A question of choice

Shrink sleeves have long been recognized as the perfect method for labelling all manner of products, due to their ability to provide high quality decoration, tamper evidence and promotional messages, even on unusually shaped containers. This versatility has led to the development of a wide range of materials, printing processes and application machines to cater for the diverse needs of a variety of shrink sleeve users. However, the choice can sometimes be daunting and an understanding of what is most suitable is vital for the overall aesthetic appearance.

CCL Decorative Sleeves believes that tailored solutions are fundamental to meeting customers' highest expectations. Customers today expect excellent quality and price competitiveness whatever their branding, budget and lead time requirements. The most successful sleeve designs need to take all these factors into consideration, and very often it is a bespoke solution that best meets the needs of both product and customer.

Support

Comprehensive project management and specialist technical support can make all the difference when choosing a sleeve manufacturing partner. Each of the main sleeving materials has its different strengths. PVC is easy to control during the shrink process and is cost effective; it has good scuff resistance and is available in pasteurizable grades. PET offers a higher percentage of shrink, which is an advantage in such applications, and may also be pasteurized. OPS is appropriate for many types of squeezable containers because its lower vertical shrink properties give a more consistent finish in certain applications.

Similarly, there are some general guidelines that can help in the selection of the right printing method. Gravure is a well established and consistent process which offers high quality photographic reproduction and particularly high lustre metallic effects. The nature of the origination process helps to ensure consistency of reproduction over a long period of time. Gravure will deliver strong brand image and on-shelf impact.

Flexo printing offers a degree of flexibility that makes it particularly suitable for multi volume, multi variant requirements. Lower origination costs and in-house plate production mean it is also appropriate where a rapid response is needed, for example for an urgent launch or special edition. UV flexo can deliver high quality reproduction, using UV printing techniques that allow the inks to dry rapidly, thereby ensuring a good depth of colour.

Of course, it is not always a case of choosing one option over another; it is entirely possible that a larger or more complex project will benefit from a varied solution that utilizes multiple materials or printing techniques. The recent relaunch of Arla Foods' cream range required the simultaneous manufacture of over 90 individual sleeve designs, requiring high quality graphics and excellent reproduction of full colour photography. In order to meet these standards across a range of product and packaging types, CCL Decorative Sleeves used all three major printing processes - gravure, CI flexo and UV flexo - and supplied sleeves in both OPS and PVC.

Choosing the right machinery for sleeve application is another crucial aspect. The factors to take into consideration include line speed requirements, available factory space, and familiarity with a particular supplier.

Each product or application differs in some small way from any other and so the sleeve material, printing and application processes - as well as the nature of the pack itself - all need to be taken into consideration in order to develop the best bespoke solution. The result will be appropriate, cost effective and - most of all - distinctive.

What exactly constitutes a successful pack design? Making sure a pack is convenient and user friendly is vital for the longer term fortunes of a product but creating the right brand image and on-shelf differentiation are key to encouraging trial and purchase in the first place.

When it comes to a pack's appearance, effective decoration is a major component of a successful design. Unusual and eye catching shapes are an excellent means of attracting attention but these can be further enhanced with the right graphics. However, it may not always be practical or economical to use unusually shaped designs - and indeed many brands do not take the customized route and are packed in standard containers. In these circumstances, decoration provides the best opportunity to maximize on-shelf appeal.

Impressions

A recent example is the sleeve designs we developed for US wine importer Click Wine Group's Bootleg range of Italian wines, which created the impression of the bottles being 'dressed' in leather, with a zip running down their length. This innovative approach to wine packaging, which also included a tactile effect for the sleeves, was nevertheless achieved using a standard bottle.

And while Smirnoff's Signatures vodka based cocktails are packed in bespoke 70cl glass bottles that resemble the shape of the traditional cocktail shaker, it is the use of sleeves to deliver the necessary metallic appearance that completes this effect on shelf.

What both these examples demonstrate is the suitability of sleeve technology in helping to create effective design solutions. The ability to offer all-over decoration, using a variety of printing effects and special inks to achieve a quality of print finish and registration that would not be possible by printing directly onto the container is one of the principle advantages of shrink sleeves over other decoration possibilities. A sleeve's all-over coverage and ability to fit the contours of a pack also mean that it is often the only decoration choice for unusually shaped containers.

Shrink sleeves are typically printed on the internal surface of clear film, which means that the print is not subject to scratching and scuffing, a major means of maintaining brand image on-shelf despite the rigours of the distribution system. This also enables designers to incorporate clear and opaque areas within a single label, very useful for the creation of visi-strips and no-label look designs.

The origination process itself is also highly specialized to ensure the sleeve achieves the desired finished effect. Printing of both text and graphics is often pre-distorted to take into account the contours of the container shape, so that after shrinking the result looks exactly as if it had been printed directly onto the container. Often the measure of success is the extent to which the consumer is unable to differentiate the sleeve from the container beneath.

Use of shrink sleeves also offers a more practical benefit. Today, many markets are increasingly subject to legislation and other demands, which requires the inclusion of a lot of detailed product information or bar codes that can intrude and have a detrimental effect on the look of a pack. Full body sleeves provide the maximum decoration area with enough space to allow such detail to be incorporated without compromising the overall effect of the label design. In addition, multiple languages can be included on a single sleeve for use in more than one country.

The flexibility of sleeves to decorate many shapes and types of pack is also particularly useful for promotional campaigns. Shrink sleeves provide a very effective means of creating an eye catching, limited period promotion, where the sleeve can be applied to a standard pack, obscuring the normal decoration during the promotion. In such cases shrink sleeves offer the additional flexibility that they can easily be applied by hand for short runs without interrupting mainstream production.

Another benefit for promotional requirements is the availability of double-sided printing, which enables competition or promotion information to be carried on the reverse. Features such as T perforations on the sleeve can then be used to allow easy removal of the section on which the prize details are printed. The rest of the sleeve remains on the bottle to maintain branding.

Nevertheless, just as a container's design needs to include practicality as well as good looks to ensure long-term success, so too can a sleeve's design contribution be more than purely decorative. For example, it can provide a tamper evident feature. This can be supplied either in the form of a shrink sleeve seal, or incorporated into the full body shrink sleeve.

Ultimately, successful pack designs are the result of a combination of factors and techniques. In most cases, decoration will play a significant role and with sleeves, manufacturers have the flexibility to meet a number of different requirements.