"The ultimate lesson here was that additional steps might be tricky, but they are sometimes necessary to achieve the best finished product."—Jon McClure, Designer
When you seek to provide the nation's top hotels and spas with luxurious body lotions and other high-end amenities, what approach should you take with your print communications? In the case of William Roam, the answer is classy yet playful, thanks to the use of several printing and finishing techniques.
"They wanted to be represented as an American-made company—while feeling polished, unique and elegant," explains McClure at Miles Design. William Roam also wanted to use recycled paper, which posed its own challenges.
"The paper itself is harder and more substantive," he says, "which provides a strong impression, but removes some of the traditional depth of the letterpress."
Miles Design tackled this problem with a strategic use of different processes, including offset and letterpress printing courtesy of Faulkenberg Printing, as well as edge painting and the application of clear foil.
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The business cards in particular display a level of craftsmanship that puts one in mind of luxurious surroundings, while the mustache, nose and glasses logo keeps everything light and fun. A nice added touch: each note card features diecut half-circle tabs between which a business card can be snugly inserted.
"For the business card specifically, the stock color wasn't available so we had to flood the reverse with PMS Black 7, then duplex the card for the appropriate thickness," says McClure. "We then had to letterpress the card before trimming and edge painting with PMS 383."
The result beautifully shows off Rolland Enviro100’s smooth finish while offering identity materials that easily pass the toughest environmental sniff test with a sheet that is FSC certified, and made with both 100 percent PCF and biogas.
Though all of this "required some additional time and cost," McClure says, "in the end, it resulted in a suite that reflects the complexity and nuance of the brand."
Sabine Lenz is the founder of PaperSpecs.com, the first online paper database and community specifically designed for paper specifiers.
Growing up in Germany, Sabine started her design career in Frankfurt, before moving to Australia and then the United States. She has worked on design projects ranging from corporate identities to major road shows and product launches. From start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, her list of clients included Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Deutsche Bank, IBM and KPMG.
Seeing designers struggle worldwide to stay current with new papers and paper trends inspired Sabine to create PaperSpecs, an independent and comprehensive Web-based paper database and weekly e-newsletter. She is also a speaker on paper issues and the paper industry. Some refer to her lovingly as the "paper queen" who combines her passion for this wonderful substrate called paper with a hands-on approach to sharing her knowledge.