Commercial Print

Types of commercial print include;
1. Rotary Printing
2. Digital Printing
3. Screen Printing
4. Pad Printing

ROTARY PRINTING//

Offset Lithography (Litho) - Uses an aluminium plate for one off uses. Value for money, uses a 'Web Offset' Machine.

Advantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include:

• Consistent high image quality. Offset printing produces sharp and clean images and type more easily than letterpress printing because the rubber blanket conforms to the texture of the printing surface.
• Quick and easy production of printing plates.
• Longer printing plate life than on direct litho presses because there is no direct contact between the plate and the printing surface. Properly developed plates running in conjunction with optimized inks and fountain solution may achieve run lengths of more than a million impressions.
• Cost. Offset printing is the cheapest method for producing high quality prints in commercial printing quantities.

Disadvantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include:

• Slightly inferior image quality compared to rotogravure or photogravure printing.

Rotogravure (Gravure) - Uses copper plates and is often used for high volumes of prints because its more durable and has a better ink hold, probably because it prints in dots. Print jobs usually include; Newspapers/ Magazines/ Money.

Flexography (Flexo) - Uses a rubber polymer plate which mirrors the image. There's a lot more flexibility and the image is usually raised 2-4mm above the surface. This type of printing technique is used substantially in the food industry.

DIGITAL PRINTING//

There's no offset or plate involved, the design is ran straight through the printers. Short runs/ Specials on a range of print media from paper to metal.

SCREEN PRINTING//

Uses a stencil and woven mesh which can obtain high quality results such as digital prints, when time and precision is involved. It's inexpensive and is often used for shorter runs because of the time involved.

Screen Printing can also be used to transfer images onto 3D objects as this video demonstrates...

PAD PRINTING//

A transfer thats applicable to any surface you can find, 2D or 3D. The prints can wrap around objects, for e.g. Golf balls, helmets, cans etc...

Useful links...

The art of Litho-Printing.

This video basically demonstrates the process of CMYK and what can be achieved when you mix the 3  subtractive colours. Through a printer or through screen print...

PAD PRINTING/// 

(Refer to handout for more useful links)

VERY USEFUL**

Identifying high-volume printing processes.

http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=grc_fac&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dhow%2Bto%2Bidentify%2Bprinting%2Btechniques%2Bin%2Bcommercial%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D6%26ved%3D0CD4QFjAF%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fdigitalcommons.calpoly.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1010%2526context%253Dgrc_fac%26ei%3DNL5-UNT1HaLU0QXQqIGICQ%26usg%3DAFQjCNGNjVuhvtfiodP4rAHUtWfxbxgkAw#search=%22how%20identify%20printing%20techniques%20commercial%22

Further Research

http://www.gfsmith.com/editorial/features/forExample#/embossing

Spot Colours // Instead of using the CMYK model of colour, Spot colours are a specific mix of paint/ ink. You can usually find these spot colours in swatch guides which are linked with a code...it's this code that will allow the printers to mix the exact colour you've selected.

The most common colour authority in Europe is PANTONE, a formula guide that consists of unique names and number followed by either a 'C' 'U' or 'M'. The letters refer to the paper stock on which it is printed. 'C' for coated, 'U' for uncoated and 'M' for matte.

As a useful reference I thought it would've been a good idea to collate a list of Leeds based printers who work with commercial orders.

http://www.bowmans77.co.uk - Digital and Lithographic Printers

http://www.lazerbeamduplication.co.uk/packaging/ - CD Packaging

http://www.pressision.co.uk - Total brand integrity** Useful resource

http://www.gdpl.co.uk/our-work/ - Gold foil, Foil & Emboss, Blind Embossing, Metallic Foil...

Design Inspiration...

Print marks and crop marks seem to be a popular choice among the majority of booklets concerned with printing, it gives the audience an instant recognisable feature of print in a subtle manner.

Useful attributes to adopt for my designs?

I really think this sort of approach is perfect from a design point of view, not only does it look aesthetically pleasing but it instantly communicates the content of the page. If my publication wasn't largely focused on the informative side of things, I would of loved to produce something similar, so abrupt and design conscience...

Web Design/ 10 Examples of Good design VS Bad design

Task: Reviewing the common aspects of each website. I've tried to gather websites that are on opposite ends of the spectrum, selecting the best of the best...& the worst of the worst. This will hopefully give me a happy medium of what actually makes a good website!

Good -

http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/aj2012/

In terms of web design, I really think this style will become popular among major co-operations, obviously there's been a lot of development and thought process into the interactiveness and 'play' of this design. The colours couldn't be any better, reminiscent of a healthy and fulfilled lifestyle which reflects the identity of Sport/ Athleticism. 

Green representing everything natural. 

