The Art & Practice of Typography / A Manual of American Printing, Including a Brief History up to the Twentieth Century, with Reproductions of the Work of Early Masters of the Craft, and a Practical Discussion and an Extensive Demonstration of the Modern Use of Type-faces and Methods of Arrangement

by Edmund G. Gress

PACKAGE LABELS

The effect of an attractive package is recognized to be of such importance that a widely known manufacturing concern recently sued a competitor for imitating the appearance of its packages and labels. However, not all business men feel this way about it.

After spending time and money in the production of merchandise of high quality, it is more than foolish to economize on the packing.

It is possible, with good clothes well selected, to make an unattractive person attractive, and it is also possible to make an attractive person unattractive by poor clothes ill selected. Apply this.

The wrapping paper should be strong, and of color and finish suited to the article to be wrapped. Some stylish city dry-goods houses use paper with distinctive stripes or small monograms printed over its surface. A well-known haberdasher wraps his hats in soft black paper.

The selection of the wrapping stock should of course be governed by the character of the business and the class of customers, but as in similar instances, it is dangerous to underestimate the taste of one’s customers. The persons who lack appreciation of a neatly wrapped and attractive package are very few indeed.

Among merchants, druggists are known to wrap the neatest packages. This seems to be due in part to their professional training. Not many printers give their product a similar attractiveness at the time of delivery.

EXAMPLE 325
A hand-lettered design for typographic study

EXAMPLE 326
Another label rich in suggestion

The art of making a good impression also includes the fastening of the wrapper. Cord and twine are commonly used, and interest is sometimes added by selecting appropriate colors. Linen tape for a business of an exclusive nature gives distinction.

Gummed-paper tape, while convenient, seldom looks well, and when printed on looks worse.

Corrugated board when properly used adds both neatness and protection to the package. Some printers have cartons made from this board, in which their product is packed and delivered.

The printed label is of the most interest, as it affords a spot of attraction and furnishes information needed in the delivery of packages. All labels should be planned with the wrapping paper as a background. A label may look well alone, yet when placed on the package may appear weak and uninteresting.

In order to test this, two labels of contrasting treatment are pictured mounted on a sheet of conventional wrapping paper.

It will be admitted that the stronger label is more striking and catches the attention. There are those who will prefer the weaker label because of its neatness and beauty, yet we must not lose sight of the fact that labels, unlike business cards and letterheads, are not usually seen at close range when on packages. A business card is examined a few inches from the eyes, while a label on a package is frequently viewed from a point several feet away.

EXAMPLE 327
Ruled lines for the address, in panel

EXAMPLE 328
A mass of black lettering with contrasts

EXAMPLE 329
Artistic quality and interest through typography

There does not seem to be any standard size for labels. They vary from four, five and six inches wide to three, four and five inches high. When The American Printer conducted a label competition it specified the size as five by four inches, and this seems to be a good average size.

The paper on which the label is printed should be stock that pastes easily. White is used to the greatest extent, altho a cream-tinted color such as comes in Japan vellum is preferred by some persons of good taste.

Example [323] (Insert).—As has been said, this label shows the effectiveness of heavy effects. A design such as this has advertising value. It can be seen and read at some distance, yet is not offensive in appearance. The red border is attractive, and merges the label with the wrapping background. The type-face has decorative quality. The combination of black, red and cream in strong contrasts is worthy of study. As will be noticed, all capitals have been used, and there is not much space between the lines or between border and type-face.

Example [324] (Insert).—For small packages and for a business that places emphasis on daintiness this label treatment would be just the thing. The classic simplicity of its design and the mere touch of color should appeal to many. The main line is set in fourteen-point capitals and the other three lines in twelve-point small capitals. Letterspacing adds decorative interest and merges the letters with the background by allowing the paper to show thru. The type-face is Goudy Oldstyle. The dots between the words are hyphens slightly cut. The border is arranged to suggest an architectural panel. This label and the preceding one have been composed merely to suggest possible effects. It would not be difficult to adapt most label copy to the styles shown.

Example [325].—This and other hand-lettered labels included in this chapter are presented as studies for the typographer. Hand-lettered designs by good artists are usually arranged with much thought, and the details give many ideas to those who have trained themselves to grasp them. It will be noticed that the border of this label is composed of three lines, a heavy and light line close together and a light line a trifle removed. At the head are two lines of roman capitals and one of italic. Do not overlook the smaller capitals “M” and “O,” and the close spacing of the words in italic. The device is small and in color. The use of roman lower-case, capitals and small capitals and italic in the lower group should be examined carefully. While it is not possible to obtain exactly these same results with type, they can be approximated effectually. It is well, however, to emphasize at this point that in approximating the effects of any good piece of lettering it makes a difference what type-face is used. It will be noticed that the italic capitals in this specimen have a decorative quality. Such an effect can be imitated in a small way by the use of the swash letters that are furnished with some old-style italics.

