Print pieces have at least one distinct advantage over
their digital counterparts: They eventually end up
in someone’s hands. And for savvy designers, this
tactile experience represents an opportunity to stand
apart from all the messages delivered on a computer
screen. Whether it’s a foil-stamped logo or an embossed
web address, special processes are another
way to help a typographic message grab people’s
attention. “It makes for a more human, high-touch
experience,” says Tim Hartford, president of Hartford
Design in Chicago. “It will stop someone, and
they’ll take a moment to look at it.”
LET IT SHINE: Foil stamping and
metallic ink
When a foil stamp or metallic ink hits the light
just right, it puts off a glimmer that makes it
nearly impossible not to take a closer look. “It’s
a lot like a beautiful plate of food,” says Connie
Hwang, principal of Connie Hwang Design in
Gainesville, Fla. “You want to pick it up and eat
it.” She used both techniques in a catalog design
for a photography exhibition called Just Suppose
(figures 1 and 2). Since one of the featured photographers—Jerry Uelsmann—appears in almost
every “history of photography” textbook, Hwang
wanted to emphasize his importance in the
field—starting with a silver foil-stamped title on
the book’s cover.
On the interior pages of the Just Suppose catalog,
Hwang continued to convey the importance
of the featured photographers and their work using
silver metallic ink that matches the cover foil. “If
I try to [take the perspective] of a regular reader,
I think anything you can’t print from your home
inkjet printer is special,” she says. “Anything that
gives you an extra-special touch makes the [piece]
more valuable to the reader.”
In general, metallic ink keeps its shine better
on coated stock than uncoated, but metallic ink also
stands out well on a dark uncoated stock. If you’re
working with a new ink or paper, it’s probably wise
to ask for an ink draw-down as a quick test.
Foils come in a variety of colors and finishes,
and your vendor should be able to provide you with
a swatchbook. Foils work well on a range of papers,
but it’s a good idea to ask your vendor how a particular
paper and foil will work together. In fact, you may want to request a test with the actual foil and
paper if you’re unsure how they’ll combine. When
it comes to type, Hwang doesn’t recommend going
any smaller than 10 pt., because the foil may bleed
through the details, such as the inner space in a lowercase
a or e. Again, your vendor should be able to
help troubleshoot the design.
RAISING EXPECTATIONS: Embossing
When Principle created an identity system for
photographer Julie Soefer, the design firm needed
to help the photographer look established so she
could go after the high-end clients on her wish
list. Ultimately, the design team settled on a blind
emboss (without printing) as the driving element
for the system (figure 5). “I think embossing—especially blind embossing—creates a sense of
quality,” says Allyson Lack, a partner based in
Principle’s Houston office. “When the card hits
the hand, there’s a tactile experience.”
Embossing literally lifts up a word or design on
the paper, while debossing does the exact opposite—
sinking the design into the paper. In this case, Lack
applied embossing to the photographer’s website
address, where people can find a full portfolio of the
client’s work. “Whatever you’re trying to make the
hero, that’s where you focus your embellishment,”
Lack says. To keep costs reasonable, the designers kept printing to one color and used the same die to
emboss the photographer’s business card, letterhead
and envelope. The raised letters make this identity
system feel artistic and classy, and when the light hits
these elevated areas, there’s an intriguing shadow.
When you’re working with embossing, it’s
crucial to ask plenty of questions. Will the vendor
provide a sculptured emboss? Or will it be a single or
multilevel emboss? What about the depth and width
of the bevel? With type, it’s important to adjust the
kerning, so the letters don’t merge together due to
the embossing. You want to achieve the same spacing
as you would with offset printing. Larger, simpler
type—with clean lines—tends to be easier to reproduce
with this process.
WHAT LIES BENEATH: Diecutting
Diecutting allows you to punch out shapes or letters
and reveal the layer beneath—opening up the possibilities
for all kinds of interesting interplay. For a
holiday promotion, MSLK created a series of custom
bookmarks (figures 6 and 7). One piece in the series
played off the concept of Mad Libs. Rather than
leave blank spaces to fill in the story, the design
team diecut square spaces where the words should
go. This allows users to place the bookmark over
any page of text to create a humorous story.
The piece involved lots of small, precise
cuts—so the holes wouldn’t cut into adjacent
text—and these needed to line up with stories on
both sides of the bookmarks. After first looking at
the design, the firm’s printer thought the design
team had gone slightly crazy, but eventually the
vendor warmed to the challenge. “Printing is an
art and not a science,” says Sheri L. Koetting, a
principal at MSLK in Long Island City, N.Y. “We
look for printers who recognize that and embrace
that what they are making is art.”
To work through this intricate design, the
design team made a mock-up by hand, which is a
good strategy to troubleshoot an intricate diecut. It’s
also important to realize diecutting isn’t necessarily as
precise as you might like, often leaving behind nicks
or hanging chads that may need to be removed with
grinding or shaving.
THE ART OF IMPERFECTION: Letterpress
and rubber stamping
While most special processes add tactility, a few—like letterpress and rubber stamping—yield a hand-produced
feeling. “Perfection used to be difficult to
achieve, but now it’s easy,” says Marc S. Levitt of
MSLK. “People aren’t too impressed by perfection.
They expect it. The hand-touched imperfection is
harder to come by.” This can be a strategic choice
when it aligns with a client’s core message.
MSLK used the approach when working with
a company called Again that makes handbags and
accessories from reclaimed materials (figure 9). As the
budget was tight, MSLK made Again’s logo and contact
info into rubber stamps that can be applied to
recycled cardboard for business cards, as well as stock
shipping tags. The results deliberately don’t look like
offset printing, but perfectly communicate the artfulness
that drives this particular business. “I think our
approach to [a project] is that it should always just be
one big idea,” Koetting says. “It shouldn’t be a bunch
of things layered on top of each other.”
