judyisokay

Paper & Edge Painting

Moontree Letterpress

Blush Publishing

Dingbat Press

While out visiting designers a couple weeks ago with Duke of Reich Paper, edge painting came up. Mainly, because each time Duke gave out his card, it was met with much enthusiasm.  His card is a super thick 236 lb. cover of 100% cotton, Savoy that has been letterpressed, foil stamped and edge painted in a studious, slate blue. These thicker papers are a must if you want to edge paint and really see the results. You'll want to specify and use at least a 120 cover but even thicker is better. We've got lots of choices for you.

I'm a big fan of edge painting. It gives a wonderful pop of interest and color. Edge painting is a process that can be done on just about anything -  business cards, invitations and book edges. I asked Duke lots of questions about the process since his luxe paper line is commonly used for this technique. It seems that edge painting is somewhat shrouded in mystery. Each letterpress printer has a different technique for applying edge paint. Some roll, some spray, some use acrylic or dye and rub it on. Printers don't commonly share exactly how they do it. Imperative to the process is a clean, sharp guillotine cut to a stack of cards and snug clamping of the stack to be painted. Check out this informative post I found on "Oh So Beautiful Paper" to see one of these processes of edge painting.

And not only can you edge paint but you can also guild the edges with silver or gold metallic leaf for a bit of bling. The guilding is much more time consuming but the results speak for themselves. See a video of that process here with a master guilder at Crane's.

 

How to make a Fold Sing

Everyone is talking about this magazine cover. It seems to be all over the twitterverse. And for good reason, it's amazing! I will be ordering up one for my "keeper" file. It is a true feat of paper engineering, thought, creativity and mathmatics. Feast your eyes and hands on the cover of the November issue of German design magazine, NOVUM. They commissioned PAPERLUX to design and produce this cover. It is made up of 1,000 faceted, colored and registered score lines. They can be folded and bent along these scores to shape the cover into geometric fun. The cover says  - "play with me". Watch the video below to see the "Making of the Cover".

Here are some details about the project.

• 48,000 print passes
• 6 different colored covers created by changing the sequence of the cmyk inks - no new plates were utilized
• 1,000 scored triangles

 

 

 

 

 

Custom Colors by MOHAWK

 

Photo courtesy of Cooke Photographics

Need a perfect shade of paper to match a corporate logo (that just happens to be the color of the CEO's Yellow Lab’s eyes)? Dream of a duplex sheet combining two different colors from the swatchbook? Think these custom options are out of your reach? Not any more. MOHAWK has always had custom color capability, but with improvements to their color system at the Beckett Mill in Hamilton, Ohio -  it now makes it possible to change color much more quickly on the machine. This means shorter runs of color –as little as 5,000 lbs.– much more efficient so they’re more affordable for you – making custom colors more attainable than ever before.  Just get me a PMS number or 8.5 x 11 sample to get started. The shade will be evaluated for a match and what it will cost. Cost varies depending on the dyes used and factors like whether it’s made from postconsumer waste fiber. And color is just the beginning of the creative possibilities. You can select solid sheets ranging from 70 text to 100 cover or pasted sheets up to a weight of 160 double-thick cover. Many finishes/textures are available as well including premium patterns like Cordwain, Groove, Hopsack and Vertical. Minimum order is 5,000 lbs.