Applications

Anstadt Communications Raises the Bar with Classic Cocktail Recipe Cards

September 4, 2018

by Lara Copeland, contributing editor, PostPress

Since the turn of the century, the do-it-yourself (DIY) community has spread far across the US. And, since the middle of the last decade the maker culture, a technology-based subculture, has infiltrated the country. Those who are part of this relatively new community are typically interested in pursuits such as electronics, additive manufacturing, arts and crafts, and even using CNC tools. Inspired by this relatively new culture, Ellicott & Co. brings unique, quality goods to its hometown, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a town with a rich history of craftsmanship that continues to thrive today. When the company wanted to create a deck of recipe cards featuring classic cocktails made with gin and vodka, it called on York, Pennsylvania-based, Anstadt Communications.

Titled A Gentlemen’s Guide to Classic Cocktails, the 4×6″ cards harken back to an era when cocktail parties were as popular as the Mashed Potato and Watusi. These digitally printed and decorated, two-sided cards (15 recipe cards and one cover card) feature sleek, retro illustrations from Infantree Design, also located in Lancaster. Anstadt was called upon to print and finish 150 exclusive sets of the recipe cards.

On the front of each recipe card is the name of a cocktail, whether it be a gin gimlet, cosmopolitan or an Italian Greyhound, and a large, colored illustration of the beverage that is printed and then highlighted with a raised tactile spot varnish using the Scodix Ultra Pro off-line unit. On the back of the cards is the recipe for the specified drink, listing the ingredients, the amount of each ingredient and the directions for creating the cocktail even including the garnishes. Each card also features intricate, decorative line work on the front and back; this was created using a digital foil with clear UV polymer adhesive. The title, “Classic Cocktails” showcases a spot gloss and raised feel.

Digitally printed CMYK on 80lb Verso Blazer Satin Cover using an HP Indigo 7900, the sheets were then run thought the Scodix Ultra Pro offline unit. “This provided an enticing quality to the pieces,” Anstadt President and CEO Matthew Doran explained. “Scodix Sense created a clear raised coating, and it was applied in just one pass.” The elegant deck of 16 cards features round cornering, collating and is enclosed in a bellyband.

“This was one of our first applications of using the dimensional elements of the Scodix polymer, along with the ability to do intricate foil work,” Doran emphasized. The use of Scodix is something not normally seen in consumer products. Typically, Scodix is an enhancement system used mainly in marketing materials. “As far as production is concerned, I think the real highlight of this piece is the incorporation of Scodix to bring tactile feel, dimension and foil elements in a tight timeframe using all fully digital printing technologies,” Doran stated. “And the clean, classic look, as well as a great use of color combinations paired with stark contrast of gloss foil against white is the best part of the design.”

As for Nat Leibee, general manager at Ellicott & Co., he is very pleased with the final product. “I think the embossing on the cards gives them a great feel, and the customers really like the shiny lettering.” He added that the throwback design has attracted buyers looking for gifts to give their fathers, boyfriends and husbands. “These cards are a great addition to any home bar,” he continued. “I think people will appreciate the classic recipes on the back, just as much as they are intrigued by the newer and funkier recipes we included.”

Set Sail with Jostens Award-Winning Naval Academy Yearbook

September 4, 2018

by Brittany Willes, contributing editor, PostPress

Anchors aweigh on a voyage of memories and high-quality production! When the U.S. Naval Academy needed a designer for its “Voyages – Lucky Bag 2017” yearbook, it looked no further than the yearbook experts: Jostens, Inc. Having worked with the Naval Academy on past yearbooks, Jostens was well-suited to the task of creating a distinct product that goes far beyond any typical high school yearbook.

“The United States Naval Academy book is one that everyone takes a lot of pride in producing,” stated Tim Beymer, Jostens’ manufacturing manager. “As with any yearbook, it is the final reward for a whole year of work.” Unlike most yearbooks, “Voyages” is printed in an extremely high quantity of copies and incorporates UV pages, special design end sheets and a vellum foil tip in that registers to the first page.

“Voyages” is no ordinary yearbook.

Working together with U.S. Naval Academy staff and a representative from the Lucky Bag yearbook staff, Jostens artists came up with a design and theme befitting naval heritage as expressed in the opening pages, which proudly proclaim, “Since the early days of the naval services men have roamed the globe on great voyages in search of gold, glory and adventure. In today’s service we travel further, faster, and with more power than ever before. Naval officers have stood on the moon, been to the poles of the earth and dived into depths unknown. Our life is a voyage magnified by our time in the Navy and Marine Corps.”

In creating the yearbook’s cover – silhouettes of the continents spread across the front and back with strategically placed stars of gold foil, all set against a medium-grey background – material was chosen from Jostens’ Natural Line, which is specially made to receive the burnish application responsible for the black silhouette designs. The “Voyages” name stands out on the front cover in brilliant white, while the academy’s military seal decorates the right corner of the back cover.

