More and more producers are seeing the benefits of solventless extraction and adding solventless products to their lineup, which means consumers have higher expectations when it comes to their hash. In response, producers are trying differentiate when it comes to marketing and packaging design. Rosin jar labels have become a huge part of the game – they can be an attention grabber to new customers and create a strong brand image that ultimately leads to long-term loyalty.
So, team Hashtek is here with tips for how to make the best rosin jar labels for your own unique brand, with a roundup of some of our favorite artwork designers and packaging vendors from coast to coast…
Side wrap vs no side wrap: why more solventless producers are relying on rosin jar labels
Often referred to simply as “side wraps,” this kind of label (quite literally) wraps around the entire side of the jar. There are some major benefits to using side wraps as a solventless producer, including:
- Safety. Often perforated, consumers can tell if a jar is sealed or has already been opened based on if the side wrap is still intact.
- Timeliness. Producers can create strain-specific rosin jar labels, or change artwork based on the season, holiday, or event.
- Tiering. Producers can use different artwork on rosin jar labels to differentiate between washes or microns, or single-source vs co-processed material.
- Brand building. A recognizable rosin jar label can help producers to build a strong brand name over time.
- Brand awareness. Hash heads love to flex their new jars at events and on their Instagram, and this boosts brand awareness and creates reshareable content for your own channels.
- Differentiation. Ultimately, having unique and eye-catching product packaging can help solventless producers differentiate and meet consumer demands.
How to start making rosin jar labels unique to your brand
Now that you know some benefits of side wrap rosin jar labels, here are three simple steps to start creating artwork that is unique to your brand:
1. Identify your branding elements. Before you start working on jar label artwork yourself or reach out to a designer, you want to have all your branding elements (logo, font, color palette, etc.) identified – we recommend putting together a “brand book,” or brand guidelines, that have them all clearly outlined in one place. This will help to ensure your packaging aligns with your brand and looks cohesive across products and marketing materials.
Cannabis brand guidelines example via KindTyme
2. Decide on flavor/micron-specific wraps vs general brand wraps. Producers can use strain-specific different rosin jar labels or change designs and colorways to differentiate between flavor availability, washes, microns, and more. You’ll need to decide if you want to have one general brand wrap or go with flavor/micron-specific artwork. While this is valuable from a branding perspective, it does require more upfront resources when it comes to design work and printing costs.
3. Be true to your own brand. The last thing you want to do is create a rosin jar label that looks just like somebody else’s. Be true to your own vision, showcase what is different about your brand and its products, and never copy. It can often help to look for creative inspiration outside of the cannabis industry – innovators in industries like music, art, craft beer, and sports can help to get the ideas flowing.
Mistakes to avoid when making rosin jar labels
Here are some mistakes that are easily avoidable when creating rosin jar labels for your brand:
1. Choosing rosin jars or labels for visual appeal alone over quality. While visual appeal is important, you always want to make sure both the rosin jars themselves and the labels are made with high-quality materials and have the functionality you’re looking for. To test the quality of some jars out on the market, team Hashtek is running a jar experiment to assess the seal integrity of various extract jars by measuring the evaporation loss of 99% Isopropyl alcohol over a period of time. Currently, the U-line 30ml and Miron 5ml jars are the front runners! We recommend using Miron jars for terpene retention.
2. Not having multiple people proof your rosin jar labels. It’s always a good idea to get multiple sets of eyes on final proofs for spelling, compliance, and alignment with your brand guidelines before sending any labels to print.
3. Having fancy rosin jar labels but not fire hash. As cool rosin jar labels become more common, don’t forget – you can’t cover up bad hash with good artwork.
4. Trying to print jar labels at home with an inkjet printer. As they say, being cheap ends up being expensive. There’s nothing worse than a jar label that rubs off over time, and if your label quality is poor, consumers will infer you cut corners with your hash as well.
Tips for making the best rosin jar labels
Follow these quick tips for making the best rosin jar labels:
1. Have brand guidelines created before designing – and use them throughout the process. Before starting your label project, make sure to have your branding guidelines completed and compile some creative examples and inspiration. Refer back to those resources when you’re working on edits and approving the final design to make sure everything is on brand and aligned with your vision.
