Labels push boundaries with innovative designs and tactile finishes — The Noel D'Cunha Sunday Column

Labels have always been central to packaging, but the 2025 Awards made it clear that their role has changed. Where once they were seen as the space for logos, copy and compliance information, today they are an active part of the consumer experience. The labels are increasingly designed to be touched, peeled, scratched, and interacted with, long before a cap is twisted or a lid lifted.

Converters showcased a wide range of approaches, from intricate embellishments on short runs to scaled-up luxury labels for global beverage brands. The ingenuity on display reflected not just technical expertise but also an understanding of how labels can convey a brand’s narrative into the hands of the consumer.

The entries pointed to a market where design, engineering and material science converge, with converters balancing visual drama, tactility, scale and sustainability.

Crafting visual drama
The Awards showed how far labels have come as visual statements. Kashmir Honey’s “Flying Butterfly Wings” label captured imaginations by turning a small, circular surface into a stage for movement. Using thin fibres and specially designed flexo plates, the converter created the illusion of wings lifting off the bottle. Low-pressure creasing at the base provided the back pressure required to hold the form, producing an enormous wow factor for a label of such small size.

A fragrance brand’s entry offered a different approach to spectacle. Executed through roll-to-roll screen printing that combined conventional screen and letterpress, the label created raised ink surfaces and layered coatings. The result was a unique tactile depth that gave consumers a sensory connection even before the bottle was opened.

Palma Power Premium’s whisky label turned standard paper into something altogether more luxurious. Produced as a wraparound, it simulated the feel of leather grain on a plain substrate. The label impressed customers so much that it helped the blended whisky expand its reach to more than 70 countries, confirming that tactile design can influence global acceptance.

Other projects stood out for their narrative character. Wise Monkey’s rum label deliberately embraced a rustic aesthetic, emphasising craft and authenticity. Meso’s Char range highlighted its lavender hero product through the use of silver foil, metallic purple overlays, screen white for text, and raised UV on floral motifs. The interplay of finishes made the lavender cues both visual and tactile, producing a sensory-rich label that embodied the essence of the product.

These examples reinforced a broader theme. Labels are becoming storytellers, translating brand identity into visual drama and physical presence on the shelf.

Engaging the senses
If visual drama caught the eye, tactile design engaged the hand. A nutrition brand label demonstrated how far converters are pushing multi-sensory effects by using five distinct finishing processes: velvet lamination, soft-touch matte coating, holographic foiling, embossed UV, and additional layering for depth. Each process added dimension and tactility, creating a label that was felt as much as it was seen.

For Meso, another execution on a PP substrate showcased a delicate interplay of matte and gloss varnishes. Gold foil highlights and raised UV effects added a tactile dimension, achieving clarity even on transparent stock. This was not just about finishing but about reinforcing the brand’s premium cues in a subtle yet effective way.

Pilgrim India’s Vitamin C toner label underscored the importance of colour and accuracy. Using a nine-colour print process, the converter achieved tonal richness and precision. Bright colours, carefully registered foil, and a soft-touch varnish created a smooth, velvety feel, adding a tactile signal of product quality.

Premium skincare tubes for the Russian market went further still. Labels incorporated holographic foil accents, embossing, rough textures, and a mix of matte and gloss. Inline UV curing ensured tight registration across these multiple processes. The result was packaging that combined international aesthetic standards with technical precision.

A morning face scrub label echoed the product inside through a “sand touch” coating, further enhanced by precision application of velvet varnish, gloss UV and aqua varnish within a single artwork. Yardley’s fragrance body mist label, in turn, combined regal gold foils with gloss UV over a deep purple base. Perfect foil registration against such a challenging background was a technical achievement that elevated the floral artistry.

The Skin Story’s elastic hemp label added interactivity. A two-layer peel-back design doubled the communication space, while a scratch-silver coating introduced both play and security. The label combined matte, gloss UV, aqua varnish, and release varnish to create an experience that was both engaging and functional.

Scaling complexity
Innovation on a boutique scale is a notable achievement. Replicating it across long runs is another. This year’s entries proved that converters can scale intricate designs into industrial production without losing precision.

Projects for distillery brands illustrated this well. Runs extended up to 4,000 metres, with complex designs involving textured varnishes, thermal matte lamination, gold foiling and graining textures. Some projects scaled further to 1,50,000 labels, each carrying intricate post-press effects yet maintaining consistency across the batch. Such complexity in high volumes demanded not only print precision but also repeatability in finishing.

Shrink sleeves added another layer of technical challenge. A coffee liqueur label had to maintain registration across a distorted bottle shape. The converter integrated hot foil stamping and tactile screen effects on logos, achieving clarity despite shrinkage. A rum brand addressed the same challenge through copper-coloured foils and tactile varnishes on custom die-cut sleeves, creating both premium presence and technical sophistication.