Once selected, the material was cut to size and final art stages, including silkscreen files and die files, were created. White silkscreen ink was applied for the “Voyages” text and accompanying arrows. The cover itself was casemade, burnished, foil stamped and finally embossed. The inside pages were printed on 100lb matte stock on the companys KBA offset printing press. Selective UV gloss was applied to the opening pages and all dividers throughout the book. “In terms of size,” said Beymer, “this book ranks as one of the largest that we do.”

Despite the book’s massive size, it went through the same production process as any other yearbook handled by Jostens, meaning that production time was not slowed by any special precautions that might otherwise have been needed.

“The burnishing for the cover was done using a Teflon coated die from Owosso,” explained Beymer. “It’s basically a foil stamping process using a foil die, except the die is Teflon-coated due to the increased heat and pressure not present in traditional foil stamping. Also, we obviously didn’t use foil for the burnishing. It is strictly the die hitting the material to give it a branded-type look.”

The cover was run through the equipment in two passes – the front lid and spine were done in one pass, and the back lid is the second pass. The foil stamping for the decorative stars was done similarly, with the front and back lid going through two passes on Jostens Kolbus PE-312. The embossing on the front lid and spine, however, was achieved in a single pass using a Sheriden Stamping Press. The endsheets were printed in blue, with white text corresponding with the white of the cover text.

Along with gold foil stamped stars on the cover, the book also was gilded along the edges in a matching gold color. “Every book we do for the United States Naval Academy includes gilding along the edges,” remarked Beymer. “The color of the gilding changes from year to year, based on the color of foil used for the cover design. In past years the gilding has been copper or silver to match the cover.”

To create the signature gilded edges, the books are overcut off of a three-knife trimmer before undergoing a process of grinding and sanding. Finally, a heated foil is applied to the three edges of the book, which gives it the look of gold gilding. The gilding was completed after the book block was created but prior to binding. Further gold foil was applied to the vellum tip-in registered to page one, showcasing the academy name and location.

Jostens’ years of experience and dedication have proven invaluable when faced with such sizable jobs as the “Voyages” yearbook. It’s little wonder the company, and the book itself, have received notable recognition for its efforts.

“Voyages” recently won an Award of Recognition from the Printing Industries of America (PIA) for its quality of photography, design expertise, printing and binding quality, cover design and overall expertise. “The PIA award constitutes very high praise,” stated Beymer. Further praise was given when the book received a gold award in the 2018 FSEA Gold Leaf Awards.

Be Our Guest – Subtle Impressions Opens Doors with Unique Invitation

June 12, 2018

by Brittany Willes, contributing editor, PostPress

When one door closes another one opens. Or, in the case of a unique, interactive wedding invitation created by Subtle Impressions, Inc. of Gastonia, North Carolina, a pair of antique wooden doors open to invite viewers to share in a very special occasion.

As the father of the bride, Subtle Impressions President Jim Schaefer was determined to create a memorable invitation to celebrate his daughter, Carley, and future son-in-law, Ryan’s big day. The design for the award-winning invitation found its inspiration in the wedding venue. Set on a 112-acre tree farm in western Rowan County in North Carolina, The Arbors event center boasted the perfect location for a fairytale wedding – with one exception.

“It was decided the wedding would be outdoors; however, my daughter wanted to enter through a set of doors,” stated Schaefer. All the venue had to offer was a set of static, always-open doors that left much to be desired. Not to be deterred, “My wife found two antique doors, and I made a fully functioning, transportable door frame,” he explained. “Once the frame was finished and assembled we thought it would be neat to incorporate it into the wedding invitations.”

To create the appearance of antique wooden doors on the invitations, photos were taken and sent to Schaefer’s nephew, Travis Stephenson, owner of Stephenson Designs, LLC. Using the photos and input from the bride-to-be, Stephenson was able to design a realistic and innovative invitation package – the perfect wedding gift for his cousin, Carley.

The doors themselves contain rich earth tones of brown, tan and dark red that convey a sense of warmth and welcome, inviting viewers to reach out and touch. Set against a neutral background of silver (reminiscent of siding) and surrounded by small embellishments, such as colorful flowers and decorative golden filigrees, the doors open to reveal the details of the wedding itself. Framed by the open doors, the calligraphy-style writing in a dark foil encourages viewers to tilt and turn the invitation to catch the light while showing off the simple, yet elegant, font.

“Travis incorporated the pictures of the doors along with other elements that Carley wanted, such as the bride and groom’s initials and the Bible verse set above the open doors and the grass at the bottom,” said Schaefer.

Once the design was finalized, Schaefer and Melanie Hunt, Subtle Impressions pre-press expert, worked together to determine the best print and die layouts, as well as the embossing layers. The invitation itself was printed on one side using 105# Stardream quartz cover stock from Neenah. The printing was done on a Konica Minolta Bizhub C1085.

The invitation was then foil stamped and embossed using three different magnesium foil dies made by Owosso Graphic Arts, Inc. The multi-level embossing die was created by Universal Engraving, Inc. Another two steel rule dies were provided by Dura-Craft Die, Inc. The invitation’s front and inside panels were foil stamped on a Kluge EHD with Kurz Transfer Products metallic gold and metallic brown foil. Following the foil stamping, the sheets were then perforated on a Kluge machine. This was done so that the sheet would fold over in register.

