.smi-preview#smi-preview-10580 { --smi-column-gap: 10px; --smi-row-gap: 20px; --smi-color: #ffffff; --smi-hover-color: #90c43c; ; ; --smi-border-width: 0px; ; --smi-border-radius: 0%; --smi-border-color: #3c434a; --smi-border-hover-color: #3c434a; --smi-padding-top: 15px; --smi-padding-right: 0px; --smi-padding-bottom: 0px; --smi-padding-left: 0px; --smi-font-size: 20px; --smi-horizontal-alignment: flex-end; --smi-hover-transition-time: 1s; ; }

    PostPress

    Print Decorating, Binding and Finishing

    Applications

    Devilish Design – 13 Devils Business Cards

    by Brittany Willes, contributing editor
    PostPress

    Everyone knows the old adage: the devil is in the details. This was especially true when it came to designing business cards for 13 Devils, a Poland-based company focused on design and conceptual ideas for entertainment and creative industries like television, film and gaming, as well as for cosplay community and other individual customers. With a name like 13 Devils, an appropriately sinister – and stylish – business card was a necessity.

    “13 Devils is a company created by a few friends interested in cosplay, fantasy and sci-fi games and themes. Naturally, we wanted to reflect these motives,” stated Adrian Chytry, creative designer for Foxtrot Design Studio. “Additionally, we wanted to create a bold and impactful design to show that these are serious and capable people committed to creating beautiful products. The name itself gave us the initial idea for the direction. The motif of the devil in the logo, typography in the style of a hard rock band from the ’80s, stylish ornaments and black and gold foil for a premium and classy look – everything connects together to create a stunning final look.”

    Along with the stunning design, part of what makes these cards unique is their unusual thickness. This is a result of the cards being constructed in two layers. The outside layer was printed using Antalis paper stock – black PLIKE 300g/m2 cover. The PLIKE stock allows for a distinct, rose-petal feel. The inner layer was done using Curious Metallics 300g/m2 stock. The two layers were tri-plexed together to create a distinct card consisting of two black outer layers with a white inner layer.

    13 Devils Business CardsWhile the tri-plex design helps the card stand out, it’s the foil and embossing that elevates it. The main logo – the devil and surrounding decorations – were drawn by hand, digitized and the very fine details were added using Illustrator. According to Chytry, when it came time to print the card, screen printing was selected as the best method.

    Three different colors were used for the design. The background pattern was created using black foil on the black paper stock. This creates a bit of shiny contrast against the duller black of the paper. The white foil used for the contact information provides more contrast and makes the necessary information easy to read. Finally, a gold metallic ink was used for the company name and devil logo.

    Once the foils and metallic inks were applied to the card stock, the next step was embossing the cards. This step represented a very meticulous and precise part of the process as it was tricky to align the print and embossing together given the highly detailed graphics.

    “The embossing process was quite difficult,” said Chytry. “The level of detail on the card is exceptional and the overlapping of the embossing with the screen print had to be perfect. It took a lot of precision and craftsmanship, but at the end the additional effort was worth it.”

    Despite the challenge of keeping everything perfectly aligned, the 13 Devils business cards turned out beautifully. “Everybody loved them. The production team was thrilled, and we were more than happy with the final look,” said Chytry. “To this day, we get a lot of questions and comments regarding this project.”

    RIT Students Create More Than A Box for Print Panther

    by Lara Copeland, contributing editor
    PostPress

    Based in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Print Panther focuses on creating high-quality, design-led print solutions for a wide client base – including real estate, healthcare and everything in between – all of which are looking to elevate brand status through elegant printed materials.

    Recently, Print Panther President Christine Yardley partnered with Professor Chris Bondy and his Media Arts and Technology (MAAT) students from New York’s Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) on a special project that produced a Foil and Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) Gold Leaf Award-winning box – a holiday gift to show appreciation for Print Panther’s clients, business partners and sales prospects, while simultaneously impressing them with the capabilities of the company’s MGI JETvarnish 3DS digital enhancement press from Konica Minolta.

    Print Panther BoxManaging printing industry trade association relationships and university-level workforce development programs for Konica Minolta, Dawn Nye is the company’s product and industry marketing manager. In her capacity of leading Konica Minolta’s national educational outreach activities, she does everything from arranging printing equipment donations and student scholarship programs to organizing hiring processes and intern experiences at several schools around the country. Additionally, she helps suggest curriculum activities at numerous colleges and universities in collaboration with educators like Professor Bondy.

    Nye facilitated the partnership between the RIT students and Print Panther for this venture. “Professor Chris Bondy is an industry leader who has helped educate students on the values and virtues of the printing and packaging graphic arts industries for many years,” Nye said. “Christine Yardley and Print Panther represent a new breed of printer that thrives on design-focused, campaign-driven creative uses of digital technology. Together, they made a great team for this RIT course and student project through their leadership and donation of time and talent,” she added.

    As part of RIT’s MAAT curriculum, senior-level students are required to complete a group assignment in which they exercise skills learned throughout their studies to create a final printed graphics production project. The students work in small teams with industry clients, like Print Panther, which provides them with a real-world experience. Additionally, students learn about project management as they work toward a long-term solution. One small team of these students created “More than a Box” – what MGI’s Marketing Manager Jack Noonan describes as “a holiday folding carton package and combined ‘Season’s Greetings’ gift” – for their project.

    “The truly unique aspect of this project is that the conception, design and production of the finished piece creates so much more than a box,” Noonan said. “It’s a professionally produced luxury folding carton application, and it also is a very fun, interactive ‘pop-up’ winter landscape scene with evergreen trees, snowdrifts and icicles.” He continued by saying the hidden gem of a present located inside the box is “a useful, practical and very attractive, charming holiday tree ornament.”

    Print Panther BoxWhen it came to the final design, Yardley explained that the students did not have many boundaries. “I just needed to be able to mail it out, so size and cost were the only factors,” she said. Adhering to the set budget, the final goal for the project was to create a holiday-themed package that would impress prospects and clients with its visual design and transform or contain an item that could be kept for a while. “We were looking to replace the traditional card,” Yardley clarified, “and we wanted to incorporate embellishment, as well as diecutting.”

