Flexo faces the quality challenge

Though flexography has many advantages for package printing, the process is plagued with some inherent quality challenges due to the way ink is applied to the substrate.Flexo printing plates have the tendency to “hydroplane” over the surface of the substrate–particularly over non-absorptive film materials, as well as many other substrates. This hydroplaning causes the ink to transfer erratically from the plate.

The typical effects of hydroplaning are dot gain and uneven ink lay, which in turn produce a number of undesirable printing artifacts. Solid color areas may appear weak and mottled. Tints and vignettes aren’t as smooth. Highlights and shadows lack brilliance and detail. Fine type and linework may fill in and have soft edges or halos. Overall, flexo’s color gamut is shorter, so photos and illustrations appear less vibrant, less accurate to the original, and less eye-catching to the consumer.

Until now…

Phototype’s revolutionary plating process was developed specifically to address these quality challenges. As its name implies, NuDot produces new and unique dot shapes that change the very way ink is transferred from the plate to the substrate.The patent-pending NuDot process uses high frequency components to alter the dot shape resulting in an increased shoreline. These shorelines, which resemble crosses and honeycombs, work with the surface tension properties of ink much better than round dots and provide relief from hydroplaning.

NuDot offers three line extensions– GR3 and Radial 8b for digital and analog applications on high holdout substrates and NuDot PB4 designed for plates printing on paper and board substrates. Each application has specific attributes that are uniquely tailored to provide the highest quality possible in the designated environment.

In side-by-side comparisons, NuDot plates consistently produce a range of exceptional printing results compared to round dot plates:

• Crisp, open positive and reverse type
• Rich, smooth overprints in screens and solids
• Clean, sharp edges on line work
• Well-blended vignettes with no dirty zones
• Improved color saturation
• Expanded tonal range from 5-18%
• Increased ink densities from 5-20%

NuDot ® in the pressroom…

NuDot plates can be introduced into your standard pressroom parameters without making any changes to anilox rolls, ink formulation, or press operating conditions—with a couple of notable and welcome exceptions: NuDot plates typically run with lighter impression, and many printers report they can actually run faster (in some cases 200-300 fpm faster) using NuDot plates. .NuDot technology is field-proven to give you a new level of productivity and performance from your flexo printing equipment:

• More accurate match to client-approved proof
• Fewer plates by combining line and tone
• Less cylinder impression and longer plate life
• Faster makeready with less waste
• Higher press speeds
• Tailored for use with existing anilox roll selection and press set-ups

Accept no substitutes.

NuDot isn’t the first, or the only, alternative flexo screening system designed to tackle the negative effects of dot gain and poor ink lay. It is, however, the only technology solution that addresses these problems throughout the entire tonal range–from the darkest solids straight through to the finest highlights. No other screening technique can give you the extraordinary accuracy and control of NuDot.

Join the believers

NuDot plates are currently being specified by printers and packaging buyers for a wide variety of packaging printing applications on film substrates such as PET, PVC, OPP, LDPE, and paper or board substrates. NuDot works with solvent, water base and UV inks and has been field-proven on many different wide and narrow web flexo presses.“We’re running our presses faster, stopping less often and still keeping the print open and clean.”
Jeff Zeber,
Amcor Stevens/Flexibles

“Our brands never looked better on shelf!”
Krys Bush,
Roman Meal

“NuDot gives us the same excellent quality as gravure without the cost.”
Dennis Allen,
O.K. Foods

“NuDot brought new life to our older 6-color presses. It performs for us every day, all day long.”
John Phillips,
Gibraltar Packaging Group

Click here to download

The excitement generated by the Gravity design group illustrates the vital connection between on-strategy design solutions and the enhanced equity value created by effective brand-centered in-store display.That view was emphatically reinforced by the work Gravity just completed to restage the packaging with a contemporary profile for the well-regarded Ball brand. Its home-canning customers rely on the Ball products, one of America’s oldest and most-respected brands. A complete brand repositioning was clearly needed to generate growth for Ball.

Working with a Venerable Brand
“Gravity worked with Ball by becoming the company’s packaging partner from start to finish across the entire product line,” stated Rick Murphy, Gravity Creative Director.

Gravity is the creative arm of Phototype,
a nationally known single source graphic
communications firm specializing in
packaging and brand promotions. The
company’s clients include consumer
product giants such as Procter & Gamble,
Church & Dwight, and Cargill.