Example [326].—This is another lettered design that is rich in suggestion. No border is used, and the lettering is arranged close to the edges of the paper. Contrary to the treatment of the preceding example, the lettering is all slightly spaced. While it is well for the young compositor not to letterspace lower-case, such practice is allowable when the results are good. The effect here is one of antiquity, especially since the letters are not perfectly formed (note the “m” in the word “Amsden”). Caslon Oldstyle should be used in planning this style of work. An unusual feature is that a part of the copy is placed at the foot of the label so that the address is written between two groups of lettering. The same plan is found in the preceding example.

Example [327].—There is suggestion of Italian art in this label. Similar effects could be closely approximated with typefounders’ material. Attention is called to the manner in which the letters are treated so as to avoid an excess of blank space in such groups as the “ATA” in “catalogue.” Rule guide lines in a panel are provided for the address. This space is usually left blank on modern labels, altho conservative houses are inclined to retain the rules. In line with old ideas, the “M” is included in the address portion. This letter is usually omitted on labels for the same reason that it is left off of billheads.

Example [328].—Closely spaced black-toned lettering is still liked by some persons, and there is no use denying that when it is well rendered the effect is pleasing. This example presents a mass of black lettering in three lines of equal length, the lines merging with one another to preserve the mass effect. The border, formed of a heavy and a lighter line, is drawn with human irregularity that is in keeping with the character of the design as a whole. The “For” in italic affords contrast in both form and color. Also note the treatment of “St.,” which is made small and placed in a position above the base of the other letters. This treatment is typical of antique typography.

Example [329].—That artistic quality and interest may be put in a label form by means of typography is proved by this example. The lacelike border, the spaced Kennerley types and the words and rule in red blend attractively. Advertising value is present, yet it is so merged with the general composition and the label that it is not offensive. In fact, it adds decorative qualities. This label form would look well clearly printed on a rough-finished paper of good quality—a hand-made paper if possible.

Example [330].—Another typographic label of character, a study in black and white. The border (a combination of a heavy and a light rule) was made intensely black to contrast with the white background, an effect as of color. A type-face (Bodoni Bold) with similar strong contrasts was then selected, arranged with liberal margins in the upper part. A suitable ornament in dark tones added the picture element, and the words “Deliver to” were widely letterspaced, as they were used decoratively. This and the other typographic specimens indicate the possibilities that are present in the everyday tools of the printer and the material that is available. Many printers feel that they are not able to produce typographic work of real quality, assuming that special equipment is needed. The truth is that many are not able to produce good printing because their type equipment and decorative material have not been well selected. The fact that there is a lack of suitable type-faces usually reveals itself to them after they have learned that one type-face is not so good as another. In the finished work there is nothing seen of the presses, of the imposing stones, or of the composing frames, but the print of the type-face is on every sheet.

EXAMPLE 330
A typographic study in black and white

EXAMPLE 331
A Caslon specimen, with decorative interest

EXAMPLE 332
Harmony of border, decorative device and lettering

EXAMPLE 333
Possible of typographic improvement

EXAMPLE 334
Freedom of treatment that is distinctive

EXAMPLE 335
Label used for a special list

Example [331].—A specimen in Caslon, in which roman capitals and italic lower-case (the Aldine combination) make up an interesting label. The swash italic capitals add a specific decorative quality. The large lower-case “f” gives a graceful touch to the “for.” Dotted rule inside the black border is a change from the conventional continuous line. This form was printed on Japan vellum.

Example [332].—This is another hand-drawn label with qualities that can be approximated in typography. Border, decorative device and lettering are in the same key, and the harmony is agreeable. There are those who thoughtlessly condemn black borders as funereal, a judgment that is based on prejudice and not on an understanding of their use. It is well, however, to caution the young compositor against abuse of the black border; it would be well if he were to use no black borders until he had developed taste in the practice of typography.

Example [333].—An unusual label design that could probably be improved with careful typography. The initials of the text lettering are not exactly harmonious, and the space between words in the lower group is excessive. Printers should practice on the improvement of the design.

Example [334].—A characteristic Goudy type arrangement, with a freedom of treatment that is distinctive. How many printers would give the prominence to “From” that it has here? This suggests the custom of printers of the sixteenth century in starting a title-page with a large size of type regardless of the importance of the word or words.

Example [335].—This label was used in mailing to a special list some fine pieces of printing. The name of each addressee was printed in with type as shown by the reproduction, and, needless to state, attracted attention. The treatment of this label is uncommon in another respect—the modest inconspicuousness of the phrase, “From the Bartlett-Orr Press, New York.”

It would do no harm if printers also studied the stock labels manufactured by certain stationery houses. They will find much that is poor and commonplace and little that should be directly copied, but there are many suggestions in label making that could be adapted. The “reverse-plate” idea is one. The label is set in type and a proof sent to the photo-engraver, who makes a plate in which the letters show white and the background black. This plate can then be printed in color on gummed paper and the paper trimmed so as to “bleed” the edges of the printed background.

EXAMPLE 338
Forceful business-card treatment exemplified by band-lettering

EXAMPLE 339
Gray-brown stock is suitable for unconventional effects of this kind

EXAMPLE 340
The black monogram has much to do with this card’s attractiveness