The power of colour: Why accuracy still matters for packaging and label printers

“A colour is as strong as the

impression it creates.” – Ivan Albright

Today’s global printing industry is dynamic and hyper-competitive. To compete, packaging and labels must meet ever-higher standards, making precise colour reproduction more important than ever.

For printers and packaging converters, accurate colour management is about much more than just aesthetics. It’s a fundamental quality requirement that ensures brands maintain recognisable, trusted labels and packaging across different substrates, print runs, and production methods.

The art (and science) of recognition

The human eye is incredibly sensitive to colour variation. With around 100 million photoreceptors, even the most minute differences in shade or saturation are noticeable – something brand owners take seriously. Studies show that effective use of colour increases brand recognition by up to 80%, making precision in colour reproduction a key expectation for print suppliers.

When we talk colour and branding, names like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and IKEA are cited as classic examples, but today it goes much further than that. You don’t need to be a huge global conglomerate to have colour as one of your key brand identifiers. Upstart challenger brands, especially those using social media platforms to stake their claim to market share, are using colour and iconography to build the next generation of brand.

Consider the vibrant coral of Monzo’s banking cards, the distinctive teal of Deliveroo, or the confident purple of Starling Bank. Even established businesses like online clothing retailer Pretty Little Thing are leveraging colour in their rebranding strategies, using a rich maroon paired with off-white to elevate its image and add a premium feel that sets it apart from competitors in the crowded digital space. These companies have recognised that a distinctive colour palette is crucial for immediate recognition, particularly when screen real estate is limited.

For printers, the challenge lies in achieving absolute consistency across different materials and printing methods. However, there’s also opportunity in demonstrating exceptional quality and accuracy that brand owners increasingly demand.

What makes colour more than just brand recognition?

Colour does more than make packaging recognisable. It communicates messages on a psychological level, influencing consumer perception and buying decisions. Retail studies conducted by the Seoul International Color Expo revealed that almost 93% of consumers consider visual factors and aesthetics the most important factor when making purchase decisions.

The psychology of colour also gives fascinating insight, as we collectively assign certain values to colours. For example, financial institutions often favour deep blues for a sense of security and calm, while brands centred around sustainability typically use earthy browns and greens. A growing contingent of brands use magenta in brand colourways to create a contemporary boldness, while luxury packaging often features deep purples or rich golds to evoke exclusivity.

As brands become more strategic with their colour choices, printers must ensure precision. Even minor inconsistencies in tone or saturation can affect how packaging is perceived. Inaccurate colour reproduction isn’t just a visual issue – it can dilute a brand’s authenticity and message.

Colour in a multi-channel world

Perhaps the greatest challenge (and opportunity) today is maintaining colour consistency across multiple formats and substrates. It’s not enough to get the colour nailed down once. Printers are typically producing materials for brands that need to look identical, even when printed on vastly different substrates and using different methods.

For example, a brand’s signature red needs to appear exactly the same whether it’s printed on labels, uncoated cardboard, or flexible film. Each of these materials absorbs and reflects light differently, requiring precise adjustments to ink formulations to achieve visual consistency.

The real skill in colour management is understanding how inks behave and what compensations need to be made to ensure that no matter the material – whether paper, plastics, or otherwise – the finished product always looks exact and on-brand. Without these adjustments, a brand’s carefully crafted identity can appear inconsistent across its product range – and print buyers won’t be impressed.

This expertise requires deep knowledge of colour spaces, ICC profiles, and material-specific adjustments. It demands both technical precision and artistic understanding to predict how different surfaces will interact with various inks and printing methods. For printers, this knowledge is essential for delivering the consistency and predictability that clients need.

The Creation approach to colour management

With growing pressure to deliver perfectly matched colour across substrates and print methods, working with a specialist reprographics provider like Creation ensures accuracy and reliability at every stage of production.

Creation’s approach to colour management combines advanced technology with decades of expertise in the packaging and label industry. From flexible packaging to high-end labels, we help printers and converters achieve consistent, accurate colour reproduction across all applications.

In today’s challenging market, workforce issues can present additional obstacles to maintaining colour consistency. With fewer experienced team members and increasing pressure to turn around jobs quickly, there can be a tendency to cut corners to get jobs out of the door in time – but colour should never be one of them.

Printers and converters finding themselves at capacity are the ideal candidates to team up with Creation, allowing our specialists to carry the heavy lifting in colour management while in-house teams focus on core production tasks. Our scientific approach to colour measurement and control ensures that critical print data is managed with precision, regardless of substrate or print method. When brand owners expect perfection and your reputation depends on delivering it, partnering with Creation gives you the confidence to take on complex colour challenges across any material.

Where precision matters, poor colour reproduction simply isn’t an option. And, with Creation as your reprographics partner, it never has to be.

Get in touch with our team today Contact & Careers to discover how our colour management expertise can strengthen your print offerings and help you deliver the brand consistency your clients demand.