“There is a synergy here that enables
Gravity to answer design challenges as
well as manufacturing and printing
issues,” Murphy noted. “With assistance
from Phototype, we addressed design as
it impacted Ball’s manufacturing process
as well as such issues as speed to market
and on-shelf integrity. ”Defining the problem to identify the solution is Gravity’s design strategy. The company’s initial move with any new client is to ask questions until it’s clear to both where the client company has been and what the future ambitions may be. Preserving the FutureThe design company’s team reached out to Ball, a division of Jarden Home Brands, by actually going through the entire canning process. At the end, they presented prospective-client Ball with gifts of their homemade pear preserves — and plenty of insight about the products. “From the outset, Gravity showed us creativity well beyond our expectations,” stated Cheryl Holliday, Ball’s Senior Brand Manager. “They thought outside the box and helped us to consider new ideas about our brand, our products, and our image in a contemporary context.“And their preserves were pretty good, too.”The eventual design, due on store shelves next February, addressed a critical shift in consumer behavior. The market research preceding the packaging concepts showed that home canners were spending less time on canning, preparing smaller batches, and looking for healthier options.

Appealing to New Users“This is where design architecture becomes so critical,” added Terri McConnell, Gravity’s Director of Business and Brand Strategy. “We created an updated identity for Ball that makes the brand accessible and relevant across the entire scope of their product categories.

“We expect that new users will discover the ‘new’ Ball for the first time. Key retail customers who have viewed the revitalized product family already are unified in their embrace of a repackaging that will lead to company growth.

“In the research stage Gravity examined the psychographic profiles of Ball’s customers and responded with focused strategy,” McConnell stated. “We sought to stimulate appetite appeal by harmonizing the product family with colors, label styling, and vibrant food photography that delivered the end-user appeal.”

Gravity’s integration of the steps needed to revitalize the Ball brand ensured that all of its marketing communications would speak with one booming, brand-dominating voice. Click here to download

For more information, contact:
Frank Grimaldi, VP Creative Services
Gravity
513.281.9700
www.gravityisgood.com

]]> http://www.phototype.com/archives/gravity-restages-ball-jars.html/feed/ http://www.phototype.com/archives/print-feasibility-exploration.html http://www.phototype.com/archives/print-feasibility-exploration.html#comments Wed, 06 Dec 2006 04:33:18 +0000 ArchivesEarly Analysis is Key to Packaging Designs That Deliver from FLEXO MagazineJuly 2006Print Feasibility Exploration http://phototype.swordfishcs.net/archives/?p=4 Early Analysis is Key to Designs That Deliver

