What you can change and what you can't: sizes, formats and print areas

Almost everything about a patch can be changed, but not on every route, and the two things buyers most want to change (the size, and what is printed on the patch itself) are the two that move the minimum order most.

On an existing formulation you can change the pack. Print on the patch and you can also change its appearance, its size and its shape, at a cost that rises with an unusual outline or a much larger patch. What never changes, on any route, is the construction of the patch.

Here is the whole list, route by route.

	Ready Made Collection	Your Brand, Our Formula	Full Bespoke
Formulation	One of 22, as it is	One of 22, as it is	Developed for you
Patch size	Set by the formulation	Your choice, priced by size	Your choice
Patch shape	As made	Your choice, priced by shape	Your choice
Print on the patch	Standard and generic	Your artwork, up to six colours	Your artwork, up to six colours
Backing sheet print	As made	Yours	Yours
Fragrance	As made	On request	On request
Perforated sheet	Standard	Optional	Optional
Pack format	Your choice	Your choice	Your choice
Pack artwork	Yours	Yours	Yours
Minimum, US	500 sheets	3,000 sheets	100,000–750,000 patches per SKU
Minimum, rest of world	15,000 patches	40,000 patches	100,000–750,000 patches per SKU

What can I change on a ready-made patch?

On the Ready Made Collection the patch is the standard version we hold in stock: the formulation, its size and the print on it are as we make them for stock, and a competitor can buy the same one. What you supply is artwork for the outer packaging, and you choose the format it goes in. Since the pack is what sits on a shelf, what a buyer is handed and what arrives in the post, this is the route on which the presentation is entirely yours and the product is not.

Choose from 22 standard formulas in the collection, including Bio-Frequency, NAD, Energy, Diet, multiple strengths of CBD, and Sleep in three versions: the classic blend, a version with CBD isolate and a version with melatonin.

What does printing on the patch let me change?

The appearance of the patch itself, which is the part the customer peels off and wears.

Your Brand, Our Formula keeps the formulation as it is and prints your artwork onto the patch in up to six colours. The backing sheet, the liner each patch is peeled from, is printed as well, so a logo or a QR code can sit behind every patch. The pack is yours, as on the ready-made route. And because the patch is being made for you rather than drawn from stock, its size and shape are yours too, and a fragrance can be added on request. An unusual outline or a much larger patch costs more, and a larger patch carries more of the formulation, so the amount per patch changes with the size. What does not change is the formulation composition itself.

The cost of print is in the minimum, not the unit price: 3,000 sheets against 500 unprinted in the US, and 40,000 patches against 15,000 in the rest of the world. Whether that is worth it depends on whether the patch is ever seen outside its pack. In a subscription pouch, a sampling programme or a photograph it is, and a stock patch in a custom pack is the most common criticism of white-label ranges.

What sizes and shapes are available?

Four sizes across the existing range as it is made, and, once you print on the patch or develop a formula of your own, whatever size and shape the product needs.

Patch size	About	Per sheet	500 sheets (the US minimum)	15,000 patches (the rest-of-world minimum)
32 × 32 mm	1¼ in square	15	7,500 patches	1,000 sheets
38 × 38 mm	1½ in square	6	3,000 patches	2,500 sheets
45 × 45 mm	1¾ in square	6	3,000 patches	2,500 sheets
52.5 × 63 mm	2 × 2½ in	2	1,000 patches	7,500 sheets

Custom shapes and sizes are available on Your Brand, Our Formula as well as on Full Bespoke. On the print route the formulation stays as it is and the patch is cut to your dimensions and outline, and the price moves with an unusual shape or a much larger patch. A patch far from the standard formats can affect the sheet minimum as well, so ask before you plan against it. On Full Bespoke the minimum is set by the patch size rather than by a flat count, from 100,000 patches per SKU on the largest formats to 750,000 on the smallest, because a formulation run coats a fixed area of film, and a small patch takes many more units to use it than a large one does.

What can I print, and where?

Three surfaces: the patch, the backing sheet and the pack.

On the patch, up to six colours. Six is the ceiling, so design for it from the start rather than discovering it at proof. That is essentially full CMYK print, with further colours available for special finishes and aromas.

On the backing sheet, the liner each patch peels from can carry print: a logo, a QR code, text. It is the surface the customer looks at every time they use the product, and on the two routes that print the patch it is where a brand appears at the moment of use rather than only on the shelf.

