Marketing and advertising has been increasingly over produced for many years. The mass production of media means that consumers give less time and attention to advertisements. The supply of marketing is greater than the demand given to it and the bubble is bursting on ineffective forms of communication. Total customization or the ability to create a unique experience for each and every consumer is the marketers new goal.
Today, only hand-crafted, highly-customizable printed materials consistently get noticed. The new art of printing begins with a creative idea, is achieved through a unique process and shipped with a personal touch that connects to people on a human to human level.
The creation of an aged mailer offers a perfect opportunity to create a real connection to the past and revisit a time in printing when the artisan was more powerful than the machine. An aged mailer offers you the ability to touch people's senses and send them back in time.
Just think about all the times we hear stories in the media of letters delivering decades later? People emotionally connect with the past and the dated look of an aged mailer immediately makes one think of the old and forgotten times.
As a fellow print chef, you can begin aging paper right away and rekindle the past with uniquely, hand-crafted printed materials. To create this highly-customizable printed item right in your own kitchen, here are a few quick and easy to follow steps:
Print your message on the paper before beginning the process
Pre-heat an oven to 200 degrees
Soak paper in tea, coffee or vinegar and plan on your mailer still smelling like your ingredient of choice (If aging an envelope, while soaking, carefully open flat at the sealed areas as glue will now be ineffective)
Remove from liquid and sprinkle coffee or tea grinds on paper
Rub in grinds to create an assortment of random stains
With a dry towel or cloth, carefully pat the wet paper to remove any excess liquid and brush off remaining grinds
Place the paper on an oven proof pan
Put pan in oven and frequently check paper every minute to test for dryness and ensure the paper does not stick to the pan
Remove as soon as dry and let cool (once cool, if aging an envelope, re-seal with a glue stick)
How sticky and absorbent is paper? If you are producing a print project that the end-user will need to write on, then you need to make sure you select a paper that soaks up ink. This scenario and consideration is a common occurrence in printing. One thing I do to help people remember how to choose their paper is to site the frying pan/skillet example.
Non-stick pans have a coating on the surface that helps prevent sticking when cooking. These pans are especially useful when working with foods such as eggs and fish that tend to stick. In addition, when working with a regular uncoated pan, it is usually recommended that you add fat, oil or cooking spray (a coating) to the pan to prevent sticking. What can we conclude from this? A coated surface prevents sticking. How does this apply to paper? Ink will not stick as easily to a coated surface.
If you are conceptualizing a print project and you want people to write on the paper, an uncoated option is the way to go. Uncoated sheets are more porous and the less coating on a sheet, the easier ink will absorb into the paper. This is why ink smears when you try to write on a glossy sheet of paper. If you absolutely must use a coated sheet but you still want the end-user to write on the paper then go with a coated sheet with less coating (ex - matte, dull). Matte and dull sheets are coated but they have less coating than a glossy sheet with a high sheen. You'll still get a little smear when you write on a matte or dull but it won't be nearly as bad.
Just about every food and beverage product you buy has an expiration date. The sell by date is the point of no return, where the perceived quality and safety of the product can not be guaranteed. Often times when this date has passed, the physical and sensory properties of the food change. An odor is present, mold is detected or the food/beverage changes color. As food and beverage consumers, we watch these dates closely and we expect and prepare to replace items as needed. These dates make our lives easier.
The luxury of an expiration date is not available however in printing. When your looking through a paper swatch book, you won't see an expiration date. You will however see key terms that give you an idea of the durability and lifespan that you can expect from the paper. Have you ever noticed when a paper is identified as acid-free or archival? This is the paper's way of providing you with an expiration date.
Acid-free paper eliminates the lignin and active acid pulp (aluminum sulfates) during the processing. Lignin is found in wood and when exposed to light and oxygen, it will cause the paper to turn yellow and deteriorate. The components of paper naturally contain cellulose fibers that produce acid so it is impossible to create an ageless paper. Acid decay can completely breakdown paper over time by deteriorating fibers. However paper made acid-free, will at least slow down the eventual deterioration process.
Expires 08/10/2532
When an alkaline reserve is added in the paper production process, it will further strengthen the papers ability to fight off naturally occurring acid that forms from the cellulose fibers. This alkaline reserve acts as another protective agent or buffer in the fight against acids. When a paper is alkaline, you can expect an average life expectancy of a few hundred years. Depending on the grade of the paper this can vary from 100-1000 years.
Archival paper is also used to identify paper based on a strict set of standards from ANSI. It means that not only is the paper acid-free with large amounts of alkaline reserves, it is also durable enough to be used for printed items with potential significant historical value to them. Archival paper is considered such because it isn't made from wood-based pulp that contains lignin.
So when you're searching through paper books for your next potential print project and you see that a paper is acid-free and archival, expect it to at least withstand the remainder of your lifetime.
