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Mhairi Flett

  2. Mhairi Flett

BJ Ball Swatch Books – Paper Glorious Paper!

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paper selector

Recently, BJ Ball launched brand new swatch books to replace the older fan-apart system. No simple task when you need to accommodate and showcase more than 360 individual paper stock/weight combinations. In GSM14, we talk to Alf Walker, Creative Director at Zoo Creative, about the unique challenges and nuances of this complex project. The team at Zoo produced the original fan-apart swatches for BJ Ball back in 2014. It was an enormous project in itself, but we always felt there was room for improvement. Having the opportunity to design the BJ Ball swatch books a second time was very exciting....

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Intellectual Property – What does it mean?

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Intellectual Property

Intellectual property, Copyright and all that legal stuff... What does it mean to you as a graphic designer? What should you know?... As designers, we love to create. In fact, we get so engrossed with creating, we sometimes forget the importance of establishing who owns the work we create. So, who does own the work? And why should you care? GSM Re-Edit delved into the legal world of Intellectual Property... Intellectual Property Let's start with a brief overview of Intellectual Property (IP) Law as it applies in New Zealand. IP Law is covered by the Copyright Act (1994). At it’s...

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How to Create Off-the-Shelf Impact with your Label

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Wausau Self Adhesive Labelling

Self adhesive labels are often used in the beverage market - a highly competitive environment. To make your product stand out on the shelf, BJ Ball have recently introduced Wausau's innovative self adhesive labels. GSM15 takes a look... Recently, BJ Ball announced the sole distributorship of Wausau self-adhesive labels in New Zealand. This follows on from Ball & Doggetts, who have carried this range for a number of years in Australia. These new products, manufactured in the USA by Wausau Coated, open a whole new world of creative possibilities when it comes to ‘off-the-shelf’ impact. Based on Wausau’s long history...

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Digital Print Embellishments – Look what you can create…

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GSM13

Digital print technology has evolved rapidly over the last five years. To the point that you can now create embellishment effects that, previously, could only be produced with offset or letterpress. This opens a whole new world of possibilities for designers when working on short-run print projects. In GSM13, we took a look at some of the latest finishes and print effects that can be achieved using digital print systems. Specialty Toners & Varnishes Some digital print systems have the capacity to use toners beyond standard CMYK. Depending on the system, these can include other supplementary colours such as white...

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Print Embellishments – Find out the Difference between Embossing, Debossing & Foiling

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Print Embellishments

Colour is not the only option to drawing the reader's attention. Embossing, Debossing & Foiling are three of the more commonly used print embellishments used in conjunction with, or instead of, ink. GSM takes a look at them... Embossing & Debossing. Embossing & debossing are fundamentally the same process.  A die-block is stamped onto a sheet of paper/board to create either a raised (embossed) or recessed (debossed) impression. Typically, the height or depth of the impression is between 0.15—0.5 of a millimetre (15—50uM). Die-blocks can be made in either stepped depths; single- or multi-level blocks, or as continuous 3-D forms....

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Your Business Card – How well does it represent you?

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Business card

First impressions count - research shows that within the first few seconds of meeting, decisions will be made on who you are! Appearance affects how professional, trustworthy and powerful a person thinks you are. And it's not just how you present yourself - Think of your business card as an extension of you. In GSM we take a look at your business card. Interestingly,  you don't have to take out a small mortgage to create a good impression. Take, for example, the BJ Ball range of business cards. They range from the ordinary to the sublime! The role of a...

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Paper, Pixels & The Brain – Onscreen Text vs Printed Text

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Onscreen Text vs Printed Text

Compared with printed text, it appears that reading onscreen text may drain more of our mental resources and make it a little harder to remember what we have read. Here at GSM we do a lot of reading, so we thought it would be interesting to check this theory out... Research indicates that modern screens and e-readers fail to adequately recreate certain tactile experiences of reading on paper. They also prevent people from navigating long texts in an intuitive and satisfying way. This, in turn, affects reading comprehension. There are two reasons for this. one based on the physiological aspects...

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Direct Mail Campaigns exploring the Senses

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Open Up To Mail

The Open Up to Mail campaign explores all things mail and beyond. GSM talks with Kellie Northwood, Chief Executive Officer of The Real Media Collective, about how this campaign looks for ways to achieve a creative vision with Direct Mail. GSM: Mail is often seen to be 'old school'. Why does Direct mail still work? Kellie: The power of the letterbox is creative, wide-reaching and engaging. The physical attributes of mail continue to achieve incredible cut-through and deliver great results. Did you know over 92% of recipients open direct mail?! And it remains in the home for some 38 days...

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Online vs Printed Journalism. How do you get your news?

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online vs printed journalism

Here at GSM we're all about print. But in today’s fast-paced world, we want our news immediately. Going online seems to be the obvious choice, but is it really the best one? Let's look at the difference between online and printed journalism. Online is instant, accessible and interactive. We read the facts and then move on. But is that enough? Is the role of journalism simply to convey facts? Truth and accuracy, fairness and impartiality. These are the core principles of journalism but as Tom Brokaw, NBC journalist likes to say, “It’s all storytelling, you know. That’s what good journalism is all about.” And...

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Direct Mail – a valuable tool in your Marketing Strategy!

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Direct Mail

Did you know somewhere near 270 billion emails are sent worldwide each day?! Nowadays, it's our inbox that's full of junk mail, not our letterbox! GSM looks at the rejuvenation of Direct Mail campaigns... Direct Mail is, now more than ever, a valuable tool in our multi-channel Marketing Strategy. It offers exclusivity, value and ongoing brand positioning and reassurance. It achieves the ultimate ROI, higher response rates and contributes on the path to purchase journey. Firstly, it’s tactile and, unlike it’s digital counterpart, tends to hang around for a while. The latest DMA Response Rate report revealed recipients opened 92...

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