These projects showed that scaling innovation is no longer optional. Converters are expected to deliver complexity in volume, ensuring luxury effects are not confined to limited runs but can reach industrial levels without compromise.

Luxury and premium cues
Premium cues remained central to many award-winning entries. Piccadilly’s single malt whisky label used Fedrigoni paper as the base for multi-layered 3D and micro-embossed foiling. Combined with high-density inks, the label achieved a textured and layered appearance that communicated sophistication at a glance.

Pernod Ricard’s labels presented an even more difficult challenge. Produced on BOPP clear substrate with a PET liner, the project combined intricate foiling, metallic inks and textured coatings. Achieving precise registration on such a difficult substrate required not only printing skill but also an intimate knowledge of how foils and coatings behave under pressure.

Eden Whisky’s wraparound label combined multicolour foiling, tactile varnish and embossing on a custom die-cut. This label demonstrated how multiple processes can be integrated without crowding the surface, creating an impactful finish that helped the whisky stand out in a crowded category.

A distillery brand’s aluminium embossed paper label offered another highlight: this 10-colour production integrated precision screen printing, fine gold foiling and intricate back panelling. Flawless registration across all effects set a benchmark for execution on luxury substrates.

These examples confirmed that luxury is increasingly defined not by one or two embellishments but by the careful layering of multiple techniques.

Sustainability and innovation
Sustainability was a strong thread throughout the category. One of the standout examples came from a dairy brand that produced a one-million-label run on 60-micron LDPE film. Food-grade and 100% recyclable, the labels delivered both durability and flexibility for milk pouches while ensuring accurate reproduction of sharp illustrations. The project demonstrated that sustainability can be scaled without compromising quality.

Beauty brands also demonstrated that eco-conscious packaging could remain premium. One project used PP clear-on-clear stock with screen embossing to elevate the appearance of legal text, ensuring compliance while maintaining a sophisticated look. The design not only improved shelf life but also reduced the reliance on heavier substrates.

Converters showed that sustainability does not need to be seen as a limitation. Instead, it can become another driver of innovation, inspiring new ways to achieve luxury cues using recyclable or lightweight materials.

Redefining brand identities
Some of the strongest entries were those that redefined brand identity through labels. Marico’s Parachute capsule, produced on 7,000 running metres of PP silver stock, created depth through layers of flexo and screen whites. Holographic effects made the capsule glimmer, while a fine gold lacquer delivered the brilliance of three foils in one. The coconut icon was left elegantly minimal, balancing innovation with tradition.

Tata Trent’s fragrance oil label, also produced in a 7,000-metre run, achieved translucency through clear-on-clear stock. Gold foiling and gloss varnish added sophistication, while tactile finishes gave the surface an inviting feel. RND Beauty Concept achieved a perfect no-label look on 3,500 metres of clear stock, using screen embossing to transform legal text into a subtle design element.

John Distillery’s spirit label was a 2,500-metre, 10-colour inline production on aluminium-embossed paper. Cold foiling, screen embossing, gloss and matte varnishes combined to create a jewel-like finish that reinforced the brand’s premium identity.

Whirlpool’s labels highlighted technical mastery. Produced on 180-micron PET, they featured reverse printing that combined CMYK, Pantone spot colours, opaque white and silver foil. Offline punching and the use of specially formulated inks and adhesives ensured flawless registration, delivering high-definition results.

Arabian Nights, a women’s personal care brand, leveraged silver metallised self-adhesive to create metallic brilliance. Careful control of white opacity and ink density ensured consistency, while precise registration ensured a high-quality finish. A high-end body oil label accentuated Portuguese text with luxurious gold foil, applied with perfect pressure and complemented by matte varnish. The contrast between reflective and matte finishes elevated the sense of luxury.

Together, these projects showed that labels are now being used to refresh icons, to create transparency, and to reinforce premium cues through technical ingenuity. They have become active contributors to brand storytelling and identity.

Conclusion
The label category at the Awards revealed a sector in transformation. Converters are combining design, tactility, and sustainability to produce labels that are as memorable as the products they contain. The projects ranged from fluttering butterfly wings to recyclable milk pouches, from interactive hemp labels to multi-foil whisky wraps. What tied them together was ambition.

Labels today are no longer passive identifiers. They are storytelling surfaces, tactile experiences, and strategic brand assets. The converters who succeed are those who can scale complexity, embed sustainability and integrate design with precision. This year’s entries confirmed that India’s label industry is not just keeping pace with global innovation but is contributing to its future direction.