Next, a pattern glue panel was screen printed before folding the front panel onto the middle panel. The antique doors were then die cut and scored while the inside panel was folded over and adhered to the middle panel using double-sided tape. Finally, the invitation was trimmed using a guillotine paper cutter.

Creating a printed piece that incorporated so many different processes was one of the biggest challenges Subtle Impressions faced while designing the invitation. “Once we had the design, determining the best layout for getting all the graphics to line up properly when folded and assembled was definitely a concern,” remarked Schaefer.”And, of course, we were determined to maintain the highest level of quality on every pass to ensure a top-notch product using the least amount of materials possible.”

There can be little doubt of the quality of the end product. According to Schaefer, the invitation received many compliments. “It received even more at the wedding once people realized they were walking through the actual doors that were recreated for the invitation,” he stated.

Given the level of thought and care that went into each detail of the invitation, it’s little surprise it earned a gold award in the Announcement/Invitation category of this year’s FSEA Gold Leaf Awards.

“It felt extremely good to learn that we won the gold,” stated Schaefer. “It makes me proud to know that our people and our vendors – from design, through pre-press, die manufacture and ultimately execution – can pull off a level of quality that has been recognized by our peers at the level of FSEA.”

“Fun & Games” by J.S. McCarthy

June 12, 2018

by Lara Copeland, contributing editor, PostPress

“We are going to keep innovating and doing more and being better.” That is what J.S. McCarthy Vice President of Marketing Michael Tardiff said last year after the company received the Foil and Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) “Best of Show” award for its 2017 self-promotion calendar aptly titled “A Symphony in Color.” This year, the team at J.S. McCarthy (JSM), Augusta, Maine, did exactly as Tardiff said they would. Its 2018 self-promotion calendar again won “Best of Show,” leaving Tardiff feeling both flattered and surprised.

FSEA Executive Director Jeff Peterson was just as surprised as Tardiff. “This was our 25th anniversary presenting our FSEA Gold Leaf Awards,” stated Peterson. “We’ve never had back-to-back Best of Show winners. It is certainly a testament to the outstanding work and creativity J.S. McCarthy has put into their self-promotion calendars.”

Tardiff, who has worked on the company’s calendars since 2010, said that the theme is something the design team – which consists of his mother, Patty Tardiff, special projects; designer Sue Bourdon of Bourdon and Company and himself – thoughtfully chooses each year. “In our first meeting, we throw ideas out and usually the one that keeps the conversation going is the winner,” Tardiff explained. This year, the idea of “Fun & Games” started as the team reflected on all their favorite board games, which then evolved into figuring out how they could highlight those with special effects. “That’s when we decided to design a game box,” he continued. “It was a ‘game changer’ for us since it highlighted the very thing we were looking to showcase: our packaging capabilities.” The “Fun & Games” theme offered JSM the opportunity to achieve a design aesthetic that highlighted the most processes it could in the best manner possible.

JSM’s printing operation serves several markets – from designers at various colleges to purchasing agents at health care companies. Tardiff said, “We have a wide range of customers that this calendar hits, so we have to be careful to not overdesign – we need to reach a broad audience.” Tardiff commented that most in the industry are aware that JSM can do coatings, foil, diecutting and embossing, but the team wanted its folding carton capabilities to be acknowledged since it is a growing segment. Assuming most people in the world have fond memories of childhood games, the designers moved forward with the theme and began attempting to incorporate its carton capabilities into the project.

“We decided to create a box design that had that look of a leather box – like you’d see an old-fashioned Scrabble game come in,” Tardiff said. The box was printed with a stock image of pebble leather and then the title of the piece (2018 Fun & Games) was foil stamped in a metallic blue and the company name in metallic silver. A cribbage tray was then added to store a deck of cards, which “allowed us to do a bigger box to give a bigger wow,” he said.

The company’s HUV Komori Perfector was used to print process inks on the outer box on 24pt tango C2S heavy weight white. The inside of the box cover includes the production notes for each month of the calendar. As stated earlier, using an SBL foil stamper, the box received blue and silver foil on the cover of the box with the company name and title. The box also was run through a Bobst VisionFold and a Bobst ExpertFold for folding and gluing. The cribbage tray was printed on 24pt. Carolina Cover White to create the wooden and felt backgrounds. Bourdon augmented the cribbage table design with a clear foil for the “2018,
“JSM,” and the holes on the table. The cribbage table was embossed, debossed and diecut on a Bobst. The felt portion of the table received a soft touch aqueous coating. The cribbage tray holds a boxed deck of cards printed on an HP Indigo 7600 digital press and features digital process inks and gloss UV coating.

The 12-page calendar uses wire-O binding and a hanger and features one month per page. Each month showcases JSM’s various printing and finishing capabilities. For instance, January’s background is a black and red checkerboard printed on 100# Royal Sundance Smooth Cover Eclipse Black. Bourdon created the game board to size and shrunk the calendar grid to make it playable. “We were looking for an authentic checkerboard look, and we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to showcase black stock with metallics and white ink,” Tardiff said.

