The fabulous art of foiling...
When the brief is to make something super special, my attention often turns to foiling.
For the ‘Ribbonwood’ project, I was approached by another printer to help bring some ‘wow’ to some printed folders for their client. The shape and required size of the logo lent itself perfectly to the use of foil emboss (achieved with a special fluted foiling die). A counter force is applied during foiling which means one process only for both foil and emboss. This results in perfect registration.
Foiling is the perfect way to add a premium, luxurious touch, and brings a little bit of bling to proceedings but in a controlled, classic way.
The dies (moulds) we use for foil emboss are usually brass and CNC finished, with a resin counter (former) to push the paper stock into the shape of the die, laying down the foil too. Additional print features like texture could potentially be added at the same time.
The photo on the right is another simple but effective use fluting or foil emboss. The brief was originally to have a clear foil emboss onto a dark card. The client particularly liked a rustic Cairn board – but clear foil looked a little silvery/misty on the card stock.
We suggested using a fluted finish instead to give an exclusive high end feel and made the die accordingly. We then made several proof copies using different colour foils on the selected card before the client chose a gunmetal finish. We used the same die on some compliment slips for the same project, maximising the use of the die, which can then be re-used for other future projects.
