’s applied by pressing it onto beer cans, Brew Wrap allows for the use of design customizations during the production process.

How can Brew Wrap improve my beer label design

1. Add contrast to your beer can design

Traditional beer can design options have limited color options to one level of brightness and gloss. But Brew Wrap lets you create combination matte-gloss finishes. That means you can highlight specific areas of your label and add visual interest to branding and promotional elements. Essentially, any finish is possible.

2. Use any color

Unlike shrink sleeves and pre-printed cans, Brew Wrap lets you add fluorescent colors to your custom beer label. You can create a versatile label with bright colors to make your can stand out. And in a market where 66% of craft beer buyers say that a beer’s package or label is “very” or “extremely” important in capturing their attention, that’s a huge advantage.

3. Incorporate a premium luster

Brew Wrap allows for specialty label design customizations like foil stamping. Metalized embellishments like these have been shown to both attract customers and add to the perception of a higher quality product. You can add a shimmer in any color to catch attention and communicate the craft you put into your brew.

4. Go with a 360-degree beer can design

Use Brew Wrap to give your can full design coverage. This opens up more design possibilities because you don’t have to consider the seam and break your beer can design into sections. Instead, you can use one continuous design all the way around the can.

5. Use a tactile beer label design

Why stop with visual design embellishments? With Brew Wrap, you can create tactile labels and give your customers a more complete in-store product experience.

Varnishes can even allow your brand to command higher prices. A study from California Polytechnic State University showed that consumers actually preferred packaging with tactile finish over packaging without it. Separate your beer with a label finish you can feel.

What’s your beer can design vision?

And more importantly: Do you know how to execute it?

Sharing design ideas like those we’ve listed above is the first step. The next is to talk through what’s possible, ideally with a trusted labeling source.

When you start a conversation with us, we’ll ask about your design vision and discuss how to bring it to life in the most efficient manner possible.