The January page was printed on a Komori 8-color press and then was foil stamped on a Bobst. A silver foil was used to create “January 2018” across the top of the checkerboard. Red metallic foil also was used for the red squares on the checkerboard and to denote the holidays – New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day – on the calendar grid. To top it off, JSM created embossed and diecut checkers using a Bobst diecutter on 122# Pike C2S Cover Black and 122# C2S Red. Tardiff described January as “a tough month to proof and visualize, but we are so happy with the way it turned out.”

The design team thought a winning combination of “eights” would not only highlight the eighth month, but also be a nod to its three 8-color printing presses. “Add some metallic stock and white ink, and I would say we hit the jackpot,” Tardiff exclaimed. Using 12pt Hampden C1S ½ mil silver metalized paper, Bourdon used a stock image of a slot machine and tweaked the marquee and background to create the August page. JSM used a sculpted emboss to make the machine and other elements on the page “pop.” The page also was spot UV coated to give dimensions to the rays in the background. Because the August page was printed over the metallic silver, two hits of opaque white ink were necessary to cover the metallic sheen in certain areas of the design. A final touch to the August page included a specialty UV coating that provided dimension to the rays around the embossed slot machine.

The December page of the calendar utilized a 130# Creator Star Gloss Cover stock and was first printed on a Komori LS840 using special Kaleidoscope inks. Red and black foil were used to highlight special dates on the calendar, and a large area of silver foil was stamped in register around the King of Hearts design using a Bobst foil stamping press. A spot dull varnish was applied to the images of the boxes and King of Hearts design on the page. Finally, the entire silver background was embossed with a special pattern that uniquely highlights the December page. “December was our chance to bring our theme full circle,” Tardiff concluded. “Just in case people put the box away we thought a cribbage theme might remind them of the board that was included in the box, and we wanted to try out a new foil stamping pattern provided by a vendor.” He continued, saying, “We loved how the pattern worked well with the shapes we already included.”

The industry and customers alike have praised JSM’s self-promotion 2018 calendar. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard ‘I didn’t think you could top last year, but you did,'” Tardiff exclaimed. He said it was a fun piece to do, and he enjoys the various perspectives the design team brings to the table. “I think we end up with a successful theme each year because our design team is careful to consider all the places the calendar may hang,” he said. “We are able to decide on a universal theme that can connect with the broadest audience while also speaking to our capabilities.” He said that while this may be their strength, it can be the biggest obstacle they encounter during the project. “We try to highlight as many special techniques while staying on theme – that is the challenge every year!”

The acclaimed piece has won industry awards, and Tardiff credits the company’s success to the “amazing people here doing great work every day.” In addition to winning the FSEA award for “Best of Show,” an award given to just one of the 38 FSEA Gold Leaf Award Gold winners, JSM’s self-promotion 2018 calendar also won the Gold for “Best Use of Foil and Embossing – Self Promotion.” Additionally, the calendar recently won a pinnacle award at the Printing Industries of New England Printing Awards of Excellence Competition. “These awards are a true testament to not just the design team’s hard work, but to all of our employees’ efforts.”

A Paradise of Decorative Processes

March 19, 2018

by Lara Copeland, assistant editor, PostPress

Situated in the Western Caribbean Sea, the picturesque Cayman Islands offer sandy beaches, colorful wildlife and deep-sea adventures. Wanting to inspire a positive longing for a sunny vacation, the structural design team at Bertelsmann Printing Group (BPG), located in New York, New York, decided to showcase the range of decorative services it offers by including pictures from the Islands on its latest marketing piece. Thinking outside the box (no pun intended) and beyond a standard rectangle, the team created a 44-sided polygon – called a Tetracontakaitetragon.

To house the polygon, Bertelsmann also designed a highly textured, decorative box to further illustrate the company’s capabilities and to facilitate distribution. Inspired by the Russian nesting doll, where one surprise is hidden inside a second that is inside a third, the piece also included preprinted M&Ms inside the many-sided globe, giving clients a sweet reward.

“The 44 panels offered us the ability to mix finishing techniques to offer tactile, visual and sonic (unknown rattling candy) impressions,” noted BPG Vice President Sean M. Twomey. “The piece begs the client to pick up the polygon and interact with it, and we know that a consumer often buys a product after they touch it.”

Incorporating pictures of the Cayman Islands allowed Bertelsmann to highlight the power of print and print decorating. Three silver holographic foils are used throughout the piece. The 3D-sculptured and embossed sides feature rough coral pipes, a parrot, a beer and a turtle. The rough feel of the sand in the beach scene is created using spot gritty matte UV, while another side showcases a single flower with gloss UV. Lastly, a scannable QR code includes an electronic link to the company’s website, showing that print succeeds best with multimedia integration.

