Design Context: Study Task 3 - Stock options & Print finishing

STOCK OPTIONS & PRINT FINISHING

TASK - with a focus on stock , substrate and 'special' print finished find as many variants as possible for each of the following areas of design

Branding and identity

Packaging and promotion

Publishing & editorial

Information and way finding

You should consider production values scale and functionality in relation to appropriate contexts and target audience and evaluate their impact on the design decisions that have been made.

We were also advised it would be beneficial to us if we collected examples of the different types of print finishes and different stocks.

I will find examples of the following processes in the four categories.

Coated, uncoated, die cut, spot ink, UV varnish, Emboss, laminate, duplex

I first wanted to do a little research into a few of the processes to recap.

Coated / UnCoated

Stock is a term used in the printing industry and refers to the material that is to be printed on, for example, paper, card, vinyl etc.

As the name suggests, coated stock has a coating and this is usually of china clay, this gives the paper/card a smooth surface which can be gloss or silk in finish (gloss being shiny and silk offering more of a matt finish). Coated stock is used for projects that require a high quality finish such as presentation folders,leaflets, flyers and brochures, the list goes on!

Coated stock does have its downsides, it cannot be printed on with a home printer and neither gloss or silk coated stock offer a perfect writing surface, with biro’s tending to smudge on both (especially gloss).

Uncoated stock is typically used for letterheads and compliment slips as they can be printed on at home and written on without problems. A single side coated stock is also available and ideal for postcards and greetings cards, as the name suggests single side coated stock has a coating to one side only, this leaves the other side uncoated and perfect to write on.

The stock on the left hand side is coated and the right hand side is uncoated - Matte paper.

Die cut

Spot ink -

Spot varnish is spot ink used for business cards ect.

Uv Varnish-

Emboss-

Embossing is an artistic technique that creates a pattern on a material such as paper, metal, fabric, leather, or wood. The pattern can be raised or in relief, depending on how it is embossed. Many consumers interact with such items on a regular basis, ranging from book covers to notarized documents. As an artistic technique, embossing has been around for hundreds of years, with numerous artifacts from tooled leather belts to metal ornaments showing signs of these patterns.

There are a number of ways to emboss something. Some artists do it by hand, using hand held tools to stamp out a pattern in the material being embossed. This technique will create unique raised designs that cannot be replicated. This style is often used for customized art projects, or when ordering an embossing die would seem impractical. Both dry and heat embossing techniques are used for such projects, depending on how the artist wants the finished piece to look.

Laminate -

An example of laminated stock

Duplex-

The printer supports Automatic and Manual Duplex printing modes:
Automatic Duplex Printing (normal paper):The printer can print on both sides of the paper For paper fed from a paper tray or the multi-purpose tray, duplex printing is carried out automatically if you set this in the printer driver upon executing the print command.

Manual Duplex Printing with the Multi-purpose Tray:For thicker paper or glossy paper, you can print on the back surface of the paper from the multi-purpose tray. Print the front surface of all pages first, then put the sheets into the multi-purpose tray to print on the back surface of the pages.

BRAND & IDENTITY

Die Cut -

Die cut is like using a stamp to cut out your shape or text this Teixidors company has used it for there letter heads and business cards.

This specific design has also used die cut to cut out shapes but leave the remained as the business cards have shapes coming off them. I really like them and think there different to any other laser cut business card.