SinShip: Packaging & Printability Breakdown

SinShip is an award-winning rum producer born in San Diego. We love the old world look and feel of their packaging. What could they do to step it up a notch further still? Let's take a look:

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Tax Strips

Tax strips are a special kind of dichotomy, aren’t they? So traditional, SO EASY TO BREAK! A lot of spirit producers have started to implement the tax strip graphics into their secondary closure (capsule), but because these are overwhelmingly produced with shrink-sealed PVC, they can become warped and distorted upon application if they’re not sized exactly right or if the bottling line isn’t set up perfectly. In this regard, we think this is an elegant solution: real tax strip, clear capsule over the top - this gives the buyer the (at least) two-layer opening experience - like when Apple products came in shrink wrap - first take that off, THEN get to the unboxing experience :)

Here, the tax strip is holding up well under the shrink cap pressure, a sign that it’s made of a good, flexible material with biaxial grain or printed by someone who understands what direction the grain needs to lay in order to prevent accidental tearing.

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Label Material & Climate

There’s a minor mismatch in color between the label and the tax strip, and I’m seeing some bubbling and delaminating start to happen to the label, and I can also see that the bottle is sweating. This is a pretty strong indicator that the label is not made with an adhesive or paper sizing that’s compatible with refrigeration or moisture. Climate might not seem like the most important thing to bring up with your printer but it can make a big difference in the way your product looks during its lifecycle.

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Keep an eye out for more production design and prepress critiques, tips, and tricks! Do you have a product that you'd like the KitPrint team to review?