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.






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