    Once tasked with the holiday greeting project for the Canadian printing company, the students were led on a live production effort that incorporated project management, client needs analysis, design and print production (which includes defining, designing and producing all artwork and materials for the MGI digital print embellishment process, which includes variable embossed foil, 2D/3D UV dimensional textures and more). The students even traveled to Toronto for a live site visit to tour Print Panther’s commercial printing production facility and discuss the plans with Yardley and her team.

    Package engineering is a new focus of the MAAT program as it enters the College of Engineering Technology. Not wanting to limit one another’s creativity, students worked separately to come up with ideas for a uniquely shaped box. From there, they completed multiple rough prototypes. After the package designs were crafted, students shared them in in-person focus meetings with the client in Toronto. Afterwards, the group looked to pull elements from parts of each proposal to create a final structural design. Fashioning a distinctive yet simple product took some time, but once the final prototype was completed, die lines were sent to Yardley and the Panther team for review.

    Though there may have been some initial concern about the students’ lack of experience, those worries quickly were laid to rest. “I didn’t have any specific expectations for the project, but I thought this wonderful Christmas gift showcased the creativity and ingenuity of the students, while also highlighting what our technology can do – which is to create embellished print that is far different from standard, regular commercial work,” stated Yardley.

    Once the box and ornament were designed, students added color and effects in Adobe Illustrator®. Since the group was well-versed with the software, Bondy said this phase of the project was smooth. The first mock-up of the ornament was the one that the group ended up going with. “It was a simple red gradient with silver foiling to add a little shine without being too distracting,” he explained. “The initial idea for the box was to create a wrapping paper pattern for the lid, with the bottom part of the box matching the wrapping paper on the outside, and upon opening the box a snowy winter scene would be revealed.”

    Three separate wrapping paper designs of varying complexity were created before the students chose the final design. The initial design for the bottom portion of the box did not change much over time as it seemed a very good base foundation during the prototyping phase. The final product depicts a snow-like pattern on the inside, while the Christmas trees appear decorated with glowing lights via reflective metallic silver foil and touches of varnish.

    After making a handful of small changes to the wrapping paper design, students added layers for the foils and varnishes that would be applied for the more complex pieces of the project. “The base layer of the snow was achieved through laying down a raised spot varnish and applying a shimmery white foil along the highlights of the pattern to create an effect and mimic actual snow,” Bondy relayed. The wrapping paper pattern used on the lid of the box was used again on the outside of the bottom part of the box with a clear UV varnish to create a slightly raised surface and a subtle red-on-red pattern. “The same pattern on the outside of the box, now with the more subdued color scheme, made use of silver and green foils to accent existing curves, as well as outline some of the simpler shapes,” he added. The final touch included appropriate foils next to the lights on the trees to give them a twinkling effect.

    Invercote, a durable multi-layered Solid Bleached Board (SBB), was chosen for this product. “The stock is brilliant and made from pure virgin fiber sourced from sustainably managed Swedish forests,” Yardley said. “This paperboard is a great choice for packaging and graphical applications.” To allow for creasing and cutting in one process, Yardley said multiple cutting dies were used, including a matrix, which is a die within a die. “The need to incorporate a matrix in the diecutting was a challenge, but not one we couldn’t overcome,” Yardley said. The printing was done digitally on the company’s Konica Minolta Accurio 6100 press.

    The MGI JETvarnish 3D was responsible for the use of the decorative silver foil, dimensional textures and spot ink highlighting used on the final product. Yardley added that a small, thin silver wire holds the ornament together, but no other materials were used. The final product pleasantly surprised Print Panther’s president. “The sheer engagement of the students was refreshing and inspiring,” she added. “I would hire them in a heartbeat.” Additionally, her clients loved it. “It was unusual, and the design was very creative; I think it most likely generated ideas for my clients to use for their business applications.”

    When the final product was completed, students stood before peers and faculty to present their team project, showcasing their work and what they learned throughout the course. Bondy said that many group members reported learning how to manage a large-scale project, and that this project helped them become more confident in working in a 3D modeling space rather than just the flat 2D color printed surfaces for which they typically design. “Many of the skills taught in this class will be applicable for future experiences, especially for students looking to go into management or design,” he concluded.

    The results of the students’ hard work surpassed any expectations across the board and the creativity and printcraft earned an FSEA Gold Leaf Award for best use of foil/embossing for a holiday self-promotion piece. Yardley was inspired by working with the students. “The second I held the piece in my hands, I knew we had to submit the student design to the Gold Leaf Awards,” she stated. “Not only did we win an award, we also gave our clients a wonderful Christmas gift and gave back to our industry by working with the future print leaders of tomorrow.” Noonan echoed her sentiments: “The box itself is the gift and shows not only tremendous craft and skill but also very thoughtful kindness, too. We’re all very proud that the students harnessed the power of our digital printing and finishing technology so brilliantly.”

    In the end, the students gained real-time experiences like working under deadlines, accomodating client-driven design changes, dealing with prototypes not working out as planned, using the latest digital print technology, staying on budget, using prepress preparations and, of course, using postpress finishing embellishments. Nye was most impressed with their enthusiasm, hard work, time and effort, and said “that confirms the idea that young people want to learn more about the world of print and explore the graphic arts industries for future career paths.”

    Yardley concluded by saying that “print production has never been more magical,” and she would encourage other companies to investigate collaborating with college students. “Just do it,” she exclaimed. “The rewards are amazing. Do good, be kind and most importantly, have passion for print and everything else that you do.”

    Go Big and Go Gold – PBS Wins with Unique Binding

    by Brittany Willes, contributing editor
    PostPress

    “Georgetown is a big idea, with a big future,” declared real estate development company Anthem Properties Group, Vancouver, British Columbia. Located in the heart of Surrey City Center, Georgetown is one of Anthem’s latest residential developments. In order to appropriately convey just how big Georgetown’s future is, Anthem turned to Thought Shop and Hemlock Printers to create a stunning promotional book for its clients.

