Print & Paper

Using coloured text in printed magazines and documents is certainly more vibrant than stock standard black text on white stock. However, it can present some potential challenges at the printing stage. In this article, GSM looks at using coloured body text in print documents and how to avoid potential pitfalls... The use of coloured text is quite likely a knock-on influence from its popularity in digital design. Using colour when designing for screens is easy, as what you see is what you get. But, in the world of offset print, the print process itself adds technical challenges that the designer...

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The unexpected combination of design, colour & print finish, and choice of paper for the front cover of GSM10 created a result with a difference. Sometimes a little experimentation can create surprising results... For the cover of GSM10 we used a textured uncoated paper, BJ Ball Advocate Linen, on which we printed two spot colours - Pantone 876 (Metallic Bronze) and Pantone 804 (Neon Orange). Combining fluoros and metallics on an uncoated paper is usually a big "No No" but pushing the boundaries can create something special.. Replicating the Cover of GSM10 Advocate Linen is an uncoated textured paper from...

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Recently, BJ Ball launched brand new swatch books to replace the older fan-apart system. No simple task when you need to accommodate and showcase more than 360 individual paper stock/weight combinations. In GSM14, we talk to Alf Walker, Creative Director at Zoo Creative, about the unique challenges and nuances of this complex project. The team at Zoo produced the original fan-apart swatches for BJ Ball back in 2014. It was an enormous project in itself, but we always felt there was room for improvement. Having the opportunity to design the BJ Ball swatch books a second time was very exciting....

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Digital print technology has evolved rapidly over the last five years. To the point that you can now create embellishment effects that, previously, could only be produced with offset or letterpress. This opens a whole new world of possibilities for designers when working on short-run print projects. In GSM13, we took a look at some of the latest finishes and print effects that can be achieved using digital print systems. Specialty Toners & Varnishes Some digital print systems have the capacity to use toners beyond standard CMYK. Depending on the system, these can include other supplementary colours such as white...

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Colour is not the only option to drawing the reader's attention. Embossing, Debossing & Foiling are three of the more commonly used print embellishments used in conjunction with, or instead of, ink. GSM takes a look at them... Embossing & Debossing. Embossing & debossing are fundamentally the same process.  A die-block is stamped onto a sheet of paper/board to create either a raised (embossed) or recessed (debossed) impression. Typically, the height or depth of the impression is between 0.15—0.5 of a millimetre (15—50uM). Die-blocks can be made in either stepped depths; single- or multi-level blocks, or as continuous 3-D forms....

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Compared with printed text, it appears that reading onscreen text may drain more of our mental resources and make it a little harder to remember what we have read. Here at GSM we do a lot of reading, so we thought it would be interesting to check this theory out... Research indicates that modern screens and e-readers fail to adequately recreate certain tactile experiences of reading on paper. They also prevent people from navigating long texts in an intuitive and satisfying way. This, in turn, affects reading comprehension. There are two reasons for this. one based on the physiological aspects...

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