On the official Gmail blog (aka Google’s Email service), Dave Cohen announced yesterday the release of colored labels for email. While labels have been around since the beginnings of Gmail, the introduction of colored labels simply adds a visual context to an already useful technique of getting your digital files organized. Below is a quick synopsis of labels and why you should start using them

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What are labels and where are they used?

Labels are essentially another term for a relevant tag or a keyword. A label can be applied to any piece of information, such as an email, bookmark or photo, in the same way that you would put a label on a manila folder.

They are commonly found on Web 2.0 sites, including:

• Blogs, such as WordPress or Blogger
• Online bookmarking services (recently reviewed by our own Nalini Humphrey)
• Photo sharing services, such as Flickr

Why are labels important?
Besides the fact that labels are now commonly used feature of sites today, they are also a means of helping us be more productive. As I think about the way that I managed emails, I used to create folders with either a person or project name (like “Emails from Boss” or “EDS Website Redesign”) and add relevant emails in those folders for reference. Unfortunately, I would end up with emails that could go in more than one place so I would have to pick a single folder (which was annoying). This would present an even bigger problem when I would need to fetch a specific email but couldn’t find it in that one folder as it was hiding in another folder.

Enter labels! With labels, I am able to get around this issue by applying one or more keywords to the same message. This way, the message appears in all of the right places. And further, with colored labels I can add a red color to my to-do label so it sticks out.

Where else can I use labels?

Since labels are not limited to email, you can apply them to other items that you need to organize, like your photos or bookmarks. For photos, you can simply tag who’s in the picture and what occasion it was taken and with bookmarks I tag them with several related. This system actually helps me find the “needle in the haystack,” especially when I have to locate a bookmark for a CSS hack regardless of whether I’m looking under “code samples” or “designing websites” (I know that Wade, our Creative Director, cringes whenever I say that!).