By Lara Copeland, contributing editor, PostPress
One of the greatest pollinators on the planet, the honeybee, is known for its production of not only wax but, more importantly, honey. The sweet treat has been treasured by humans for centuries. Capital Bee Company, based in Savannah, Georgia, is known for its rare, single varietal mono-floral honeys. Sourcing local honey in addition to honey from around the US, the company prides itself on finding “the most magnificent honeys” and providing them to customers to enjoy. One such customer, international branding agency Stag&Hare, with offices in New York, London and Atlanta, became enamored with Capital Bee’s honey and decided to share it with clients as part of a custom promotional piece showcasing its creative abilities. To bridge the gap between the product and getting it into customers’ hands, Stag&Hare called on DataGraphic, Commack, New York, to help create an unforgettable presentation and package for the specialty honey.
“Each year, this client provides a gift to its customers,” DataGraphic President Glenn Schuster noted, “and last year, the owner decided to give away artisanal honey he discovered while traveling.” According to its website, Stag&Hare works every year to develop an artful piece to present to its customers, which the company strives to make one part collective expression and one part collaboration with unique, like-minded small businesses. Branding agencies know the power of creating a sensorial experience, and this gift was no exception. Stag&Hare chose to design and produce a flavor experience using “one of the most unique, yet natural creators – the honeybee,” its website offered. In fact, “this box design and the overall aesthetic was built around the honeybee theme,” Schuster recalled.
Stag&Hare designed a custom “jewelry box” to house four jars of honey varieties: Tupelo, Guajillo Acacia, Snowberry and Frosted Cinnamon. DataGraphic brought the vision to life with tactile textures and finishes throughout. The outer box, honey jar cartons, honey jar insert trays and position-mounted inside flap card was created out of a matte black soft-touch paper, 122# Plike. The box is “adorned with layered gold foil, intricate gloss spot UV varnish and small pops of screen-printed, vibrant colors,” according to Stag&Hare’s website.
On the inside of the box, the honey jar insert tray displays hexagonal shapes diecut on DataGraphic’s 41″ Thomson ValueLine Clamshell. The outside cover of the decorative box was first spot UV coated, creating a black over black look with the contrast of the gloss UV over the black Plike stock. Then, it was foil stamped with a bright gold foil from Infinity Foils in perfect registration over the spot UV that included an emblem stating, “Players of Creativity.” The designs on the box were all foil stamped on a Kluge press.
The inside of the box is rich in creativity and awakens the senses as well. A honey jar insert tray holds a brass honey spoon affixed to the box with wire. It sits adjacent to four jars that are inserted into their own decorative carton, each one holding a different flavor of honey. Each jar of honey sits in its hexagon-shaped carton and is covered with a brightly decorated lid featuring a gold foil emblem and different screen-printed dots of colors that indicate the type of honey and reflect the individual flavor profiles. Each individual hexagon-shaped box also includes specific highlights of gloss spot UV over the black Plike stock.
The inside of the front cover of the box includes several hexagon shapes that are spot UV coated over the black stock in the same size as the individual honey cartons. Around the spot-coated hexagons, there is text that ties the different honeys and honeybees to the services offered by Stag&Hare. Lastly, there are several icons around the spot-coated hexagons and text that are foil stamped in the same gold foil as the cover.
Lastly, on the inside base of the box under where the individual cartons are placed in the insert tray, a gold stock (105# Stardream Metallic Gold Cover) is mounted to the rigid Plike board. Underneath each of the hexagon honey cartons, a “bite-sized” fact about the honeybee and honey is screen printed in black.
Once all the decorative boxes were coated and foil stamped, they were individually diecut on DataGraphic’s Thomson diecutting press. Each piece was hand-fed to ensure perfect registration from the decorative processes to the final diecut. The design of the outside box and the individual honey cartons were such that they could be scored and folded together without the use of glue, with a unique design where the insert tray perfectly sat inside the box.
“The registration was critical,” Schuster explained. “We originally planned the job to digitally print but the digital press would not hold the registration required, so we switched to the screen press for perfect registration.” Stag&Hare was thrilled with the final product and featured it on its website. It is hard to imagine a more decorative presentation for honey!
