Long-form guides for brand founders.
Practical, tactical writing on labels, pouches, folding cartons, specialty finishing, FDA compliance, and supplier scaling — from the prepress and production team at Bazaar Printing in downtown Los Angeles.
How to design a coffee bag label that doesn't get rejected
A walkthrough of the seven file mistakes that send coffee-bag labels back to the design queue — bleed, safe zone, weight regs, Pantone drift, and more.
Mylar pouch sizing guide for food and beverage brands
Pick the right stand-up pouch size for your product weight, bulk density, and shelf footprint — with real dimensions, fill weights, and finishing options.
Raised UV vs foil — when to use which on product labels
Two specialty finishes that founders confuse constantly. Here's the tactical breakdown of when raised UV beats foil, when foil wins, and when to use both.
Soft-touch lamination explained for beauty packaging
Why soft-touch is the default finish for prestige beauty, what it costs, what it kills (raised UV, foil readability), and when matte beats it.
What drives the cost of custom packaging
Why two custom-box quotes for the same job land far apart — the seven variables that move price, ranked by impact.
Custom folding cartons vs corrugated mailers
Two completely different box categories that founders pick wrong constantly. Here's when you need each, the cost difference, and the mistakes that ship products damaged.
How to pick a label material for cosmetics
Lotion, serum, oil, hair product, and bath — each cosmetic category has a label substrate that survives the product. Here's the match-up.
Variable-data labels for batch tracking
Lot codes, batch numbers, QR codes, expiration dates — how to design a label that prints unique data per piece without slowing the line.
Custom box dieline guide for new brands
What a dieline is, how to read one, what every founder gets wrong on their first dieline, and how to spec a box without a structural designer.
Product labeling compliance for FDA categories
Food, cosmetics, supplements, OTC drugs — each FDA category has its own labeling rules. Here's the operating checklist for each.
Bleed, safe zone, trim — artwork prep for printers
Three terms that printers assume you know and you probably don't. Here's exactly what each means, why printers reject artwork that ignores them, and how to set them up in Illustrator.
Why your Pantone color doesn't match in CMYK
Your brand book says PMS 7637. Your printer prints in CMYK. The printed brand color is off. Here's why, and how to lock the color tight.
Beauty product packaging trends 2026
What prestige-beauty brands are actually doing in 2026 — refill systems, mono-material recyclability, soft-touch + foil, and the moves that look dated already.
From 50 units to 50,000 — scaling your packaging supplier
Different stages of brand growth need different packaging vendors. Here's the supplier ladder, when to switch, and the trap of staying with a launch printer too long.
Choosing between in-house printing vs trade-printer broker
Most 'printing companies' you find online don't actually print anything. Here's how to tell, why it matters for quality and lead time, and when a broker actually wins.
Have a launch coming up?
Get a free sample pack mailed to your office — substrate swatches, finish samples, and a printed proof of your artwork before you commit to a full run.