    Pacific Bindery, also located in Vancouver, British Columbia, was chosen to produce the bindery aspects of this project and was more than capable of rising to the challenge. The result was a softcover book that is just as big on visual appeal as Georgetown itself. The 10-acre urban community, which includes residential towers, townhomes, office and retail space, is beautifully depicted in 44-pages of full-color photographs, maps and architectural renderings.

    Three rings of metallic, copper-colored foil combine to form a single letter – a bold “G” that stands out against a simple, navy background. The Georgetown G decorates the otherwise modest cover of the coffee table-style book. By opting to use a landscape format for the book, designers were able to make full use of an increased display area. The wider page styles allowed floorplans for the different buildings and apartments to be shown in larger sizes. Visually, it created a more impressive design that allows potential customers to get a better idea of all that Georgetown has to offer.

    On a more practical note, the landscape-style also “allowed the pages to lay flat much easier than portrait pages that have a much narrower width and a much longer binding edge,” remarked Jean Stewart, account manager for Pacific Bindery. “It lends the book a great sense of presence when displayed on a table.”

    The book cover itself was produced on 14 pt. Mohawk Carnival Cover in Deep Blue. Two different foils were used – the Copper #143 foil forming the prominent G and Gloss White foil used to spell out Georgetown along the binding, as well as Anthem’s name, logo and website on the back cover. Both foils were supplied by Great Western Foil.

    Once the foiling was complete on the front and back covers, a register emboss was performed on the copper foil. Overall, the entire cover required two passes for the foiling, with an additional pass for the final emboss.

    With the foil and embossing completed, an independent pocket then was glued onto the back cover. Next, D-tape was applied to the unfinished covers. The 44-pages of text were cut, collated and gathered together with the front and back covers. Finally, the book was bound using the relatively simple style of side stitching.

    However, stitching was not the end of the binding process. A section of the stitched pages was folded and creased on a platen, creating a slightly raised portion along the side of the front cover. This raised section was hand-folded and manually taped, resulting in a unique look for the finished project.

    “The look is a rare one,” Stewart explained. “We call it ‘Matchbook binding.’ It is a simple stitching job, but the wrapped cover over the stitching creates an altogether uncommon finished look.”

    While the book itself may appear simple at first glance, the binding definitely garners a second glance that reveals something unique and special – just like Georgetown. The book has proven popular for Anthem. After being released for only a couple of months, Anthem requested further reprints for its clients.

    At the 26th Annual FSEA Gold Leaf Awards, Pacific Bindery claimed awards in five categories, two of them for Georgetown in the categories of Most Unique Binding and Best Use of Foil/Embossing – Soft and Hardback Book Covers.

    “A Baugh Christmas Story,” by D.E. Baugh Co.

    By Lara Copeland, contributing editor
    PostPress

    In the window of a two-story house on Cleveland Street in Hammond, Indiana, circa 1940, sits a lamp emitting a gentle light against a snowy backdrop – though it is no ordinary lamp. With “the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window,” the leg lamp prop used in A Christmas Story has become well-known since the movie debuted on Thanksgiving in 1983. This popular icon of the well-loved movie has made its way into pop culture, from Christmas ornaments to life-size replicas – even making its way onto the 2018 Christmas card from D.E. Baugh Co.

    Wanting to design a multi-level shadowbox to showcase the company’s structural design capabilities, the Baugh production planning team chose “Fragile” as the inspiration for its 2018 Christmas card. This theme lends itself perfectly to the movie. As any fan may recall, the father – or The Old Man, as the narrator refers to him – receives a package in the mail with “fragile” stamped across it. And, one of the most memorable lines from the movie comes from this scene when The Old Man reads the word, mispronounces it as fra-gee-lay and claims, “It must be Italian.” As a nod to this scene, Baugh Co. designed the outside of the Christmas card to resemble the crate in which the infamous leg lamp arrived.

    The multi-dimensional greeting card was formed from only one piece of stock. The book-style cover folding carton design “was taken from the home entertainment industries’ products from the mid-1990s,” explained Mike Western, director of operations/QA at D.E. Baugh. This successful design concept was planned months before the card reached clients’ desks.

    Western said planning started in June of 2018: “In the first meeting, we discussed concept, construction and graphic direction with the Baugh planning team and Printing Partners.”

    This family-run business of 35 years has 40 fulltime employees and maintains a 50,000 square-foot manufacturing facility. Reaching clients across several industries – from commercial printers, folding carton companies, direct mail, corrugated, greeting cards, advertising agencies and general end users – the D.E. Baugh team knew the wide appeal of the movie would reach across a broad spectrum of markets.

    The Baugh production planning department designed the unique Christmas Story concept. Western said that once the concept and graphic elements were determined, the project was turned over to Baugh’s structural design/die room.

    “Using Cimex 18.0 computer-aided design (CAD) software, we were able to create a CAD rendering of the desired construction,” Western said. Several construction changes were needed to ensure the card would set up and hold form for end presentation. “This was achieved with several versions of back folds, perforated scores and finished edges,” he explained. All samples were cut on Baugh’s Mimaki CF2-0912 plotter cutter. Once final construction was approved, the graphic elements could be placed to a CAD layout. At this point, a CAD drawing – marked with back printing, print-safe areas as well as no ink/coating areas – was sent to the design team at Printing Partners. This allowed the team to insert the graphic images chosen within the correct positioning. The CAD drawing would allow for proper fit as well as required bleeds for each manufacturing process.

    christmas-story-coverThe Christmas card first was printed 1-up on a 28×40 sheet using a Heidelberg XL 106 on 12pt Invercote Creato C2S, which was chosen for its printing, diecutting and scoring properties. Western commented that using the Invercote Creato “was essential for the success of the project.” Additionally, special care was needed for the proper backup of graphic elements to ensure correct crossovers were achieved. “This was done through proofing and plotter-cutting out the proofs to ensure all elements were in correct position,” Western noted. “Graphic elements were duplicated on tuck flaps to hide any unwanted, ‘unprinted’ areas, which were visible on the wreath and fireplace.” All white areas were filled with the match red to ensure no white showed when viewing the card at any angle.

