How to create Nanpak-style labels in Photoshop

It’s fairly easy to create styles of fruit crate labels in Adobe Photoshop. I’m going to show how to create a style that mimics the Nanpak brand (short for Nye and Naumes Packing Company) that used to ship out of Southern Oregon.

Here’s the original:

nan-pak-original
Original Nanpak label that I snapped a photo of.

The keys to achieving a look similar to the original is to match the color, typography and effects as much as possible. Some of the elements, such as the background beveling and the large center N will not be copied in order that the text would be more versatile.

Color

I matched the colors by using Adobe Color CC to grab colors from the original image that I took with my phone.

Get the color theme here.

Typography

For the typography, I wanted to find a font where the counter (the inside part of the P) would be squared off. Industry Ultra from Fort Foundry seemed like a good choice.

Layer Styles

In Photoshop, I typed out “NANPAK” and then set up the following layer styles:

  • Bevel & Emboss: I set up an Outer Bevel using the Chisel Hard technique because I wanted to mimic the crisp bevels of the N. Using an Inner Bevel would round the bevels too much.
  • Stroke: Normally, an Outer Bevel will bevel the background color, but by using a stroke that matches the fill color, I’m able to apply the Outer Bevel to cover the stroke and give a crisper bevel.
  • Drop Shadow: I applied a simple Drop Shadow, extended the shadow spread to match the same size as the bevel and stroke.
NanPak
Basic text with Bevel, Stroke and Drop Shadow applied.

In the end is a colorful typeface that can be easily edited. If you’d like the original Photoshop file, you can download it here.