The Task
The Soap & Paper Factory brought me a completed design requiring advanced geometric adaptation for overseas printing and tin stamping for production.
Complication: The product manufacturer cannot adapt artwork for their production process. If the geometric manipulation required for the production process was simpler, this might not be a problem. But the adaptation required is complex and needs to be solved before files can be handed off to the manufacturer.
The Execution
The overseas manufacturer supplied a production template. It shows where the art prints on the tin substrate before the finished cup is formed via stamping. The stamping process distorts any artwork printing up the sides; horizontally squishing more & more as it approaches the top rim. The production template offered no solution to adapt the artwork properly to eliminate distortion on the finished product. Using my cup warping experience, I was able to reverse engineer an ideal rectangle template (see below) for the designer to use as her artwork canvas. The designer filled this ideal rectangle with artwork which I was able to process using adapted cup warp techniques.
Left: Provided Production Template | Right: Reverse Engineered Ideal Rectangle Design Template
Extra Credit: With the tin warping production process being a bit of a black box my goal was to identify & mitigate any potential issue. As a result, there are fewer potential problems during production. I ensured all artwork was layered with plenty of overlap for trapping. Small, technical imperfections that might become trapping issues were corrected. All CMYK process formulas & Pantone Spot colors were identified and noted on the mechanical for reference.
The Payoff
This custom workflow has been in use for several new product designs. It has proven adaptable to more complex designs and has made manufacturing this family of beautifully illustrated products possible.