    A Bobst foil stamping press was used to stamp the red bow that adorns the outside of the crate, as well as the greeting on the inside flap. Red and gold metallic foils from Infinity Foils were used in the greeting, “A Baugh Christmas Story” and the message, “We triple dog dare you to have a happy holiday season!” The ribbon, lettering, rope and wood-feel on the front cover all were embossed on a Bobst Novacut diecutter using Universal Engraving brass and copper tooling.

    The shadowbox inside shows the leg lamp glowing against a holiday scene that includes a decorated Christmas tree and a wreath hanging above the fireplace with a fire ablaze. Just as the movie depicts, “The iconic leg lamp was chosen, as well as a few traditional Christmas items, to set the scene from a street view perspective,” Western explained. To give the card even more depth, the wreath, fireplace mantel and bricks, Christmas tree and leg lamp all were multi-level embossed, and the tree and leg lamp also were diecut with the NovaCut. Printed on the top layer of the shadow box are famous quotes from the movie.

    When the team at Baugh set out to impress clients with not only its structural design capabilities, but also its high-end, high-quality, value-added services, they did not disappoint. According to Director of Sales and Marketing Dave Hurdle, clients were quite pleased, and Baugh received many positive comments about the holiday card. Baugh’s beloved holiday card was passed around and discussed at many production meetings and reportedly also sits on some clients’ desks. “Baugh is top of mind now because of your card when we think of foil stamping and finishing companies,” one client marveled.

    With work already beginning on D.E. Baugh’s 2019 holiday card, Western said the company only started designing and sending clients Christmas cards in 2017. “Our first card was a play on our name, and we went with ‘Baugh Humbug’ as our theme that year,” he confirmed. “It was a lot of fun to work on, and it got us thinking about how to improve for the following year.” Baugh followed through on its commitment to improving its work. The celebrated 2018 card was noted for its success by not only the Great Lakes Graphic Association (GLGA), winning a “best of” category, but also by FSEA, where it won “Best of Show” in the 26th Annual Gold Leaf Awards.

    “We were a bit surprised. We felt it was a strong representation of our capabilities, but we never imagined it was going to win an award,” Western exclaimed.

    Membership Directory Designed to “Spur Imagination”

    by Dianna Brodine, assistant director
    FSEA

    Each year, the staff at the Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) begin tossing design ideas around for the organization’s Sourcebook. As the association representing those who excel in enhancing print products, the FSEA’s annual directory of members and suppliers must reach a high bar when it comes to cover appeal. In 2018, taking cues from the association’s conference location near Nashville, Tennessee, the FSEA Sourcebook invited others to Spur Imagination by working with one of the association members listed within its pages.

    FSEA Sourcebook: Annual project with big implications

    The Sourcebook isn’t only distributed to FSEA active and supplier members – it also serves as a reference to printers and designers looking for a partner for print finishing work, such as foil stamping, diecutting and embossing. The FSEA distributes several hundred copies of the Sourcebook at tradeshows and other events throughout the year. Supplier partners are able to insert samples of their own intricate work into the Sourcebook, making it even more important that the cover design is spectacular – both to attract attention and to measure up to the high standards already set by the work featured within the directory.

    In 2018, the FSEA was taking its national conference to the Nashville area, so a cover design that complemented Tennessee’s country music roots seemed like a natural. A red cowboy boot with brown leather details and silver spurs provided the inspiration.

    Sourcebook features work from association members

    Foil stamping and multi-level embossing work for the Sourcebook cover was performed by Superior Graphic Finishing in Doraville, Georgia. Originally established in 1972 as a steel rule die company, Superior Graphic Finishing added die-cutting, foil and embossing, folding/gluing and specialty bindery services in the 1980s. The company has won more than 400 awards over the last 45 years from the Printing Industry Association of Georgia, Printing Industries of America and FSEA.

    The brass multi-level embossing die and copper flat foil stamping dies were supplied by Phoenix, Arizona-based Metal Magic, engravers of premium brass and copper dies for everything from stationery to wine labels, commercial packaging to annual reports, trading cards to book covers. Paper stock utilized for the cover was 15.6 pt Invercoste CIS from Iggesund Paperboard, Inc.

    boot
    >> The flat silver pass was laid down first, and then two embossing passes added detail.

    The Sourcebook design called for fine-line embossing on the threaded feather detail and other decorative elements meant to bring out the texture of the leather, including stitching around the toe and on the shaft of the boot. The spur received special attention through the application of silver foil and an additional decorative embossing. The FSEA logo was added as a subtle branding detail for the association.

    “The foil stamping and sculptured embossing processes were performed on a Kluge EHD,” said Guy Dupree, president of Superior Graphic Finishing. “The flat silver pass was laid down first on the Kluge. Then, to achieve maximum detail on the intricate areas, we ran the embossing in two passes. The first pass was done to see how much pressure we could use without over-pressure, which would cause cracking or damage to the counter. On the second pass, we adjusted the counter with more spot tape, mostly on the fine detail, until we achieved the desired result.”

    “I blocked out the areas for which flat dies needed to be created before sending the files to our partners,” said Becky Arensdorf, art director for FSEA. “The craftsmen at Metal Magic took things from there to add more detail to the entire boot and spurs, based on their knowledge and creativity.”

    Because of the intricacy of the foil stamping and embossing passes, the covers were trimmed to the correct size early in the process, but preparations were made in case adjustments were necessary. Dupree explained, “Since the sheets were printed multiple-up, we had to back-trim the sheets and keep the Polar paper cutter set up throughout the entire run of the foil/emboss process to adjust if necessary. We final-trimmed the covers before we ran the job, but we did so in small lifts as we ran so that we could check for any cutter draw that would affect the register.”

