Choosing the right custom cannabis packaging design is critical to the success of a product. You can have the best products in the world, but if the package is stale, there’s a good chance it’ll struggle to take off. Finding the right fit for your cannabis brand identity can make all the difference in the long run!
Why is Cannabis Packaging Design Important?
Attractiveness: Packaging design can make a product stand out on store shelves and catch the attention of potential customers. You can make a product more appealing by using vibrant colors, bold typography, and innovative shapes.
Branding: Package design can help to create a strong brand identity. You can reinforce brand recognition and customer loyalty by using colors, logos, and imagery consistent with your identity.
Information: Package design provides important information to consumers, including product details, nutritional information, and usage instructions. This information helps customers make informed purchasing decisions.
Protection: Package design protects the product from damage during transportation and storage. The right packaging materials can help to prevent product spoilage, breakage, and other types of damage.
Sustainability: Package design can also help to promote sustainability and reduce environmental impact. You can reduce waste and carbon footprint by using recyclable and biodegradable materials, and minimal packaging.
Compliance: Packaging design is important to meet cannabis compliance and legal standards. It’s important to design packaging per all local laws with clear warning signs and verbiage.
In summary, determining the right cannabis packaging design is critical to the success of a product. It helps to attract customers, reinforce branding, provide important information, protect the product, and promote sustainability.
We have a full team of custom cannabis packaging designers who can help take your ideas and products to the next level! Find out more about Custom Cannabis Packaging Design here.
Spot UV, also known as spot gloss or spot varnish, is a print finishing method that adds a shiny, raised coating to specific parts of a design. This coating is cured with ultraviolet (UV) light, making the selected areas (such as logos or text) stand out with a glossy finish.
Spot UV works best when used on a matte or uncoated surface, creating a strong contrast. It’s often for:
Jar labels to give them a more polished and professional appearance.
We invite you to follow along as we take a deeper look into this printing technique and whether or not it’s right for your products.
Key Takeaways
What Spot UV Is – A printing technique where a glossy, UV-cured coating is applied to specific areas (like logos or text) for a raised, eye-catching finish.
Why It Matters for Branding – Spot UV adds luxury, tactile contrast, and visual focus, especially effective on custom packaging like mylar bags and cannabis jar labels.
How to Use It Effectively – Use on smooth, thick substrates with a precise mask file; ideal for accentuating logos, titles, and brand elements without overwhelming the design.
How Does Spot UV Work?
The process begins during the design stage. A separate black-and-white file, called a UV mask, is created to show exactly where the glossy coating will go. This file acts as a guide, marking which areas (such as text, logos, or patterns) will receive the UV treatment.
Next, the full-color design is printed on the material using either digital or offset printing. This creates the base layer that includes all the images, colors, and text. Once the base layer is printed, the UV mask is used to apply a clear varnish to the marked spots. This is done through screen printing or with a plate, depending on the method used.
After the varnish, the print goes under ultraviolet (UV) lights. These lights cure the varnish instantly, turning it into a solid, glossy finish. The result is a high-shine effect that contrasts sharply with the matte or uncoated background.
Finally, the printed piece is trimmed, folded, or enhanced with other finishes like embossing. Each item is then checked for accuracy to make sure the UV coating aligns properly with the design.
Why Use Spot UV?
Spot UV printing offers both style and function. It helps designs stand out, feels good to the touch, and protects the surface. Here’s a closer look at the main reasons brands choose this technique:
Visual Impact and Contrast Spot UV highlights specific parts of a design (like logos, text, or graphics) by making them glossy against a matte background. This creates depth and draws attention to key elements, making your print look sharper and more professional.
Tactile Engagement The raised glossy texture gives people something to feel as well as see. This physical detail adds sensory interest and makes the piece more memorable.
Durability This technique isn’t just for looks. The UV coating adds a layer of protection that helps resist:
Moisture
Scratches
Fingerprints
Smudges
Fading
Fast and Eco-Friendly UV coatings cure instantly under ultraviolet light. They contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), so they’re safer for the environment and speed up production.
Stronger Brand Appeal Spot UV sends a clear message of quality. When used on packaging, business cards, or promotional materials, it can help your brand look polished and high-end, without the need for more expensive materials.
Styles and Combinations
Spot UV has multiple uses to achieve unique visual and textural effects.
One popular method is Blind Spot UV, where the gloss is applied without any ink underneath. This creates a subtle, almost hidden pattern that becomes visible only when light hits it at the right angle. It’s a sleek way to add detail without overwhelming the design.
Another common approach is to apply the technique over matte lamination, matte varnish, or soft-touch finishes. The glossy areas stand out boldly against the dull background, creating a rich contrast that both looks and feels high-end. This combination enhances depth and gives printed materials a premium, polished finish.
Tips for Effective Spot UV Design
Less is more – Highlight only the most important elements. Overusing it can make a design feel busy or messy.
Choose the right substrate – Use smooth, thick paper or cardstock. Avoid thin or textured materials, which may not hold the coating well.
Ensure alignment precision – Include crop marks and check that the print and varnish layers are in proper alignment. This avoids shifting or misprints.
Plan for effect – Spot UV works best on logos, titles, and small accents. Avoid using it on large areas or small, detailed text that may lose clarity.
Incorporate a mask in prepress – Always provide a separate, high-contrast mask file using solid black to indicate coated areas.