Blue representing the sea and skies

Orange representing the sun and enhancing peoples moods.

http://mistercartoon.com/news.html

There's a-lot of websites out there that try and accomplish a clean and minimalist approach, but most of them are either too blank or just don't function effectively. On the other hand this website features the work of a tattoo artist appropriately enough to communicate his style, personality and ethos. Everything's categorised properly and easily enough to navigate around efficiently.

http://www.premiumpixels.com

"It’s a fantastic resource of PSDs, pattern files, brushes and more, easy to navigate using the tag index to find exactly what you want. In seconds you can have any of the resources downloaded and ready to get you off and running on your next project."

http://gridassault.com

The overall visual content is quite substantial which explains the grid layout, it has a similar theme to pint-trest! When you first look at the wesbsite "Immediately you notice how eye-catching grid layouts are, and the site draws you in to browse through them and get inspired. If you were under the impression that grid layouts were boring, then Grid Assault will prove you wrong. It only takes a few minutes browsing through their site to show you how varied and unique grid designs can be." If you are considering using a grid layout in your next project, then Grid Assault cannot fail to inspire you.

http://www.designerslist.info

Although its not the best or innovative website, it serves its purpose perfectly, supplying you with an extensive amount of information/ links presented with its target audience in mind. One of the most important aspects of a website, is its content, & visitors will definitely come to this website primarily for its information which is specifically aimed at designers. 

http://www.serialcut.com/extrabold/#/the-book/home

From a personal taste POV I think they've got all the colours, style, alignments and visual elements down to a key, the users of this website will obviously understand its purpose however I was quite confused about the aims and objectives of this website. What is its primary purpose?

http://www.behance.net

The navigation of this website is what really makes this website so functional and accessible, the navigational system makes it so easy to move between pages within a website, the project pictures also give the viewer a taste of the work, giving them the option to ignore what they're seeing or enquire. Visitors are only going to have so much patience before they go to another design website.

http://www.awwwards.com**** Amazing resource.

"Our goal is to create a meeting point where web developers, designers and agencies across the world can share experiences, inspiration and knowledge: A community that bids for a more accessible, usable and beautiful Internet."

http://www.coloud.com

I love the usability & design of this website! As you can see from the screenshots above, the website gets you involved quickly. There's not really much else you can say about this site, apart from its perfect for its purpose. 

http://www.milwaukeepolicenews.com/#menu=home-page

Compared to other Police websites, this is somewhat unreal! The purpose is clearly evident however its been designed a bit over the top and doesn't really suit a Police Force, simply because I got the impression it was for a 'SWAT' movie and couldn't really take it seriously as it seemed the Police were primarily 'Bigging' themselves up. Moving away from my personal opinion, its been done excellently, the navigation system couldn't be better, providing the information in digestible/ graphic responses. The photographs make everything seem that bit more sharper and dynamic.

http://www.abm.at/de/home

This is by far one of my best types of web designs, I love everything about it, from its unique and obvious navigation system, to its visual elements. It's engaging and the photography is amazing. The content of the website hasn't been jeopardised by introducing too much, and the flow to this website makes frustration a thing of the past.

http://www.trackemfindemkillem.com

Again another unique navigational system, reminiscent of the way a book operates. However the actual operational aspect of the website is quite slow, and after a few minutes I got quite frustrated at how slow the pages were operating. Apart from this, the visuals are perfect for the websites objectives, providing a gritty and regimented feel. 

http://designspiration.net

This is at the bottom of my 'Good' collection simply because its grid system is quite striking and effective and the 'Search' tool is amazing. With its bold and strong text, the viewer becomes engaged just by typing what they want to navigate to. The bad thing about this website is that it's content is limited. In the sense that, when you find a piece of artwork your inspired by, its often very hard to further enquire about this without being directed to a random blog or something similar. But again, it's a tool for inspiration as oppose to information.

Bad -

http://www.serene-naturist.com

"It’s full of every bad thing you can think of—cheesy music, butterflies, seagulls, swans flapping all over the site, sparkly stars, growing flowers, a mad blue background and it’s absolutely smothered in crap images."

http://www.sixtiespress.co.uk

The header is barely readable: it looks like something created in Microsoft Paint with every imaginable effect added. There has to be at least 20 different colors on the page with no rhyme or reason.

http://www.amazingthings.org

The shrouded and chaotic visuals shroud the communication of this website, once you've tolerated the design, you will eventually realise that this is an events calendar! One of the only positives of this design, is that the text is readable because of the black background. There's no specific focus to the design, and the website suffers from its inconsistencies, categories need to be introduced, allowing an actual flow to this website, rather than being hit in the face.

http://imprint.mnsi.net

Terrible aesthetics! The homepage reminds me of a boring, tacky, steel-plated door. The actual overall design is rather weird and the top-right corner breaks the consistency of the homepage. 

http://www.lowpriceskates.com

Despite the websites over-use of background colours & garish text it's clearly aimed at a specific audience and thats skating enthusiasts, who might ironically enjoy the bright colours, it slightly reminds of the old multi-coloured disco balls.

http://www.geoffreywharton.com

This is an example of a bad design simply for the reason that the majority of the bottom information isn't very legible, the information is set out appropriately and when compared to the above web designs it doesn't quite look as bad. The layouts very poor and feels dated the choice of text is also very bog standard.

-----------------------------------------------

http://ilovedust.com - Design Agency based in London...