Maidenhead Aquatics — SALE Point of Sale Design

Fish Label Design

The first stage of the project was to establish a clear and consistent information structure that could be applied across the entire fish label range. Each label needed to communicate a considerable amount of information, including the Common Name, Latin Name, fish image, community type, feeding requirements, maximum size, remarks and individual product code. The community information was particularly important, helping customers understand which fish could live together and, crucially, whether smaller fish might become prey for larger species.

The Design System

The design had to accommodate all of this information across three different label sizes, making the positioning, hierarchy and relationship between each element critical. Juice Factory developed a flexible grid-based design system, supported by carefully structured styles for the Common Name, Latin Name and body copy. This allowed the typography to adapt automatically when information varied – particularly when dealing with exceptionally long Latin names – while maintaining consistency across the complete range.

The system was then adapted for the different label formats, including the smaller Marine and Plant labels and larger Pond Fish labels. Rather than treating each label as an individual piece of artwork, the project was developed as a complete information and design system, allowing hundreds of variations to be produced efficiently while retaining a consistent Maidenhead Aquatics identity.

Quality Control

To manage the volume of information, Juice Factory developed comprehensive spreadsheets containing the common information and specifications for each species. For example, groups such as Tetras could share consistent feeding and remarks information. These spreadsheets also became an important quality-control tool, allowing the completed artwork to be checked systematically against the approved information.

Once the artwork had been completed and checked, the labels were sent to print, encapsulated for durability in the wet and humid fish-room environment, and finally collated into the individual store sets. The design stage therefore formed the foundation for a much larger production process, where accuracy, consistency and organisation were just as important as the visual design itself.