“This is a unique marketing piece that highlights Bertelsmann’s structural design service and demonstrates how multiple finishing techniques can create similar compelling visual and tactile effects,” Twomey explained. The execution was done by Coral Graphics and Dynamic Graphic Finishing, while Mid Island Bindery was responsible for the diecutting and gluing. Stock Graphics were assembled by BPG prepress using InDesign, and the holographic foils were chosen in consultation with prepress and manufacturing.

Foil stamping was the first step in creating the Tetracontakaitetragon using a BOBST 40″ stamper. Three silver holographic foils were used to highlight the design. “Next, using standard process inks (CMYK), we printed the different Caribbean images, which included overprinting the holographic foils in specific areas using a Komori Lithrone 28,” Twomey said.

Next, the polygon was laminated with a Matte Mylar film, and then a Sakurai screen coater was used to apply spot matte UV to the diver and beach pictures, providing a realistic, coarse feel. Spot gloss UV was used on several of the pictures as well as on the foil. “We then printed over one of the foils to show that depth in water could be created with foil or in contrast with Dynillusion Cast and Cure™ shown on another panel,” Twomey clarified. The piece then had a pass on the BOBST 40″ press for the sculptured emboss before it was scored and diecut on a BOBST Speria 106. A BOBST Visionfold completed the gluing and then the polygon was assembled.

“The special technology used was human creativity,” Twomey asserted. “We challenged our team to be innovative in the design and to use their experience to maximize the effectiveness of each technique.” The team deliberately showed that similar effects can be achieved in more than one way. “The piece shows that depth can be depicted either with light reflectivity from coatings or with embossing,” he concluded.

The design team wanted the piece to be large enough to show the various finishing techniques on each panel, but they didn’t want it to be too large. “We explored the caliper of different paper to ensure that the piece had substance but could still accept all the folds,” Twomey remarked. A 20-point C1S Candesce from Clearwater Paper was chosen to meet this need. Additionally, the laminate offered more bulk, limited cracking and provided a flat surface to lay the ink down upon.

BPG USA Structural Design also created the piece’s decorative packaging in house. The UV accented and embossed blue box, like the polygon, was printed with four-color process inks on 20-point C1S board stock. An image of raindrops of varying size was selected for the box’s design. The text was knocked out on the outside of the box. The traditionally elegant box was printed first on two sides on a Komori Lithrone 28. A silver foil was stamped around the title. Then the piece was laminated with a Matte Mylar film and a spot UV was applied to the larger raindrops to attract attention from refracting light. The box was embossed so that the raindrops had a tactile feel when picked up. Finally, the piece was diecut and glued.

The Tetracontakaitetragon certainly served its purpose. “Clients have been enthusiastic about seeing different techniques compared and contrasted in a live piece, and the only objection,” Twomey joked, “was working with the Bertelsmann Printing Group USA because it can be fattening – thanks to the candy.”

Dishing Up New Traditions – Digitalpress Produces a Unique Cookbook for the Ages

March 19, 2018

by Sabine Lenz, president, PaperSpecs

Before the age of 24/7 food shows, cooking used to be such a personal affair. It was a skill most people would pick up from a family member or two, honing and refining their craft until they were finally deemed worthy of inheriting grandma’s recipe book. Inside could be found dog-eared pages, delightful scents from meals long past and handwritten notes from grandma herself about what worked, what didn’t and why a particular dish meant so much to her.

It’s this same sense of cookbook as heirloom that Digitalpress, Sydney, Australia, reproduces so beautifully in “Dish,” a volume featuring 86 recipes from 44 of Australia’s finest chefs. All profits from the sale of both the $75 standard version and $100 limited edition (signed by a number of the chefs featured) go to the Starlight Children’s Foundation, which brightens the lives of seriously ill children and their families in Australia through hospital programs and experiences.

Designed by co-publisher and creator Kelly Shield – a former chef turned graphic designer and avid cookbook collector – “Dish” is not only a great collection of recipes (rosewater milk pudding with watermelon granita, anyone?), but an impressive example of the quality that can be achieved with digital printing today.

The text pages were digitally printed CMYK (plus blue on the special fifth unit to closely match the required Pantone blue) on Sovereign Offset 120 gsm, a smooth white uncoated stock, using a Kodak NEXPRESS, explains Digitalpress owner Theo Pettaras. These were then Smyth sewn with blue thread to match the title on the cover before being casebound into the covers.

“The cover was digitally printed with a Tuffkote matte celloglaze as it provides a more robust finish and it’s hard to scratch, plus it avoids marking, particularly when you’re in the kitchen,” says Pettaras. “Then a high-build spot UV was applied to give the cover some texture and further visual interest.”

As can be clearly seen, that “visual interest” is nothing short of recreating a dinner plate right on the cover, complete with border decorations and a couple of authentic-looking cracks, all against another entirely textured background.

The exposed binding further enhances the homemade feel, suggesting that this is indeed a piece to be treasured. The blue thread matches both the title on the cover as well as that other fantastic detail: the diecut and white-foil-stamped slipcase made from Arjowiggins Curious Matter paper. As the paper nerds out there will recall, Curious Matter is made from potato starch – fitting for a cookbook.