Reprinted from FLEXO Magazine, July 2006When a package designer sets out to create eye-catching artwork, he or she is not thinking about minimum line weights, tint builds or traps. Weeks later, however, standing at press-side and seeing the graphic masterpiece brought to life, the designer may wish those elements had been considered. Because of a segmented supply chain, poor communications and/or inherent limitations in the flexo printing process, the reality of what the designer sees coming off the end of the press can be disappointingly different than what was envisioned.How do we avoid this historic disconnect? How can we extend the possibilities for better image reproduction and more effectively manage our clients’ expectations? The answer may be closer collaboration between links in the graphics supply chain.While we all recognize the need to cooperate with one another to achieve our common client’s objectives, we don’t necessarily go out of our way to consult and share knowledge upstream and downstream. Ever wonder what might happen if we did? By systematically breaking down the walls that divide each step of the packaging production process and fostering open communication among designer, production artist, separator and printer, we can dramatically affect print capability, product quality and customer satisfaction.Collaboration for QualityLast year, Gravity, the creative arm of Phototype, an 85-year old prepress company located in Cincinnati, OH, attempted to do just that. And we found there were a number of big benefits to sitting sideby- side with our prepress and print partners before beginning a package design project. We were able to tap into a greater collective brain trust and experience base to find new insights. Then we turned those insights into actionable ideas for producing more compelling flexo graphics—without over-challenging the printer or hamstringing the designer’s creativity.Our approach was to establish a print-feasibility early exploration team comprised of representatives across the print production supply chain. We included a creative director, senior designer and account executive from our studio, as well as a customer service manager, prepress production supervisor, plate department manager and printing services consultant from our prepress parent company. In retrospect, it seems obvious to put all those disciplines together in the same room to address design optimization, but in fact it was a first. Although our two companies had worked closely on several initiatives to share technologies and develop more efficient workflows, we hadn’t completely crossed the sacrosanct boundaries between creative and production. Instinct and experience told us that we could find answers and opportunities within this uncharted territory. From the time a package design is conceived, rendered and accepted by the client until it is printed and ready to ship to the retail store shelf, it can undergo a massive transformation. Our Print Feasibility Team created a process map of the “design-to-delivery” continuum and identified critical decision points in the development cycle where designs are typically compromised. Those points are: Concept development: when the client is presented with rough layouts of primary display panel ideas. Concept refinement: when the client has chosen one or two ideas for further development of brand mark, type fonts, colors and product depictions. Design development: when the client has chosen a single concept and the design is carried beyond the primary display panels throughout the rest of the package, taking into consideration actual product photography and illustration, printer’s specs and applicable legal and regulatory requirements for copy and graphics. Finished art: when the design file is prepared for release for print tools. Prepress: when press curves and dot gain compensations are applied and color contract proofs are presented. Plating: when print tools are prepared according to printer specifications. Print review: when the printer accepts the plates and contract proof. Printing: when the package is produced on press. After creating the process map, we then set about implementing a series of checks and balances that could serve to keep all the producers aligned to a common visual objective. We loosely documented the process—anticipating refinements once we put it in practice—and agreed to trial the print-feasibility initiative on a design project for Bright Future Foods. The project directive was to design a line of packaging for MA-ME! brand edamame. Edamame is young soybeans that are eaten fresh out of the pod. The founder of Bright Future Foods had discovered edamame when she traveled to China to adopt her daughter. There, edamame is a very popular snack; it’s called the “beer bean” by Asian men who eat the beans like peanuts. Bright Future’s business plan called for a local launch in greater-Cincinnati grocery stores, followed by a national rollout. The beans would be sold in 6-oz. standup pouches in the fresh-produce aisle and also in 12-oz. frozen pillow packs. Because of the flexible forms and because initial print quantities would be small, we recommended flexo as the print process. An Ounce of Prevention While our strategists at Gravity conducted a retail audit and prepared the design brief, Creative Director Rick Murphy asked print specialists at Phototype to conduct a refresher tutorial in flexo printing for his design team. Eager to share their expertise, prepress operators, platemakers and a press-side consultant from Phototype’s Printing Services group put together a primer that included an overview of flexo process fundamentals and a laundry list of specific graphic treatments that presented significant challenges on press. “As packaging designers, we were, of course, familiar with the differences between print processes,” said Murphy. “But this exercise drove home the benefits of considering flexo’s strengths and weaknesses in the earliest stage of concepting graphics. “Instead of hindering our creativity, it actually enabled us to proceed with a greater confidence. By being more mindful of the process at the outset, we knew we could develop designs that would execute faster, less expensively and more predictably— all of which would translate into a better experience for the client.” Before Murphy showed any designs to Bright Future, he put them up for review before the Print Feasibility Team. The team identified some potentially problematic areas and discussed the implications of color choices in terms of the number of press decks that would be required to reproduce the designs. Gravity Creative Director Rick Murphy (left) consults with Phototype Print Application Specialists Linda Backinger and John Marino. When Gravity in turn presented the concepts to our client, we were able to offer a production assessment of each design that helped guide decision-making. The production assessment included an indication of how difficult the design would be to print, how many ink colors would be required, and how easily the design might translate to other packaging forms (labels, cartons, etc.) and print processes (offset, gravure) for future product-line expansion. As concepts were chosen for refinement, we modified proofing devices to simulate flexo printing capabilities. “Color is the No. 1 visual equity for branding and packaging, but it is rarely managed so early in the design process,” remarked Murphy. “Designers—and clients—usually rely on the separator and the printer to provide a reasonable match. Now we can show colors at the onset of a project that we know are achievable within very tight tolerances.” Flexo Design Challenges Depending on the press configuration, substrate, ink system and printer expertise, some graphic treatments may be difficult to achieve. Here are some of the treatments to be considered: Point sizes and line weights below FIRST (Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances) guidelines. Vignettes and blends with dot percentages less than 5 percent and greater than 90 percent. Large fields of soft screen tints made up of a process build. Knock-outs from process builds. Floating text and fine lines made with process builds. Photography and illustrations with very detailed highlights and shadows. Butting colors of like tonality (e.g., yellow and blue) where a trap may be especially visible (green). Images where cyan ink contaminants could cause undesirable color shifts. As soon as the client landed on a final design, the Print Feasibility Team brought in the printer, Cello-Pack Corp., Buffalo, NY, to confirm the details of separation and production. Designer, separator, platemaker and print supervisor all collaborated to define the exact specifications for production art files and print tools. Further, the designer prepared a Communication Priority Brief that identified the most critical image areas of the package. Should the printer need to adjust color on press, he could refer to the brief to determine where he could make concessions without jeopardizing the designer’s intent. As a result of the deep collaboration and early intervention, according to Murphy, “The MA-ME! design project was one of the most transparent hand-offs our studio has ever had. No unpleasant surprises and no last-minute compromises.” Murphy has incorporated the print-feasibility early-exploration concept as a standard operating procedure, and Phototype has adopted it for recommendation to the other design studios and agencies it serves.About the author: Terri McConnell is business and brand strategist for Gravity, the creative arm of Phototype, Cincinnati, OH. Click here to download