Making Print a Tactile Experience
Right from the start, the Dimensional coating on the cover allows the reader to interact and actually feel the patterns of the design. From there on, the inside cover, QR Codes, chapter titles, graphs and pictures all incorporate the clear coating to offer a complete tactile feel.
QR Code: QR-codes are 2D tags containing data that can be read by many cellular phone models with a camera and freely available software. To offer the reader a further and unique experience to cross media, the technical papers and select sections of the journal were tagged with QR-codes that linked directly to supplementary online content.
Fore-edge Design: The fore-edge of the text block is extremely unique and something that leaves the reader saying “wow”! It can be fanned out to create the illusion of a printed image on the face of the book. The production process to achieve this effect took many trials and, once finally completed, made the book truly one of a kind.
VDP: The journal incorporated variable data printing in the inside cover stating the specific book of the overall quantity produced as well as a personalized name of the individual whom we presented the book to for continued support.
This year’s conference was hosted in San Diego and we competed against schools around the world and the United States. We ended up winning best design and production. As Production Manager, this project forced me to think outside the box and help incorporate industry-leading technology to make this printed piece really stand out. I feel if more printed pieces incorporated some of these elements, then not only will companies receive the higher response rate that they are looking for but more people will begin to take notice and interest in print.