Cracking open “Dish,” readers not only find a bevy of new recipes inside, they also will discover personal comments by the chefs themselves, rendered in a handwriting typeface, concerning their experiences with food and cooking – a nice little personal touch.

This might not be grandma’s recipe book handed down through the generations, but its unique design and conversation-starting cover are enough to make this volume worthy of being passed down to children and grandchildren for generations to come.

PaperSpecs.com is an innovative space for highly committed creatives who are in love with the tactile and interactive experience provided by paper and print. PaperSpecs.com inspires, shares insights and provides access to crucial, hands-on tools and resources to bring exceptional print creations to life.

Wistful Wedding Bells – Haute Papier Invitation Combines Culture and Class

December 18, 2017

by Lara Copeland, assistant editor, PostPress

The greater Washington, D.C., area, a popular international and domestic tourist destination and home to a multitude of historical treasures, is a continually evolving metropolis. Following the flight of the middle class during the last half of the previous century, today’s young professionals have been lured back to the city over the last 10 to 15 years. Enticed by job opportunities, new condos, hip restaurants and 80 miles of dedicated bike lanes, millennials are flocking to this urban center.

In the midst of this influx, Sarah Meyer Walsh and Erin Miller opened their custom design and letterpress print studio business, Haute Papier. Over a decade ago, the pair adopted their first press, Pearl. Since then, the duo’s products have been offered in big-name retailers, like Anthropologie and Banana Republic, and featured in several publications, such as Martha Stewart and Southern Living. The company draws clients as prominent as The White House, as close as personal friends and everything in between.

Haute Papier recently designed an invitation suite for a local wedding planner. A combination of gray and copper colors was carefully chosen to reflect the wedding’s locale. “The bride’s family is from Portugal – which was where the wedding was held – so we wanted to pull in lots of little details to get the guests excited to visit for the special day,” Walsh said. “The copper colors and foils were chosen to represent the Portuguese pots that are traditionally used to cook over fire,” she added.

The suite contains five cards/invitations. A Heidelberg Windmill was used for the foil stamping and letterpress work. The edge of the wedding invitation was beveled and painted a metallic copper. The calligraphy was hand drawn and written by Written Word Calligraphy for the couple’s names, the location of the wedding and a few of the titles on the tops of the cards. The copper calligraphy was foil stamped with Owosso Graphic Arts magnesium dies on foil provided by Infinity Foils and Crown Roll Leaf. The other lettering on the cards was created with letterpress – a process similar to foiling but without the use of heat. “We used polymer plates for the letterpress work,” Walsh noted. “In this process, the ink is applied via a cylinder and rollers that move up and down over the base where the plates are attached, and then the paper is fed through the Windmill via suckers (air).”

In total, there are six envelopes – gray and copper-colored – within the suite. The largest envelope shape was custom diecut on a Kluge diecutter. The underside of the envelope’s flap features a unique design foil stamped in a metallic copper. Walsh explained how the team designed the pattern “to recall the olive trees and the tiling you see all over the countryside.”

While the creators admit that they didn’t do anything that hasn’t been done before, “almost everything was custom created for this customer – from the shape we used for the actual envelope flaps to the sizing of each of the pieces,” Walsh elaborated. “We love working with clients to help bring their visions to life like we did with the tiny details of the copper color and the tiles.”

Though the team didn’t encounter any challenges or issues in the production stage, their “biggest concern was that everything would fit thickness-wise into the custom-made envelope.” Their expertise was on target. The suite not only won a 2017 Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) Gold Leaf Award for “Most Creative Use of Foil & Embossing – Announcement/Invitation,” it also left their client feeling elated with the detailed work. “It was remarkable to see such a beautiful design come to life,” bride Jeannette Tavares exclaimed. “It is a true representation of the symbolism that inspired the design – the copper reminds me of my grandmother’s pots and the tiles of my father’s town – and it is a tangible item that now hangs in our home.”

A Texas-Sized Holiday Card from Seidl’s Bindery

December 18, 2017

By Lara Copeland, assistant editor, PostPress

In the state where “everything is bigger” and the image of the American cowboy reigns, it’s no surprise that a greeting card from a Texas business would be oversized and feature a cowboy Santa. Slate Group, a commercial printer in Lubbock, Texas, wanted to make a big splash with its 2016 Christmas card, and the company called on Seidl’s Bindery, Inc., Houston, Texas, to help reach that goal.

“The customer desired an oversized Christmas card, with large foil stamping and embossing areas,” noted company Vice President Matt Seidl. The card isn’t the typical size, measuring 22×8.5″. Utilizing a Bobst Fuego folder-gluer, the piece was tri-folded to an 8.5×11″ finished size. A heavy 18 pt. uncoated stock (Concrete RAW Cover) from Neenah was used for the card.

It first was printed with a metallic silver ink by Slate Group for the word “from” and a background design that was included on the top and bottom flap of the card. The back side of the card features a printed Santa wearing a cowboy hat that was created in-house by the Slate Group design team. The greeting card then was sent to Seidl for the foil stamping, embossing and final scoring and folding. The foil stamping and embossing were completed on a DGM Majestic foil stamping and embossing press.