On the pack, every panel. The cartons print inside and out; the pouch prints on both faces.

Sheets can be perforated so a single patch tears off cleanly. That is standard across the Ready Made Collection. On a custom print run it is an option rather than a fixed feature of the sheet, so say whether you want it when you brief the pack.

Which packaging formats can I choose from?

The packaging gallery shows eight finished packs, and between them they cover six formats. The choice is a channel decision before it is an aesthetic one.

• Sliding-drawer carton. A rigid sleeve and drawer with a thumb notch, 82 × 162 × 24 mm (about 3¼ × 6⅜ × 1 in), holding up to 30 patches, printed inside and out. The shelf format.
• Hang-tab box. A printed folding carton with a hanging tab, for peg display. Foil framing is available on the box.
• Folding carton. The conventional retail box, without the drawer or the tab.
• Doy pack. A stand-up pouch with a resealable zip, 100 × 136 mm (about 4 × 5⅜ in), holding up to 15 patches, printed on both faces. Light, flat and letterbox-sized, which makes it the subscription and refill format.
• Blister pack. A clear hang-tab blister over a printed card, for peg display where the patch itself should be visible.
• Paper wallet. A printed folded wallet, front and back. The lightest format, for sampling and single-sheet sales.

What cannot be changed at all?

Four things, on every route.

The construction. Every patch we make is a matrix construction, with the formulation held within the adhesive layer itself. We do not make reservoir patches, and if a formulation needs that construction we are not the right factory for it. We would rather say so here than after sampling.

The sheet. Patches are coated and cut as sheets, the sheet is the unit an order is counted in, and the sheet is what goes into the pack.

The sample. On a formula of your own, the sample is coated film for ingredient and adhesive testing: three US Letter sheets (8.5 × 11 in), uncut, unprinted and unperforated, in 3–4 weeks. It cannot show you a finish, a shape or a colour, so artwork decisions are made on proofs, never on samples.

The ladder. The minimum moves when you change more. Change the pack only: 500 sheets in the US, 15,000 patches in the rest of the world. Change the patch’s appearance: 3,000 sheets, or 40,000 patches. Change the formulation: a per-SKU minimum set by the patch size, from 100,000 patches. That is the same for everyone, and it is the reason to decide what you need to change before deciding what you would like to.

What should an initial order range change?

The pack, always. The patch print, usually. The formulation, rarely.

The pack because it is where the buyer, the retailer and the customer form their view of the product, and it is yours on every route at the lowest minimum. The patch print because a stock patch in a custom pack is the one thing that gives a white-label range away, and 3,000 sheets, or 40,000 patches outside the US, is a real but reachable step. The formulation rarely, because owning a formula answers none of the questions a first range is asking (which product sells, at what pack size, through which channel) and the per-SKU minimum is a large commitment to a product nobody has yet bought.

Choose the format for the channel: a carton or hang-tab box for a shelf, a doy pack for anything that goes through the post, a blister for a peg, a wallet for sampling. Then design in six colours, and design the backing sheet at the same time as the patch, because they are printed as a pair and seen as one.

Short answers

Can I choose the patch size? On the Ready Made Collection, no: the size is set by the formulation, 32 mm for sixteen of the twenty-two, 38 or 45 mm for five, 52.5 × 63 mm for one. Once you print on the patch, on Your Brand, Our Formula or Full Bespoke, size and shape are yours, priced by what you choose.

Can I put my own design on the patch? Yes, on Your Brand, Our Formula and on Full Bespoke: up to six colours, and print on the backing sheet. On the Ready Made Collection the patch is standard and your artwork goes on the pack.

Which packaging formats are there? Cartons (sliding-drawer, hang-tab and conventional folding), doy-pack pouches, blister packs and paper wallets. The sliding-drawer carton is 82 × 162 × 24 mm and holds up to 30 patches; the doy pack is 100 × 136 mm, resealable, and holds up to 15.

Does customisation change the minimum? Yes. Pack only: 500 sheets in the US, 15,000 patches in the rest of the world. Print on the patch: 3,000 sheets, or 40,000 patches. Your own formulation: 100,000 to 750,000 patches per SKU, depending on patch size.

Can I see my artwork on a sample? No. Samples are coated film for ingredient and adhesive testing and carry no print, cut or perforation. Artwork is approved on proofs.

Can the backing sheet be printed? Yes. A logo, a QR code or text behind every patch, on the two routes that print the patch.