Case
Studies
Lenticulars:
Holiday Cards
A famous
pop singer wanted to send out a unique holiday
greeting card to his fan club. He hired a Miami-based
graphic design firm, which contacted us for
guidance. We provided them with design specifications
and suggestions for a lenticular card. Our state-of-the
art production facility made the cards, with
a two-phase flip image, in record time to meet
the mailing deadline. The result was nothing
short of stunning - a frosted blue background
with dancing snowflakes, and the singer's season's
greetings alternating with his name. The piece
was even suitable as a suncatcher.
Lenticulars:
Postcard Mailing
A local
advertising agency was interested in producing
a multipart mailing. Their client was a new
internet service company that was far superior
to the previous industry offerings. We settled
on a set of lenticular postcards, emphasizing
the difference through "before and after"
morph images. Five different cards with dual-morph
images were mailed out over a period of several
weeks; the unique nature of the postcards grabbed
the recipients' attention, providing both repeat
and pass-along exposure. The campaign was an
overwhelming success, and both the client and
the agency were pleased.
Lenticular:
Publication Cover
A prestigious
college of art and design was interested in
producing a unique cover for one of their publication
projects. Their graphic designer contacted us
for suggestions. What they wanted was a way
to use two seasonal images from their webcam,
alternating as the reader opened the publication.
We provided a horizontal-flip (side to side)
Lenticular with adhesive backing, so it could
be easily mounted on the cover. Though flip
Lenticulars are usually vertical (up/down),
horizontal flip (side-to-side) works much better
in booklets and magazines, or on posters.
Custom
Product: Acrylic Display
A Midwestern
design firm contacted us for assistance in marketing
a medical product. Their client was interested
in showcasing the attributes of their product
in a format appropriate for displaying at a
doctor's office. Though the design firm originally
contemplated a Lucite embedment, we quickly
went in a very different direction. Since the
featured product was mostly made of plastic,
it would have been severely damaged during the
Lucite curing process. Through our expertise
at working with multiple materials, we came
up with a hollow acrylic cube, with the client's
product mounted on a clear acrylic post in the
middle. Separated logo and copy were printed
on four sides of the cube, spaced so as to allow
undisturbed view of the product inside. The
clear top and a full-color flood on the bottom
provided additional focus. The roll-out was
so successful, the client ordered several hundred
more cubes shortly thereafter.
Custom
Product: Layered Award
When a
graphic design team challenged us with an elaborate
layout, we put our vast resources to
work to create a stunning piece, incorporating
a shimmering etched stainless steel plate against
a
rich black wooden background, accented with
a cut brass city skyline and topped with engraved
jade glass. The design team's client was overjoyed
with the way the award turned out, and the
recipients said they had "never seen anything
so magnificent."
Multipart
Branding Campaign
A prestigious
local design firm that uses us as a resource
regularly consulted us for ideas for a multi-product
branding campaign. Their client was an overseas
food marketer, looking for assistance in getting
name recognition in the U.S. market. One of
the first products we provided was a custom
leather padfolio designed to look like a high-end
restaurant menu cover. These were sent to food
buyers at large chain restaurants nationwide.
Additional food-related products followed: aprons,
labels and cooler bags, then salt-and-pepper
shaker sets and cutting boards. Elegant pens
and unique spinning key chains rounded off the
program.
Apparel:
Full-color magazine cover on a T-shirt
A magazine
with national distribution to key business decision-makers
approached us with an assignment: reproduce
in exacting detail an enlargement of a 1931
cover of their publication, to commemorate their
anniversary. Using state-of-the-art precision
registration screen printing, we provided four-color
process printing directly onto the shirts. The
client was impressed with the fine detail, as
were the recipients.
Apparel:
Full-color fast
A local
design firm contacted us with a dilemma. They
needed a full-color print on a T-shirt, but
the event was only three days away, and they
only needed 60 shirts. The setup, run and rush
charges for a screen printing job were prohibitive.
Instead, we used a digital photo transfer process.
Though impractical for larger production runs,
this technique is perfect for short runs that
require full-color customization. And it is
fast - we made the three-day deadline easily.
Awards:
Signature award update
A local
design organization commissioned us to update
their annual award. The previous version involved
an actual light bulb, plated in gold, silver
or bronze, then sealed in Lucite. After several
years of doing this, the plating company raised
their prices dramatically, and refused to make
allowances for light bulbs that cracked or broke.
Of further concern were the bulbs that were
damaged during the Lucite curing process.
We decided
to retain the light bulb concept, but use Lucite
for everything: both the clear light bulb and
the black base. The names of winners were engraved
on the base, and color-filled appropriately
(gold, silver, etc.). The final piece looks
like crystal on onyx, and has been coveted for
three years running.
Awards:
New signature award
The Midwest
chapter of a national design club contacted
us to create a new signature award for their
annual design competition. While they originally
envisioned crystal as the material of choice,
the technical limitations of the award they
wanted made it prohibitively expensive. We were
able to re-create the angular faceted tower
with a metallic finish facet out of machined
and polished cast Lucite. The final touch was
a full reverse-side engraving and front personalization.
The new award is now it its second year, with
widespread approval.
Awards:
One of a kind… times two
A government
contractor needed to thank two individuals in
their organization who have both spent an enormous
amount of time and effort on two vastly different
projects. This called for two completely different
graphic components as well.
For the
first award, the designer envisioned an 8-color
graphic suspended in a clear cylinder, centered
in black column. We achieved this by screen-printing
eight colors on a clear acetate sheet and embedding
that in the center of a clear, cylindrical Lucite
block. The cylinder was then suspended in a
black Lucite column.
The second
award was a more traditional, metal and wood
plaque. However, the challenge was to provide
full-color reproductions of four booklet covers
developed by the recipient. We started with
an oversize wood base commonly used for multi-donor
plaques, then added a double-etched metal plate
with recessed black background and raised polished
copy above a raised polished rising globe graphic.
Four metal plates digitally printed in full
color illustrated the booklet covers, and were
placed above the copy and the graphic.
Both recipients
were overjoyed at how elaborate and majestic
their completely customized awards were.
Leather:
Publication Cover
A local
design firm was putting the finishing touches
on an elaborate booklet design, celebrating
the 25th anniversary of an international organization.
To honor a number of individuals who contributed
to the organization, the designers wanted to
create special covers for the anniversary booklet.
That is when they called us.
The booklet
was being done in a non-standard size, so the
cover needed to be completely custom. Since
it was still being printed, the design firm
provided us with a hand-cut dummy, which we
sent to our leather artisans for review. Within
a week we had a prototype, and got it approved.
Two weeks later, we delivered the covers, custom
crafted from velvet-textured rich brown leather,
with the name of the publication debossed on
the front center.
In mid-production,
the client asked if we could personalize the
covers as well. Through a bit of last-minute
juggling, we were able to deboss the full names
of all fifty recipients on the bottom center.
The end result was a truly special gift for
these extraordinary people.
Crystal:
Molecule Reproduction
A local
scientific organization was looking to give
their speakers a classy gift with a representation
of a particular molecule. They wanted something
that would be treasured by the recipient, and
at the same time depict the molecule as accurately
as possible. Through a special laser technique,
we provided a three-dimensional interior etching
of the molecule in a block of clear crystal.
We then deep-etched the organization's name
directly on the surface of the crystal, making
sure not to overlap the internal etching. The
end result was well-received by all.