2. Work with a skilled graphic designer. If you don’t have an experienced designer in-house, we recommend outsourcing design work so your rosin jar labels look professional. If you go this route, make sure you check out a lot of their work and have a discovery call or meeting to make sure your artistic and working styles align. Share your brand guidelines and examples with them before they start any work.
3. Work with a trusted packaging vendor. Once you have your artwork completed, it’s time to actually order the labels. Again, it’s important to do your research ahead of time and have a conversation before choosing a partner here – read reviews, look at previous work, and make sure to get information upfront about things like any additional shipping fees and delivery timelines.
Round up: graphic designers for rosin jar labels
Check out some of our favorite graphic designers for rosin jar labels and how to contact them:
VanGoghZuh
In addition to logos and labels, VanGoghZuh out of California has done artwork for special products like the Hash Calendar Club and events like Puffcon and Zalympix. He’s known for his “rubber hose animation with a twist,” a vintage cartoon style reminiscent of the OG Mickey Mouse. I love all the bright colors, fun fonts, and small details VanGoghZuh uses in his designs. He can be reached via his Instagram or website at vangoghzuh.threadless.com
Hash Milk
Hash Milk is a Canada-based designer and hash maker inspired by “entropy, cow print, and good vibes.” I’m a big fan of these side wrap designs he put together recently for Lost Boys Rosin and Urban Resin Farmer, and also have his recent UV collab with Mood Mats in my personal collection (along with my Hashtek one, of course)! Hash Milk can be reached through Instagram or online at hashmilk.ca
Stuffed Brain
Stuffed Brain is an artist and designer in Michigan inspired by cartoons, pop culture, punk rock, and skateboarding. He designs everything from craft beer labels to coffee bags to merch I recently saw at a Dirty Heads reggae concert, but these side wraps he designed for Hashtek user TerpWizard are some of my personal favorite labels. Recently, TerpWizard elevated his side wrap labels even further by introducing holographic elements to identify limited batches, such as low yielders and special blends. You can see the difference between the general side wraps and the holographic version below. Combined with the handmade wax seals, TerpWizard truly has some of the most unique jars you’ll see in the rosin scene. You can contact Stuffed Brain through Instagram or find his work online at stuffedbrainstudio.com
DopeSoulTattoo
This tattoo artist and designer out of Columbus, Ohio is currently building his brand ForTheBrokers in the cannabis-specific space. He’s done logo work for SixOneGrow, designs for Gas Carlton, and made the memorial banner for Detroit Organics. I can’t get enough of these side wrap labels he recently did for NewAgeExotics with Winnie the Pooh getting melty. You can reach ForTheBrokers on Instagram.
Hashtek Labels
We had our resident artist Steve design a couple of jar labels using Hashtek inspired imagery. One of unique design requests we had for him was that the side wrap sticker does not need to be aligned once split. When you have an obsessive attention to detail like we do, there is nothing worse than seeing a mis-aligned side jar wrap (although that can also be an indication that the jar was not tightened up enough properly).
Round up: packaging vendors for rosin jar labels
Our very own Hashtek customers and followers have also recommended some of their go-to packaging vendors when it comes to printing rosin jar labels:
- Highbrid Visions: Canada
- Ask Print Shop: Canada
- Full Scale: Colorado
- Sticker Plug LA: Southern California
- Slap Hub LA: Southern California
- High Caliber Printing: Northern California
- Sticker Farmer Mendo: Northern California
- Sticker Goat: Maine
- MotoGFX: Oregon
- Slappa030: Germany
- Gr.assman: Michigan
- Print Fresh Press: Oklahoma
At the end of the day, if you are a small to mid-sized producer, adding solventless products to your lineup can help to grow your cannabis brand – and the right rosin jar labels can make your products stand out in head stashes. Hit up the Hashtek team if you have more questions!
One Response
Hello
Im looking to make some own rosin jar stikers, not for millions:)
On side arround something simple that will tell about strain – like banna chem – that is some yellow color and some bananas and also write Banana ,