There are so many uses of labels that it feels like a herculean task to list them all! There are several main or unusual ones that you might not be aware of and these could inspire you to find new uses for labels yourself in your personal and professional life.
Colour Coding
Being able to quickly and efficiently sort and categorise your items, products, files and belongings is a must and one of the best ways of doing this is through using labels as a colour coding system. Whether using differently coloured labels from the outset or using pens to colour white labels, once you have this system in place you will find you can quickly and easily find what you need when you need it. Make sure you create a colour coded chart at the beginning of the system not only to remind you of the colours but to be able to quickly educate anybody else learning the system into what goes where.
Stickers
Using a label as a generic sticker is also a quick, easy and useful way of identifying many items. They can be plain, hand written or pre-printed if enough information is available. Even people can have labels with their names on them at business or networking events to help others quickly identify them and provide an important reminder for others without the embarrassing tasks of asking somebody their name minutes after they have already told you!
Pricing
We all know from our trips to the supermarket or local store that labels are used to price items. Sticking one on with ink or writing them lets somebody know immediately how much they will have to pay for an item and with advancements in label technology, they can be easily removed after purpose to keep the integrity of the product packaging. If the label is big enough, it can also be printed with even more information such as ingredients and dietary information so people with allergies can more easily identify any potentially dangerous products for them.
Sales Marketing and Promotions
Labels are also used quite prominently when promoting individual goods. It might be a price reduction on an item, a promotional event such as buy two and get one free, a competition to win prizes buy buying the product or otherwise entering or to raise awareness of social media accounts or other initiatives to promote brand awareness. Marketing is all about making your name memorable to customers and getting associated with positive images in their minds and using labels in this manner is a good way of achieving these goals.
Packaging
How else do you know what a product is and who made it? We don’t think of packaging as labels but they are. Whether it’s the company logo, website, social media or other contact details – personalised packaging or labels can help create and grow brand awareness and let everybody know who you are and how they can get in touch with you.
Of course not every label has to have a business use, they can be used equally effectively in personal or other every-day situations too.
Life saving vests
Children hate wearing them and expensive adult ones have a tendency to disappear when other users find them alone and not being used. Using labels to indicate ownership is a good idea and can help engage the children if they can design their own label and get them to stick it on the vest. Waterproof labels are the best for this.
Uniforms – school and business
One of the worst things about buying school uniforms is that they will disappear and there is little to no chance of them being returned if they are not clearly labeled with the owners name on them. Placing it in a discrete secure place inside the garment is the best option as they tend to fall and go walkabout. This advice also applies to any other uniform required to be worn in any capacity as adult ones tend to grow legs and wander themselves given the occasion too.
Gardening
A herb garden outside or inside is a great addition to any kitchen or greenhouse and identifying the plants with labels is a useful and interesting use of them. Putting their English and Latin names on them along with any other information is a great way of helping to maintain them and keep them in perfect condition for as long as possible. Be sure to use waterproof labels if possible as sap and water from watering as well as other conditions could cause regular labels to deteriorate quickly.
Frozen Food
Labeling frozen food in the freezer is a good idea as you can write what the meal is, when it was put in the container and even calorific information if you are following a diet and want to keep the information to enter on an app or other tracker.
If you use labels for any other purpose please let us know, we’d love to feature it in future!