    The final result was well worth it, and the incredible detail was so realistic that it fooled the press operator! “When the first finished piece came off the press, I took a picture of it and sent it to Jeff Peterson at the FSEA,” said Dupree. “Then I showed the picture to the press operator who was running the job. He asked me if that was a picture of the boots that were used for the artwork. It took me a moment or two to convince him that it was a picture of the job that he was running. He thought that I was kidding! We have never seen a picture of a piece that looked that realistic. The design, printing, dies and finishing all had to be spot on to create such a great piece, and we were glad to be a part of it.”

    The sentiment was echoed by the company that created the embossing dies. “Metal Magic always considers it a high honor to provide dies for an FSEA project, especially one that is seen by so many, as the Sourcebook is,” said Mark Schumacher, vice president, sales for Metal Magic/Liberty Foil/GC Dies. “Our team takes great pride in the work we do for all our customers but seeing how perfectly every facet of this job came together, on such a marquee piece, only heightened that feeling.”

    Award-winning effort

    The 2018 FSEA Sourcebook has been a hit not only with those searching for print finishing providers, but also with judges. The sourcebook took Gold in the Directories category of the 2018 Gold Ink Awards, presented by Printing Impressions. The competition encompasses nearly 50 categories within commercial printing, magazines, books, catalogs, digital printing and packaging.

    “It’s always excited to be recognized for the great work we do,” said Jeff Peterson, FSEA’s executive director, “but it’s even more rewarding when we receive that recognition for a project we’ve worked on with our members. Our association represents the most talented print finishers in the world, and we’re proud to collaborate with them each year on the FSEA Sourcebook.”

    Out of This World: UEI’s Holiday Greeting Card

    By Lara Copeland, contributing editor
    PostPress

    UEI® Group Companies, Overland Park, Kansas, has worked with the University of Kansas’ Department of Design for nearly 20 years, having formed a symbiotic relationship to provide students with the opportunity to learn how their designs can develop into a finished product. “It is a unique, special program where students receive invaluable printing production knowledge and use with a practical application in a design of their own creation,” expressed Jim Hutchison, senior vice president of the UEI® Group Companies.

    Each year the students are tasked with designing the corporate UEI Group holiday card, keeping in mind the enhancements offered by UEI Group, including engraved foil and embossing dies as well as decorative foils and glitter to create the final piece. Once students make their submissions, the UEI® Group chooses corporate staff from various departments to judge the students’ designs. Once the winner is selected, the holiday card is produced and distributed worldwide to companies of all sizes, and the student is given samples of the card for their portfolio. The 2018 winner was designed by Abra Shirley.

    Brightmarks, LLC, a print and packaging enhancement company, brought Shirley’s design to life. On the front of the card and spread across the opening of the gate fold is the globe. Depicted as an ornament, the globe features land masses that are stamped in gold foil. A red foil stamped ribbon is looped through and tied around the ornament hanger and drapes down the sides of the globe-shaped ornament. Stamped in gold below the globe, the card says “Joy to your world.” Several world-famous landmarks are printed in 4-color process against a dark sky and snow-covered ground on the inside of the three-paneled card. These landmarks include the Kremlin, London Tower, Sydney Opera House and Statue of Liberty, to name a few. Strewn about the peaks of these landmarks is a string of gold lights stamped in a gold holographic foil. The greeting on the center panel inside is stamped in gold metallic.

    A total of five Kluge EHD presses were used to complete the project. The multi-level emboss die was set-up on one machine in register with the printed elements of the design. The first four applications of foil were stamped on each of four separate Kluge EHD presses. Each application was set-up using the machine that was embossing as a check for register of the position. Sheets were taken from one machine to the next until the first four foils were applied. Periodic pulls were done and fully embossed to ensure registration was maintained. A spot UV soft touch was applied following the fourth foil pass, and a fifth final foil pass was completed after the UV was applied. Then, the final embossing of the sheets was performed.

    According to David Hutchison, CEO of Brightmarks, the print format selected was 14×20 running one up on a Heidelberg SM52-5 color press with AQ coater. “All of the foil stamp passes were performed using Universal Engraving heat-compensated copper flat stamp dies, some with Unifraxion® pattern details,” he said. He explained that the compensation was to match the operating temperatures of the respective foils.

    Next, the spot UV soft touch was screen coated over the entire front and inside of the cards. Hutchison said, “The screen was created using a distorted film output internally, matched to the printed sheet.” Then the embossing was completed on a 14×22 Kluge EHD, and the embossing die was heat-compensated to the expected embossing temperature. “The embossing counter was a precast counter,” he added.

    All foils for the project were provided by Infinity Foils, Inc., a UEI Group Company. “Choosing several different foils to further enhance the card and design aspects was key,” said Nicole Mercer, marketing for the UEI® Group Companies. The grades of foil were then selected by the application and what they were stamping. “A gloss green pigment foil (PG360) was chosen for the greenery sprinkled throughout the card, and it was paired with a beautiful metallic (45 shade) in all of the right spots. To get the special twinkle, Infinity® Foils, Inc., included the perfect gold holographic foil (41-97) next to a rich-black foil (99). It then was topped off by a gold that brought out all of the Unifraxion® excellence and text detail (867).”

    Finally, the cards were folded and glued. The panels were intentionally duplexed to hide the reverse image of the emboss. The choice to duplex the panels made the print and processing one-sided, which also assisted in maintaining register and matchups. The face panels were diecut loose to facilitate the gate fold hinge on the front of the card. Hutchison said the design could be folded automated or by hand.

    The card features tight registration in several areas where the foil registers to the print. Hutchison said tight register projects start with a good, well-maintained printing press. The small format offset presses minimize sheet distortion and offer the most control of sheet-to-sheet print placement. “The printing press operator must practice good process procedures,” he stated. “This includes ensuring that the travel of the sheet into the grip and guide are consistent and true.” He also noted that it is important to understand the foil selection to properly call out the heat compensations for the hot stamp. The paper selection will define the embossing temperature, and thus, the heat compensation rate of the embossing tooling. Likewise, the hot stamp and emboss press operator must ensure good practices and operation of side guide mechanisms.

