PINKAS: labels where every detail has a meaning

PINKAS is a hair-care brand. The series had five of them — H2O OMG, No Drama, the Grow Boost serum, Grow Mode and Grow Control — in different bottles and sizes. On the shelf they had to read as one family at a glance, while each product still needed its own name and character.

The brief was “less is more”: a white background, a few precise accents and product names you can not only see but also feel with your fingertips. Two colours carried the meaning — bronze for sun and energy, deep blue for water and freshness.

“I didn’t want many details. I wanted each of them to mean something.”

PINKAS, on the idea behind the series

The technical difficulty was the bronze itself. One bronze tone had to work across three products — on some with real foil and on others without it — and still look like the same colour on the shelf.

Every choice on these labels answers a specific question rather than adding decoration.

• The serum: clear film with real bronze foil. The clear film lets the bottle and its contents show through, so the label feels light. The foil gives a true metallic shine that printed ink cannot imitate — the one premium accent of the series.
• The white bottles: metallised PP film. Printing on a metallic base with a white ink layer controls where the metal stays visible and where the colour is solid. CMYK printing on top gives the deep blue and the bronze tone, so the bronze reads as metal even without foil.
• Raised spot UV on the names. A thick, raised varnish turns the product names into something you can find with your finger — exactly the “feel it” part of the brief, without adding a single extra graphic element.
• Film for the bathroom. Hair-care products live in water and on wet hands. Film does not soak up moisture, so the labels keep their look for a long time.
• Digital printing. No printing plates, so foil and raised spot UV are available for small runs too, and each product in the series can be printed in its own quantity.

The PINKAS labels were entered in Best Packaging in Latvia 2026, the competition run by the Latvian Packaging Association since 1996. In 2026 it received 33 entries from 18 participants.

The series took 1st place in the consumer online vote and 3rd place from the expert jury in the “Packaging labels” category. Recognition from both shoppers and professionals shows that a few precise details can say more than a busy label. Official results (in Latvian) ↗

• One accent beats five. Foil on the name or raised spot UV on the logo looks expensive on a calm background; covering everything in effects does not.
• Design the series as a system. Keep the layout, background and accent colour the same, and let one element change per product — the shelf will read it as a family.
• Choose the material for where the product lives. Bathroom, fridge or ice bucket — film with lamination keeps the label intact.
• Premium finishes need no big run. There is no minimum order, and the calculator shows the price with and without foil or raised spot UV straight away.
• Feel it before you order. The free sample kit includes films, foil and raised spot UV, so you can compare materials in your hand, not just on a screen, and pick the finish that suits your brand.

More on cosmetics labels: cosmetics labels. See what finishes cost on one label: price examples.