Print Process Session

Today was our first session about the analysis of different printing processes and the advantages and disadvantages to each one. We were asked to bring in three different examples of interesting print. At first I thought inside the box and picked three different examples of print on paper, then I realised the possibilities were almost endless so I chose: an old B-Movie poster, a 'nerds' sweet box and a penny tub from Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

In the session we were put into groups of 4 or 5 and told to pick just three examples from everyones collected samples. We then had to fill in the sheet to the right in accordance to the objects we had in front of us. We all agreed on picking: the 'nerds' box, a 'Sol' beer opener key ring and a personalised canvas tote bag.

We went about deciphering the right answers to the questions posed in a debate style manner. We discussed what we thought was right and wrong, and why this was so. Some answers where a lot easier than others and the two columns that we seemed to struggle with most were 'cost band' and 'quantity', because without the right information these can be hard to guess properly. Nevertheless we tried hard to come up with proper answers.

Below are images of the two most interesting items I brought to the session. I didn't originally think that the 'nerds' box would be that interesting, however, Lorenzo soon pointed out that there was a very special print process behind its vibrant colours. Apparently it is a 'hexagraphic' print, which means instead of your traditional CMYK 4 colour plates, this one has six. The second interesting item I brought in was an original film posters from 1962. Before the session I had assumed it was screenprinted, as this would have been the normal process almost 50 years ago, and by using a specialised magnifying glass designed to see great detail I was proven right. This particular piece of equipment is called a linen tester and more information can be found here. Throughout the whole design of the poster you can identify the layers of colour and even in some places notice where the alignment is slightly off.

In addition to the discovery that the 'nerds' box had gone through hexagraphical printing, Lorenzo also cleverly identified that the nets would then go through another process, this time with purely black ink. It could even be suggested that the black layer is left until last because it is the layer that all the text is in. Therefore it could be re-produced in as many different languages as possible. This is just a guess but after looking thoroughly at the box it seems feasible.