    A card that is created through collaborative efforts from various companies could create challenges in design and production; however, despite the complexity of UEI’s holiday card, there were very few challenges with its production. “Pre-planning eliminated any issues, and it was produced according to plan,” said David Hutchison. Jim Hutchison added, “Our UEI® Group team immensely enjoys the process of helping the students, and they continue to impress us year-over-year with their enthusiasm and creativity.”

    Just Getting Warmed Up: Choquet’s Sun-Themed Calendar Shines Bright

    By Brittany Willes, contributing editor
    PostPress

    “We wanted to invoke a feeling of warmth and comfort,” stated Patrick Choquet, president of Gravure Choquet, when speaking of the inspiration for Gravure Choquet’s annual calendar.

    The company, which has been producing its promotional calendar for the past five years, has routinely incorporated circular designs. For 2018, as winter temperatures reached record lows, the calendar’s design consisting of rings of foil in rich, warm colors – red, orange, copper – encircling a tranquil-looking sun before reaching out in a seemingly ever-expanding circle certainly sparks feelings of warmth and serenity.

    Along with the company’s tradition of using circular designs, the 2018 calendar also took inspiration from another source – childhood. Gravure Choquet utilized drawing techniques often used by children. “We created drawings using wax pencils and then layered over those drawings with black paint,” he said.

    Once the initial design concept was finalized, designer François Martin created a line drawing using multiple colors as a way to represent to the printing industry, just as it uses hot foil stamping to provide multiple aesthetic possibilities, such as matte, satin and shiny metallic colors, as well as crisp details and vibrant shades.

    “It’s not possible to show these elements in the same way with something like digital inkjet technology, where the colors are mainly limited to gold and silver,” remarked Choquet. “We wanted to show off the striking effects that can be created with hot stamping.”

    Along with hot stamping, a blind debossing pass also was incorporated into the production pass in order to make the foiling stand out at the junction (crossing) of the foil and deboss lines.

    Of course, before the debossing could be done, several other steps in the production process had to be completed first. During production, the calendar underwent 12 separate passes. First, solid white foil was stamped in the center of the piece – the foundation for the sun. In the second pass, lines of foil were stamped in a rainbow pattern at 45° angles to add a special foil effect when the calendar is handled in the light. Black, red, pink and orange foil were laid out in the next few passes, with the seventh pass being of copper brown foil stamped along the top and bottom of the calendar.

    To add a bit of rigidity, the calendar was mounted on a 14 pt. cover stock that was black matte laminated with soft-touch finish. The stock that formed the back side of the calendar received the blind embossing which would lead to a deboss effect on the front. After the embossing of the back side, a layer of satin silver foil was applied. Finally, the double sheets were compressed to remove any waving before final assembly.

    All of the foiling for the calendar was performed on Thomson platen presses, the foil itself provided by Kurz Transfer Products and Crown Roll Leaf, while the embossing was done using a Sheridan press. The copper dies used for the embossing as well as the hot stamping dies were engraved in the company’s in-house engraving facility. For each of the eight foiling and embossing passes, each pass was set up at the same time as a way to ensure perfect registration.

    Despite the straightforward process of the foil stamping, producing the calendar was not without its challenges. According to Choquet, because the area that needed to be embossed was fairly large, it created stress on the stock – which creates waving.

    “Having that look of waving on the calendar was simply not acceptable,” he stated. In order to eliminate the waving, the calendar was double mounted using spray adhesive before pressing each calendar using compressible rubber mats. Although this pressing meant adding another step in the production process, the results cannot be denied. Choquet’s 2018 calendar is a beautiful example of the great effects of the otherwise simple process of foil stamping.

    The company’s efforts to create a memorable promotional calendar did not go unnoticed in 2018.

    “We had excellent comments from customers all year,” said Choquet. “We generated a lot of new projects as a result.”

    The calendar also was recognized in the 2018 FSEA Gold Leaf Awards, claiming a Gold Award for “Best Use of Foil and Embossing – Calendar.” Additionally, the calendar received awards at the 2018 Canada Printing Awards and 2018 Gala Gutenberg in Montreal.

    DMS Casts a Unique Poster for SweetWater Brewing Company

    by Lara Copeland, contributing editor
    PostPress

    Although its slogan states, “We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time,” SweetWater Brewing Company, based in Atlanta, Georgia, first hit the beer scene more than 20 years ago. The brewery’s most popular beer, 420 Extra Pale Ale, was named the first time it was ever brewed – April 20, 1997. Head brewer Nick Nock describes the beer as the “brew everybody goes to.” This West Coast-style pale ale is recognized by the large rainbow trout featured on many of the company’s labels. The trout is front and center, located behind an interstate sign featuring the beer’s name.

    SweetWater wanted to create a point-of-sale (POS) poster that would show off the look of its 420 Extra Pale Ale and the iconic trout. The company called on Digital Marketing Services (DMS), Inc., Pelham, Alabama – a digital printing company that combines digital printing, graphic design and new embellishment technologies – to help.

    “We were asked to enhance the poster by adding our input for foil and UV varnish placement as a finishing technique,” said David Rula, DMS business development director. “SweetWater needed to produce enough posters for distribution across several regions in the US. The poster was going to be hung in POS locations where it would be more visible and eye-catching to increase customer awareness.”

    Between the SweetWater Brewing Company banner that adorns the top third of the poster and the rainbow trout placed in the front are two fishermen in a canoe, and one appears to be reeling in the trout while the other paddles. These graphics were provided by the client; however, DMS still faced a challenge. “Because the finishing process is digital, we had to use the graphics provided as a base for our own design of the spot channels for laydown of foil and UV varnish,” Rula explained.

