Labels on a phone, not on the jars
Makers in our Small Batch Branding sessions kept telling us the same thing. They knew exactly how a label should look, but getting forty of them printed before the next market was another story. For Menlyn Maker Night we decided to put the printing on the floor next to the stalls.
Menlyn Maker Night is an indoor market that opens after work. Gift buyers, couples and families drop in on the way home, and they judge a table quickly. Under hall lighting, a hand-written price card or a sticker lifting at the corner looks tired beside a neat neighbour.
“A maker would finish a session with a beautiful label layout saved on her phone, and three weeks later the jars were still bare. We wanted people to leave with finished labels and tags in a bag on the same evening.”
Naadirah Rhoda, Workshop Programme Manager
So the bar had three jobs on one table:
- Product labels in short runs for jars, candles and pouches.
- Hang tags and price blocks with a handmade feel and a matching look across the range.
- A lit sign that stays readable once the evening crowd arrives.
The kit on the branding table
Of the suppliers we spoke to, AM.CO.ZA was the one that asked what our makers sell before naming a machine. The setup they proposed fits a single trestle bay.
- Desktop laser. A 600 × 400 mm desktop CO2 laser from the AM.CO.ZA desktop laser range cut and engraved birch plywood hang tags, gift-box tags and small price blocks. We nested each maker’s logo on a sheet, and a short while later there was a stack of tags with lightly toasted edges that suit candles, ceramics and wooden crafts.
- UV-DTF label printer. A 300 mm UV-DTF printer from the UV-DTF printer range produced glossy transfer stickers that press straight onto glass, tin and plastic. There is no minimum run, so a honey maker could print twelve labels for a new flavour instead of ordering a full sheet.
- LED light-box frames. Slim A3 LED frames from the AM.CO.ZA LED frame range, mounted on adjustable floor stands and supplied through LEDframes, gave stalls a bright sign for evening trade. They run off the plug points already set out in our Maker Night Kit.
How the evening ran
In the week before the market, our Maker Relations Lead, Nompumelelo Mchunu, booked makers into 15-minute slots and collected their artwork, so nobody turned up empty-handed. On the night the table worked like a small production line: check the file, run a sheet of tags on the laser, print a strip of labels, then finish at the packaging bar to apply and bag everything.
Candle and honey makers kept the bar busiest. Their jars went from plain glass to fully labelled in a single visit, with batch details on the back and a wooden tag tied to the lid. One potter had the laser engrave a set of display blocks to stand beside each mug in place of loose paper cards.
“You could see it on the tables straight away. When we walked the aisles at eight o’clock, the stalls that had visited the branding bar looked like old hands at this.”
Hennie Basson, Market Operations Manager
Lit signs for evening trade
Our guide to selling at night and the stall signs story both make one point: after dark, shoppers read whatever is lit. The LED frames gave the busiest food and gift stalls an even, bright sign at the end of each aisle, and a maker can slide a fresh printed poster into the frame between markets without paying for a new board.
The frames sat comfortably alongside the Signage Pack Kit and our market signage basics: one lit sign carrying the stall name and story, small engraved blocks for prices, and a clear table.
Why AM.CO.ZA got the job
Questions first. Their team wanted to know where our plug points are, how many makers we expected per hour and which materials people sell, and only then matched machines to the answers. Before the event they also took Naadirah’s team through the software and daily care, so nobody was learning in front of a queue.
Value for the build. We needed machines that would work hard every market night without being oversized for a trestle table. They are sturdy, easy to move between venues and simple to run, and we did not pay for capacity we would never use.
Support up the road. The AM.CO.ZA Johannesburg HQ is an easy drive from Pretoria for plywood, film, consumables and advice. When makers ask about buying their own equipment, we send them to the AM.CO.ZA guide for reviews and practical how-to pages.
“Small sellers do well when they look confident at their tables. Putting proper equipment and real support on the market floor is one of the most useful things we have done for them.”
Thembisa Tshabangu, Managing Director
Next stops for the branding bar
The branding bar now forms part of our Maker Night Planning workshop, and it will travel to more evening markets, starting from Hatfield. To plan your own labels and wrapping, start with packaging for markets and the simple packaging wins story.
To book a branding slot at the next maker night, send your details through workshop enquiries or the contact form, and have your logo ready.