If you are familiar with this blog, then you know that I often try to compare cooking and printing techniques. I compare the two because most people understand cooking and food basics but not so much with printing.
On the surface, cooking and printing have nothing to do with each other. However, despite these differences, there are many instances that utilize food directly in print and vice versa. This blog post is dedicated to exploring a few of those times where the concept of food and print work together.
Chocolate Graphics (www.chocolategraphics.com) prints on food by embossing photographic images onto chocolate with chocolate. This embossing technology simultaneously allows them to produce 3 dimensional images with chocolate as well.
Cantu Designs (www.cantudesigns.com) meld food with science, technology and art to create a new type of futuristic culinary experience. Chef Cantu has created a number of print and food related technologies such as edible paper and desktop printers where the print cartridges are filled with food-based inks that include foods such as carrots, tomatoes and potatoes.
AIB (American Institute of Baking) and FDA help certify and ensure food packaging and labeling compliance on your every day print items you find in your grocery store. They help printers follow guidelines on food grade printing ink requirements.
Soy-based inks are non petroleum-based inks that are created with vegetable oils. These inks are often the choice for environmentally conscience customers as they emit considerably less VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and are biodegradable.
Edible rice paper is often used in cake designs to transfer a photo quality image on the outside of frosting. A designer can draw and color designs on the paper or even run the sheet through a food safe edible ink printer to achieve more detail.
Perhaps printed materials that you can eat will be the biggest opportunity for printing to stay relevant in a digital world.
Adding seasoning or a marinade to meat, fish or a vegetable is a great way to tenderize it and add a little flavor. These coatings, add a characteristic to your food that you just can't achieve by cooking without them. Even a chef will add at the least a little salt and pepper to a filet! It's fair to say that coatings add complexity and enhance the overall taste, smell and visual presentation of a meal.
As a printer, we also look to achieve enhancements on print materials by adding varnishes and other coatings. Press coatings and varnishes improve the look of a printed piece by creating different textures and visual effects. They can change the look and feel of a brochure drastically and as with cooking, there are a number of coating possibilities to choose from depending on the artist's desired outcome.
There are a number of things to consider when choosing the right coating for your print project. While I recommend you work closely with your printer to see physical samples for the different types of coatings, I have listed a few things that will help you get a rough idea for the coating of your choice (there are many more types of coatings but these are the most common):
Aqueous Coating - water based coating that adds protection to a press sheet, helps dry the press sheet quickly and can add a variety of different finishes such as gloss, dull, matte, satin, pearlescent, and touch coatings.
Gloss Finish - varnish or aqueous coating that adds a high reflective, shiny appearance to the sheet.
Dull or Matte Finish - varnish or aqueous coating that reduces the sheen on a press sheet.
Satin Finish - varnish or aqueous coating that creates a smoother sheet and less shiny than a gloss finish but more shiny than a dull or matte finish.
Varnish - a liquid based coating that can be either gloss, satin or dull. Varnishes can also be tinted with a pigment for effects.
Pearlescent Finish - made from crushed mother-of-pearl particles, this coating adds a pearl like smooth finish.
Soft-touch Coating - an aqueous coating that adds different textures than a traditional finish (rubbery finish or leather-like feel).
UV (Ultraviolet) Coating - Clear liquid coating that dries with ultraviolet light leaving a high-gloss, satin or dull finish. A gloss UV Coat will give you the most shine but will also result in the most visible finger prints.
Textured and Sandpaper Finish - Coating that creates a rough texture and depth to an image area or creates a sandpaper type feel.
Scented Finish - Scents are within the coating and when applied and rubbed on the press sheet, a fragrance is released.
Flood Coating - process of applying any type of coating above to the entire press sheet or entire image area as one flat coating.
Spot Coating - process of applying any type of coating above to an isolated or designated area (ex - part of an image that you want to stand out) on a press sheet.
Now that you have an idea of some of the different types of coatings available in printing, I will share with you one of my favorite types of coatings (marinade) that I use on pork and chicken meals. Here is the recipe and check out the video above for detailed instructions on making this wonderful meal:
Garlic Dijon Basil Pork
- Mix together well olive oil, dijon, chopped garlic and basil together. Your the chef so you choose your recipe size! I add about 1-2 tablespoons of both oil and dijon, 3 cloves of garlic and about 1/2 teaspoon of dry basil (or 1 teaspoon of fresh basil).
- Line a baking dish with tin foil and place the pork in the dish.
- Salt and pepper pork and baste the mixture thoroughly on both sides.
- Let the pork sit at least 15-20 minutes to absorb the marinade (the longer it sits the better it tastes) and go ahead and pre-heat the oven to 450 while you wait.
- Cook about 12-15 minutes or until done to your desired level. I like to eat pork right around 150 but this is medium and may not be to your tastes.