    The first step in the process was applying the holographic foil onto the paper stock (McGregor #130 Gloss Cover). “Using the MGI JETvarnish 3DS, we laid down the UV-curable adhesive directly onto the substrate where we wanted the foil to appear,” Rula explained. “Then, at a separate station on the MGI machine, the Crown Roll Leaf seamless holographic foil was applied.” An LED curing station was used to cure the adhesive prior to foil application.

    Once DMS put down the initial UV adhesive and foil, the image was sent to the Konica Minolta C1100 Digital Press for a complete registered CMYK overprint procedure. “The difference between this procedure and a regular print procedure is that the toner is printed over more than just paper substrate,” Rula said. The holographic foil was layered beneath the toner for the blue sky, the trout, the water drops surrounding the fish and the interstate sign. Once the toner was applied, the colors over the foil took on a dull, iridescent look.

    From that point, “we sent the image back through the MGI JETvarnish 3DS for a top layer of gloss UV varnish and UV protectant,” Rula said. Again, an LED curing station was used to completely cure the final layer of varnish and protectant. This process, according to Rula, brings out the full range of effects of the overprinted holographic foil. “Everything now glistens and adds more dimension to the piece,” he concluded. The SweetWater poster included multiple passes on the MGI machine to build up the “embossed look” of the 420 sign – all in perfect registration.

    Masking for the spot channels was a design challenge that the company welcomed. “This is where the creative spirit must play in a fun and free manner, but with the precision to place varnish and foil in the right setting for the maximum effect,” Rula suggested. Skills are put to the test when trying to find the balance between using too much or too little UV varnish. “It’s easy to say, ‘just varnish everything and make it all glisten,’ but in the end that’s too much,” he said. Likewise, the opposite also is true. Using too little UV varnish means the product remains plain and appears as though nothing was done. In addition to using the right amount, it also is key to know where to place the foil and varnish. “This is especially true when working with foil effects, varnish overlay and 3D varnish effects all in one design,” he confirmed.

    Because the entire project – from the UV varnish to the printing – was digital, it did not require setup plates, lengthy test warm-ups of rollers and so forth, which are required for traditional offset. “If a mask is giving us trouble, be it registration or creative, we can easily change it in Adobe Photoshop® or Illustrator®,” Rula added. “In less than 10 minutes, we are running up a new proof to see if registration, foil effects or 3D effects have changed. Even better, we can switch out colors of foil in less than two minutes and be up and running for a new sample test.”

    Customers “flipped” in response to the poster, Rula said. “SweetWater and its clients’ responses to seeing a rainbow trout actually look like a rainbow trout in print for the first time in history was akin to jaws hitting the floor.” In addition, according to Rula, finishing techniques using the embossed look of UV varnish are “awesome,” adding foil is “better” and digital printing is “great!” Putting them together in different combinations “is something that blows just about every customer’s mind away because it finally unlocks ways of creativity never imagined before.”

    In addition to the customers’ praise, the SweetWater 420 poster also was celebrated by the printing industry. It earned a gold award in the Best Use of Digital UV Inkjet Coatings with Foil category in the 2018 Foil & Specialty Effects (FSEA) Gold Leaf Awards.

    “This type of job for SweetWater Brewing Company is a great example of what our new abilities with UV varnish and foil can add,” Rula concluded. “The ability to offer these types of embellishments for our customers has opened up new doors and provided opportunities with higher-level premium customers that we never had in the past.”

    Trends Presentation Products Reaches New Heights with Wine Box

    by Lara Copeland, contributing editor
    PostPress

    High above the Sonoma valley, a nearly 300-acre winery is spread across the western slope of the Mayacamas Mountain Range in California. Here, distinctive wines are crafted to represent the unique appeal of the property. Recently, the winery needed a high-end wine box to launch its new wine branding. For this job, Trends Presentation Products, Washington, Missouri, was called upon to create a sophisticated box to hold a bottle of wine as well as promotional material for the product.

    Trends makes most of its boxes by hand, so “we tend to cater to the higher-end specialty boxes that run under 3,000 quantity per order,” David Inman, sales manager at Trends, explained. The winery wanted the packaging to represent luxury and elegance. The order quantity was set for 2,000 boxes, and the project took six months from start to finish – this includes everything from the initial quote, sampling materials, testing various prototypes, all the way through to the final production.

    The 16.5×5.5″ box and lid are covered on the outside with a synthetic leather material called Alpha Aston Brown from Ecological Fibers. Inman relayed that this was not a stock color, and the material had to be brought in from overseas. “This particular material foil stamped very well,” he said. The inside collar material was made from Metal X Hammered Copper from Neenah. “The color of the material matched API’s copper foil that was used to foil stamp on the lid,” he added.

    Each wine box, hand-wrapped and assembled, was constructed out of 100 pt. chipboard. The lid and the base both were diecut and then taped together before wrapping the box in the custom material. The piece of foam on the interior also was diecut and then glued inside the box and covered in a black cloth material. This is what cradled the wine bottle.

    “It provided a nice presentation when the lid was removed, and the wine bottle was displayed,” Inman said. The inside of the lid showcased a wrapped and diecut French panel designed to hold an envelope containing product information. The envelope fit snugly in the diecut area underneath the lid and could be removed easily by a ribbon pull.

    The winery’s logo is a hexadecagon (16-sided polygon) made of uppercase letter Rs. “This graphic design was created by the customer with Trends’ own graphic artist coordinating the best layout of the graphics on the box,” Inman said.

    Once the concept and final sizes were determined, Trends created and supplied the art templates for the project. The box involved three positioned stampings, with one position on the lid foil stamped with the metallic copper foil and two blind deboss positions on the side of the box, according to Inman.

    “Since the customer really wanted a deboss look and feel, we had to do the stamping after the material was wrapped around the box,” he said. This required a special fixture to be used inside the box to hold it in place when debossing the logos onto the box. A Franklin press model #8200 had just enough capacity to complete all the stamping.