Spot UV vs. Other Finishes
Finish
Gloss
Texture
Durability
Cost Level
Spot UV
High
Raised
Excellent
Mid-high
Emboss/Deboss
None
Deep
Good
High
Foil Stamping
Metallic
Smooth
Good
Mid-high
Full UV Coating
High (full)
Flat
Very Good
Mid
Matte Coating/Lamination
None
Soft/Flat
Good
Mid
Spot UV brings a glossy tactile layer and durability inexplicably beyond embossing alone, with lower cost than full foil or full UV.
Cost and Limitations
Spot UV printing comes with added costs due to the extra steps required. Namely, this includes a digital mask file. Still, the added cost is minimal and provides you with a premium look, something worth considering when you’re managing your packaging budget.
The process also works best on flat, smooth surfaces. Textured or thick materials can cause the coating to apply unevenly, which may affect the final result.
In terms of production time, Spot UV adds steps like mask preparation and UV curing, which can extend turnaround. It’s important to plan and allow for extra time, especially when working with larger orders or tight deadlines.
Final Word
Spot UV is a powerful finishing technique that adds shine, texture, and a premium feel to printed materials and packaging.
It offers strong visual contrast, a pleasing tactile experience, and durable protection, all while using an eco-friendly curing process. This makes Spot UV a popular choice for brands looking to stand out in crowded markets, such as cannabis or luxury products.
Think you want to incorporate spot UV into your cannabis packaging? Unsure where to begin? Custom 420 Supply is here to help! We invite you to reach out through our contact page to learn more.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is spot UV safe to use on cannabis packaging?
Yes. Spot UV is purely a surface treatment applied to the outermost layer of printed packaging. It doesn’t come in direct contact with the cannabis product and is safe when applied correctly by a professional print partner.
Can I use spot UV on flexible materials like mylar bags?
Absolutely. Spot UV works well on flexible packaging like mylar bags, especially when the surface has a matte or soft-touch lamination underneath. It provides contrast and texture that grabs attention on shelves.
Does spot UV increase the cost of cannabis packaging?
It can slightly increase production costs due to the extra print step and UV curing process. However, the perceived value and branding impact often outweigh the added expense, especially for premium or limited-edition products.
Will spot UV hold up in humid or refrigerated environments (i.e. edibles or infused drinks)?
Yes, Spot UV is moisture-resistant and adds an extra layer of protection to the print. For products that require cold storage, it’s a great choice because it won’t smudge or deteriorate like some finishes.
Welcome to the Custom 420 Supply custom cannabis packaging blog! We’ve set out to help change the stigma of this amazing crop and how its packaged! The days of using zip-lock bags are no longer acceptable. If you want your brand to stand out from the rest it takes more than growing or producing the best products. Now people want to see how it looks on a retail shelf or behind a glass case.
When it comes to custom cannabis packaging, it can be overwhelming to determine where to start and what’s the right fit for your brand. However, that’s why we started this business and this blog. We want to help those getting started or fine-tuning a coordinated line for an established brand. Navigating your way through this world can be confusing and costly and we’re here to help! We pride ourselves on customer service and building long-term partnerships for years to come. Our main goal is to help you Brand Your Grow and Grow Your Brand!
We set out to keep all of our brand imagining down to earth and realistic. Helping our clients understand the process and allowing them to be hands-on to bring visions to life. We’ve seen many of the suits at various trade shows offering cosmetic and food packaging as “cannabis packaging.” While packaging can be repurposed, don’t be fooled by said “Cannabis packaging specialists” who have not smoked a joint since the 70s. They’re out of tune with your customer base.
Stay tuned for informative and fun videos, articles, demos, and much more from a team that truly lives on both sides of the industry. Also, all videos will be certified 100% ego-free! Sure, we see organic and natural products all over… but ego-free? That can be hard to come by these days in the cannabis industry. So hopefully we can help you find success without rubbing it in others’ faces. But if that is how you get down, ultimately you can still steal ideas from our blog and rub them in people’s faces! (But not recommended by us!)
You’d be surprised how more often than not, some of the best producers in this industry fall short on branding. Sure, there are the recognizable top brand identities and the fanboys will be all over. But how about when you get something good but cannot determine the producer? You would go back again and again to purchase this product… but just one problem? Who the hell made it??
The time and effort it takes to produce a great product is undoubtedly a full job on its own and immensely painstaking without a large workforce. So, often that effort falls short if you cannot establish a powerful brand to solidify your place in the market. A brand to show why your product is different from what others do the same. This is where word of mouth only gets you so far in 2024. Customers now want to know the story behind your product, and the nuances of the production and ingredients that put it on the shelf in the first place. If you are one of those who can relate to this, then you have come to the right place!
A key to successful entrepreneurship is recognizing your strengths and when you need help. As much as we wish we could master every aspect of this industry, let’s be honest because that is not the reality. The bottom line is to focus on what you’re good at and be the best at it. Then use those in your circle or connections to help maintain the other areas. For those who are not good at branding, the best advice we can give you is to PREPARE! You have no idea someone has called with tons of product ready to go, but in need of thousands of containers and labels or wants you to print a design for them they drew with crayon.
Take a step back and think, “What will my production numbers be?” What are the highlights of this product and what makes it different? Can people easily find me again to purchase if they like my products? and most importantly: if it does well am I prepared to package more in a timely fashion? The moral of the story? Don’t wait until the last minute to choose your branding and packaging. Helping to determine these things ahead of time will make your road to success way less rocky!