The first pass included both flat foil stamping and combination (foil and embossing), utilizing a bright silver #10 from API Americas. The pass encompassed a large foil and embossed “Texas” and the company’s logo at the bottom portion of the upper flap. On the bottom flap, the words “Wishing You A Merry Christmas” and “Holly Jolly” were flat stamped and the word “Christmas” was foil stamped and embossed (combination) in this pass as well. The back of the card with the printed Santa also includes a silver border accomplished in this same pass on press.

The second pass of foil included a border above and below the word “Texas,” as well as gold embellishments over-stamped on top of the metallic silver ornamentations printed on the card. The back of the card features more gold foil that frames the sketch of the long-bearded Santa with his cowboy hat. The gold foil used is a satin metallic #88 from Infinity Foils.

Seidl was presented with the challenge of producing a small quantity of Christmas cards in a short period of time. Wanting to keep costs reasonable, Seidl came up with a plan to fine-tune the layout to allow for less set-up. “The job was set up as a work and turn so that we could purchase one set of foil stamping and embossing dies for each of the two passes,” Seidl continued. “This allowed us to do one set-up and simply turn the sheet, saving both time and money.” Both the copper flat stamp and brass combination dies were provided by Universal Engraving, Inc.

Also facing a time constraint since the design wasn’t finalized until the middle of November, the team wanted to complete the job and get it in the mail in time for the holiday. “The customer’s flexibility to allow us to provide them with the selection of different foils already in our inventory not only saved them the cost of shipping, but also saved us time. We were able to expedite the production,” Seidl added.

The piece was well received by Seidl’s client, as well as the printing industry. It won the Gold for “Most Creative Use of Foil and Embossing – Greeting Card,” in the Foil & Specialty Effects Association’s 24th annual FSEA Gold Leaf Awards competition this year. “Winning a Gold Leaf award, to me, always is a great accomplishment, and it always is good to see what the competition is producing. Even a Bronze award is something to be proud of,” Seidl said.

Equally important, the greeting card impressed Slate Group. “The customer was pleased with our standards of quality,” Seidl relayed. The success of this “Texas Santa” piece has motivated the company to continue working to produce similar jobs. “We have already done a similar invitation with two color foils and the same layout, which we will be submitting for the next Gold Leaf Awards competition in 2018,” he affirmed.

Build an Emotional Connection with Interactive Pop-Ups

December 18, 2017

by Kevin Rickard, president, Rickard Bindery

Today’s jaded consumers and business customers think they’ve seen it all, so communication professionals need to work a little smarter to build an emotional connection through the printed image. When your message absolutely must be noticed, it’s essential to find the right format that accentuates what you have to say while helping you stand apart from everyday promotional clutter. For today’s consumer audience, one of the most effective formats is an interactive brochure that pops up upon opening.

Give me the facts

In their article 8 Keys to Creating an Emotional Connection Between Products and People, Sam Swisher and Trevor Shepard, founders of the influential product design agency, Woodshop, wrote:

“Fifty percent of every buying decision is driven by emotion. Which, for anyone responsible for bringing a product to market, makes a recent Forrester Research survey a concern. It reported that 89 percent of the respondents felt no personal connection to the brands they buy.”

Swisher and Shepard are experts in how physical motion drives buying emotion. Interactive pop-up folds do indeed provoke interest, and this helps drive emotional connections.

How pop-up folds work

Someone holds the printed piece with a hidden pop-up fold.
As the piece opens, the pop-up image rises.
The physical movement and the visual image drive emotion and reinforce the message.

Lurking undetected within the confines of a closed printed piece, the hidden pop-up image is waiting to spring to life. What looks like a normal brochure quickly transforms into a memorable user experience upon opening. Pop-up folds can be concealed in brochures, self-mailers, saddlestitched booklets, perfect bound books and other print formats. In a world of same-old, same-old communications, pop-up folds are a prime example of the cost- and time-saving recommendations your customers are craving. Properly designed interactive pop-up folds enhance a selling message in a uniquely tactile way.

Fold mechanics

The mechanics behind pop-up folds are easy to understand. A pop-up design starts out as a diecut 4-panel layout with an angled perforation. The pop-up area is pushed inward so when the piece is closed, the pop-up area remains sandwiched between the two folded outer panels. The following are the three main styles of pop-up folds:

Basic 4-page: The 4-page pop-up fold brochure is easy to plan and produce and can be used as a standalone brochure or incorporated into perfect bound and saddlestitched products. A notable design characteristic of the basic 4-page style is the “missing corner” when closed.
Multiple-panel: This design is where the pop-up is incorporated into a multi-panel gate, accordion or roll-folded piece. Properly designed, the multiple-panel style will temporarily hide the missing corner when fully closed and create intrigue as the piece unfolds.
Concealed corner: This double thick, glued-concealed corner design is considered the premium pop-up style because the missing corner is permanently concealed, completely hiding the pop-up image when closed.