    Once the concept and design of the box were set, the staff at Trends ran with it. “We have a great crew here at Trends that really works hard to ensure that quality is kept consistently throughout the project,” Inman stressed. Even when facing the task of stamping the logos on the box, the team came together and rose to the challenge.

    “Because there were three positions to hit, and we had to do the stamping after construction of the box, there was little room for error throughout the stamping process,” he confirmed. Essentially, the entire cost of the box was in before stamping, so the team had to guarantee each hit was done correctly. To do this, they created and used a fixture that was placed inside the box when stamping the blind deboss logos on the sides of the box. From there, Inman said it took time and patience to ensure each hit was centered properly and left a good impression.

    “There was a total of 6,000 separate hits on the 2,000-quantity order,” he explained.

    Inman said the project was a huge success: “We ended up shipping 22 skids out to California – each wine box was packed in its own shipping carton to ensure maximum protection.”

    Most importantly, everything was delivered on time and made it safely.

    “There is no better feeling – after completing a big project and all is paid, made and delivered – knowing the customer was thrilled with the end result,” Inman exclaimed. He said this energizes the whole team and reinforces the company’s commitment to supplying top-quality products.

    Far Out – Ross Printing Takes Cannabis Label to the Next Level

    By Brittany Willes, contributing editor
    PostPress

    “A lot of the time, it comes down to the packaging. We see it all the time with the wine market – once customers have a price point and budget in mind, they often gravitate toward whichever style of label they like best. We’re starting to see that same trend in cannabis retail,” stated Eric Smith, general manager for Ross Printing headquartered in Spokane, Washington.

    With cannabis retail on the rise, it’s little wonder that growers, producers and brand managers would be looking to enhance their shelf appeal with higher-end packaging. This was the case for Artesian Farms, the third largest cultivator of cannabis products in Washington state. Ross Printing is no stranger to creating dynamic packaging for cannabis products and, thus, was a natural choice when it came time for Artesian to update one of its sub-brands: Area 51.

    “The original file art was kind of dated and very much in need of refreshing,” stated Smith. “The company currently doesn’t spend much on its packaging, relying on generic stand-up pouches or jars with a simple full color label to identify it as Area 51 brand. Our goal was to provide them a series of embellishments for ideas and concepts that would make the brand look better and stand out more.”

    Ross Printing took the brand’s original alien head illustration and gave it a much-needed makeover, while keeping true to the initial concept. The overall design of the refreshed packaging is simple – a modest rendering of a spaceship with an oversized green alien head peeking through a window, the Area 51 name overhead in gold lettering and a smattering of silver stars all set against a backdrop of psychedelic colors combine to create an appropriately groovy feel.

    “We wanted to show the customer some over-the-top packaging that included Cast and Cure and spot varnish techniques,” said Smith. Multiple versions of the label were printed on clear, silver and holographic sheets. Some labels had matte or gloss spot techniques applied while others made use of Cast and Cure. “The end goal was to showcase different embellishment techniques and have the customer set a budget based on which designs they liked best while keeping in mind that concepts on the printed label would also be available on stand-up pouches.”

    Ultimately, the label printed using Cast and Cure was considered as offering the most shelf appeal. According to Smith, “Cast and Cure is a unique process, introduced for commercial use in the US in 2005, that is still trying to find its footing in the industry. The Area 51 label, where Cast and Cure is applied to make the spaceship and eyes of the alien holographic, hold a lot of shelf appeal in a retail environment where the packaging is displayed in a well-lit case.”

    “We continue to see the expansion of the Cast and Cure process within the cannabis market,” said Tim Cain, president at Breit Technologies. “The packaging market for cannabis has become more complex, and the desire for embellishments continues to grow. The retail cannabis market experiences the same challenges that face all retail environments: competitive shelf space, product differentiation, communication of product benefits and brand identification.”

    The label sheet was printed two across and four around. Using that one label form, Ross was able to make several flexo plates in order to perform the Cast and Cure embellishment. “We had one file that was printed on our HP Indigo digital printing press. From that one file we had two different images across, four images around, and we had three different sets of plates for different variations. Those images were printed on three different substrates: a clear polypropylene, silver (chrome/metallized) polypropylene and a rainbow holographic PET,” said Smith.

    Two different rolls of Cast and Cure were printed at the same time to demonstrate Ross’ capabilities of having multiple unwinds and rewinds, meaning that one label pattern of Cast and Cure was run on one lane and a different pattern was being run on the other lane resulting in several variations of the label form. “We were basically throwing darts at the wall to see if the customer liked one material, concept or style of embellishments better,” said Smith.

    One of the great benefits to the Cast and Cure process is that it is very easy to change from one pattern to another. By simply changing out the roll the printer can move from ultra-high gloss, to matte, to texture, to several choices of holographic finishes. This quick changeover allows for multiple options to be presented to the customer with reduced time on press to produce comps.

    While the final result is a beautiful Cast and Cure label that appears intricate and over the top, in reality the process is quite simple. “It looks over the top, like a challenging application, but it’s actually a straightforward process,” explained Smith. “Once the labels were printed on the HP Indigo, the embellishments were done on an offline CEI digital finishing press with four flexo units. Our unique capability of having four different materials unwind and rewind, four different materials coming in to four different flexo units, makes it a somewhat simple application.”

    As Smith noted, Ross runs a lot of cold foil in flexo and in digital finishing and considers Cast and Cure to be a similar, simpler process. Despite its apparent simplicity, Cast and Cure is gaining more momentum, especially in the cannabis industry.

    “We’ve had some customers adopt Cast and Cure for their cannabis labels for their more exotic or high-end products,” Smith stated. “We’re hopeful that, as the cannabis industry continues to become more and more saturated – and, therefore, more competitive – the use of Cast and Cure in packaging will continue to grow. Like we see with wine labels, the shelf presence of the packaging will continue to have more importance and value to the consumer’s decision. We see the trend already developing: growers, producers and brand managers are going above and beyond to try to gain that shelf presence and create a nice looking package to support their statement that theirs is a really nice product in comparison to others.”