Friday, May 3, 2024

Hang Tag Review #48 - Sam Edelman

 This Hang Tag is from shoe brand Sam Edelman. The top hang tag is a solid lime green with the Sam Edelman cursive wordmark in black. The reverse is the same. The top hang tag also has a very nice metal grommet in solid black.

There is a second hang tag attached to the back, which is made of a semi-transparent plastic with the Sam Edelman wordmark printed on one side. On the reverse there is a price tag which is relatively straightforward. The second hang tag does not have the metal grommet.

This is a fantastic hang tag. The top tag in the bold lime green with the simple black wordmark is well executed. It calls to mind Nike's use of electric yellow at the Olympics - it is bright, easily recognizable, and stands out, but the simplicity of the design keeps it from reading cheap. A quick review of the Sam Edelman website demonstrates that the green is a current style choice and used throughout. The metal grommet is also beautiful - it adds a touch of class to the neon.

The second tag is very fun as well - it is made of a cheap feeling plastic, but interestingly it keeps the main tag clean by providing a space for the price tag to be affixed. It also has the very cool effect of showing the circuitry for the anti-theft elements of the price tag, as they show through the semi-transparent second hang tag.

The consistency among the trademarks is solid here as well - the same script wordmark appears in all instances, which keeps things memorable and clean. Although not normally something this blog covers, the string attachment is high quality. It is made of thick thread and there is a plastic piece with a version of the script logo as a monogram.

All in all an excellent hang tag on all fronts.









Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Hang Tag Review #47 - Ricrac & Ruffles

 Today we have a hang tag from children's clothing brand Ricrac and Ruffles. This tag is identical on both sides and features heavy use of a deep pink color. The wordmark is made up of several different fonts and styles, and sits inside a white border with additional features. The full www dot name dot com sits on the bottom in plain white text.

The wordmark is clearly the most interesting part of this hang tag. It features the name with an interlocking R monogram, the "ricrac" in a relatively standard font, but the "ruffles" is done in unconnected cursive. The ampersand also appears to be in an entirely different font from all the other letters (or possibly the same as the Rs, tough to tell). 

It is really hard to understand the choices made, but to some extent they do fit with the overall vibe - there is a lot of frilly/lacey style going on here, which suits the luxury children's brand theme. This is the type of hang tag that you'd expect to find on the "good clothes" your grandmother wore as a child.

All this said, the rest of the tag is empty, outside of the full web address. Why would one choose to go somewhat simple and clean with the overall design, but then feel compelled to add in a full web address that is simply the same name as the brand?

Overall, not a great example of design.



Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Hang Tag Review #46 - Cosmic Blue Love

This is a fun one - our first broken link!


The hangtag from Cosmic Blue Love has an eye catching front. It is a creme card in a vertical rectangular shape, with gold starbursts throughout. It has Cosmic Blue Love in dark script, and hangs on a thick waxed cord.



The reverse is more or less empty - it has a sticker with the garment details, a www.name.com address, and a hashtag of #EYESONTHESTARS.


The front is solid here - the design is eye catching and communicates the mood clearly. It doesn't overdo it, but it also doesn't drown in its own minimalism. Well done!


The reverse is strong as well! Again, a lot of empty space, but that is always acceptable. While TheHangTagBlog normally eschews the web addresses, Cosmic Blue Love is a subbrand or housebrand of clothing delivery service StitchFix, so giving clear directions helps it keep from getting lost amidst the other search results. The hashtag inclusion makes sense, especially for an online only brand. It is worth noting that the web address doesn't quite bring a broken link, but it does lead to a static "coming soon" landing page! Ouch!



Since this is an online only brand, they have smartly decided to forgo things like price and barcodes in favor of a more descriptive UPC giving style and wash details. This shows a real comfort with thoughtful applications for a specific business model. Excellent overall, a truly great contender.

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Hangtag Extra - Zara Add On tags

Here is a small collection of add ons with Zara hangtags. Earlier, there was a tough review of the main Zara hangtag, mostly for the reverse side which was covered with symbols and repeated designations that might have been useful to computers, but were certainly not helpful to people. It turns out, Zara also stacks these additional squares onto many of their garments.




Here are four - J O I N L I F E, Regular, 100% Linen, and Garment Dye. It is easy to guess that Regular is a fit, and 100% Linen is a fabric, but Garment Dye and Join Life are less clear. The reverse of each has the same two sustainability logos from the main tag...

Confusing are the multiple fonts, weights, kerning, and colors among these add on tags...




Friday, July 1, 2022

Hang Tag Review #45 - Zara

Today we have a hangtag from clothing brand Zara. The tag is a rectangle in white stock. The front contains the ZARA wordmark in its usual slightly stylized presentation. The mark is consistently displayed across most of Zara's branding - it looks nice here in a clean and direct presentation.