Rickard Bindery has helped engineer and produce hundreds of pop-up projects with images ranging from people, mountains, bar charts, wings and grandfather clocks to donkeys, microscopes, kangaroos and even politicians. When thinking how to best promote your customers’ services and products, the best advice we can offer is to let your imagination run wild.

PostPress tech talk

Basics: Pop-up folds are interactive diecut pieces that automatically “pop up” when opened.
Benefits: Printed products containing pop-up folds drive emotion, and emotion helps drive desired behavior.
Variants: A concealed corner pop-up is an extra backing panel formed by a double parallel fold to conceal the missing corner in a standard pop-up design.
Max & mins: Max pop-up width is nine inches. The height of the pop-up (from the bottom of the “V” to the top of the pop-up) cannot be higher than the final folded width of the piece or the pop-up will stick out of the side of the product when folded.
Shop talk: Angled perforations are necessary. Choose a stock between six and 10 points. Perforation depth is always important, but especially so on thin or thick stock. Intricate diecut patterns could impact feeding of material, reducing production speed and increasing waste.

Kevin Rickard is president of Rickard Bindery. Rickard Bindery serves printers coast to coast and specializes in discovering solutions to challenging bindery jobs. He can be reached at 800.747.1389 or krickard@rickardbindery.com.

A Study in Chocolate: API Foils Examines Premium Chocolate Packaging

December 18, 2017

Information provided by API Foils packaging study

The heat map drawn from the entire participant pool demonstrated the participants’ aggregate total fixation duration (TFD). Green indicates participants observed the area. Yellow indicates participants viewed certain product areas longer, with red areas viewed the longest (control left, stimuli right).

One of the fastest growing market segments, nearly half of the world’s total chocolate is consumed by Americans. A daily luxury for most, the root of Americans’ innate love of this sweet treat can be traced to several factors, one of which is the elegant and stylish packaging contributing to the luxury generally associated with high-end products.

A recent study conducted by Package InSight at Clemson University and sponsored by API Foils, “Brand Impact Delivered Through Packaging: Understanding Consumer Responses to Metallic Foil and Laminates on Chocolate Packaging,” examines the on-shelf impact of metallic materials in chocolate packaging and its influence on customer attraction and purchase intent. The study offers brand owners and designers valuable new insights into consumer preferences when purchasing premium chocolate and provides them with the knowledge required to create packages that stand out in an increasingly crowded and competitive market.

The study

Conducted in the CUshopTM Consumer Experience Laboratory at Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, 70 “shoppers” (64 percent female, 36 percent male) wore calibrated, state of the art, eye tracking glasses while selecting products from a list. Participants’ eye movements were recorded to provide nonconscious insight as to why individuals selected certain chocolate offerings.

During the quantitative eye tracking study, participants viewed two chocolate controls without and two chocolate stimuli with embellishments – one foil stamped and one in a laminate carton. Control and stimuli products were placed on the shelf at different times to avoid beauty contests between the stimuli and control.

Data gathered

Using eye movement metrics, it was possible to track the different factors influencing consumers’ decisions to purchase one product over another. The following data points were used to determine why consumers chose the stimuli over the control packaging or vice versa:

Time to First Fixation (TTFF): This measures the time, in seconds, from where the chocolate product (either stimuli or control) first entered a participant’s field of vision until the person fixated on it. The lower the number, the better the package performed.
Fixation Count (FC): This metric involves the number of times the participant scans the planogram in a particular area of interest, i.e. how often the participant fixates on the product in question. The higher the number, the better the package performed.
Total Fixation Duration (TFD): This metric involves the time, in seconds, the participant fixates on a specific item and is one of the most important metrics for a consumer study. The higher the number, the better the package performed.
Purchase Decision (PD): This metric measures how many participants chose to buy the item. The higher the number, the better the package performed.

Follow-up

Once participants completed the experiment, they were given an experiment questionnaire that gathered qualitative data regarding the packaging they viewed. Self-reports indicated that participants felt the metallic foils and laminates added a premium feel to the chocolate that represented a higher quality product. The following are some of the responses offered by participants:

The foil stamped version looks more elegant and expensive.
The gold foil portrays a more high-end product.
For chocolate, the foil stamp does give an image of higher quality if little is known about the brands.
“It just says ‘fancier.'” If I am looking for fancier chocolates, I look for fancier packaging.
It gives it a more premium look and shows attention to detail.

Conclusion

Shelf impact of decorated products is a major concern for brand owners – especially within a crowded marketplace with savvy consumers. This eye tracking study showcased the head-turning impact of foil stamping in helping various types of chocolate packaging to stand out.

Overall, purchase decisions, eye tracking results and survey results indicate that chocolate is an ideal product to be foil stamped because it communicates elegance, high-quality and a premium feel.

For chocolate, when it comes to the quality of packaging design that it inspires, it is crucial to give packages personality, and foil stamping can do this.

API Foils is a manufacturer and distributor of foils, laminates and holographic materials, which provide brand enhancements for consumer goods and printed media worldwide. For more information or to view the entire white paper, visit www.apigroup.com.

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