The reverse is a mess. Words, logos, barcodes and other bric a brac abound. It is immediately
overwhelming and difficult to locate the information you are interested in.


There is a FSC mark, a recycle mark, a QR code, "size" written in 6 languages, and then the sizes written in numbers 4 times... Another bar code, a UPC landing zone, and www.name.com address...

Where to even start? The front is nice - its clean, sets a clear tone, and expresses itself. It doesn't stand out in this world, but it also isn't poor by any means. The reverse is awful, both for its crowding and inefficient design. There are two machine readable bar codes on the same tag. There are two small sustainability logos, neither of which is particularly readable to a human. There are multiple presentations of the sizing, and worst of all, they are written in arabic numerals. There is nothing wrong with writing things in multiple languages, but the "24" on "24 months" should not need to appear 3 times.



There are two small interesting details on the reverse. The first is that there is a machine readable target for the whole where the plastic tag goes, and the second is that the UPC Landing Zone has a clear sticker, presumably to make it easier for a machine to target.

This tag is a disaster, and not becoming of a pseudo luxury brand.

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Hang Tag Review #44 - Sweet Honey Clothing

This is a hangtag set from children's clothing brand SweetHoney. This is clearly a nice hangtag with luxurious materials, including two thick cards with metal grommets, a length of pink ribbon, and a safety pin attachment.
The top hangtag is a small square in cream with the name SweetHoney in a delicate gold ink script. The script color matches the metal grommet, although the treatment on the wordmark is much more "gold" whereas the grommet reads "functional metal."

The second tag is an oval in a very delicate blue. In fact, the blue is so soft it is hard to detect except in the best lighting. It has the cameo style mark with the name, YoungEST, and the interesting flower design. The CELEBRATE YOUR EVERYDAY tagline is present at the bottom. The entire printing on the front is in the same gold ink, although here there is a sans serif block font with all caps. The reverse continues the CELEBRATE YOUR EVERYDAY tagline at the bottom, but the top has printed care instructions. Interestingly, the care instructions are not printed in the gold ink, but instead just simple dark text. There is also a name dot com.






This is overall a nice a tag set, with high quality materials. The safety pin closure is nice - the plastic tags (perkets) are awful in all aspects. The ribbon is just ok - it looks nicer than just using the plastic tag, but it isn't special.

The second tag is the real star here - a pleasing oval shape and a clean front are well appreciated. The reverse is fascinating - not just care instructions, but care instructions with household tips (adding salt). The only misses are the repeat of the tag line, which is unnecessary as it is also on the front, and the name dot com, which crowds the text but adds nothing.

Overall, a highly rated design.


Friday, September 11, 2020

Hang Tag Review #43 - Ruffled Ribbon Co



Today we have an excellent hangtag from the Ruffled Ribbon Co. The tag features three pieces and a twine cord tie. The main paper is a white square on solid cardstock featuring the logo in a stained ink grey along with what would otherwise be a name.com if not for the etsy domain. 


The second tag is the washing instructions, which oddly enough are on the hangtag instead of the clothing itself. The washing instructions are mostly printed in typewriter.


The third piece is a small pennant with a floral design that attaches on the top of the stack.

This is a high quality tag, doubly so for being an etsy store. The three pieces, the thick cardstock, and the twine all are quality materials that indicate a certain level of care and planning. It is clear that whomever came up with this wanted to portray a very specific ideal with the hangtag. The front pennant is a solid little touch, and adds a bit of color to an otherwise monotone design. That said, it does get lost in the twine and isn't as impactful as it could be.


The main logo is nice indeed, although it does come across as slightly "current" in the worst, instagram friendly ways. The circle is either a coffee stain or a sweat ring, neither of which imply care or cleanliness. The presentation of the name itself, however, is much better The changing fonts are acceptable here, as they form a family and look nice next to each other. The script of "The" is maybe a little hard to read, but otherwise, it makes a strong statement. The URL is both good and bad - if you need the etsy piece, its important to add, but the use of "co" prior to the ".com" is a poor choice in terms of both computer readability as well as human impact. People will be wondering "Was that a co or just part of the .com?"


The inclusion of the care instructions on the hangtag is baffling. First, this may not meet legal requirements in certain jurisdictions, and second, it is useless to anyone who wants to actually care for the clothes. Aside from practical consideration, the design is cringey - a best guess is the all lowercase typewriter print is supposed to convey a farmhouse recipe card, but the odd script of "instructions" just destroys the entire look. Why is this in script? The same goes for the irregular spacing and capitalization of the rest of the directions. Is there any rhyme or reason to it, or is it just random? To top it all off, the directions themselves could be written more clearly.

This is a hangtag trying to do too much and getting it all wrong. Instead of just providing a hangtag, we have a mash-up of ideas that would fit well on a pinterest board, but fail on this hang tag.