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Print & Paper

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Case Binding – how are hard-backed books made?

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case binding

At GSM, we've written a few articles on the various methods of binding. In this article we look specifically at the craft of case binding... Case binding is the method of binding ‘hardback’ books or documents. Unlike ‘softback’ binding methods, such as Perfect / PUR / Burst or saddle stitching, Case binding involves a significant amount of manual work. This extra work reflects the higher cost of this binding method. There are, however, many advantages with Case binding over the softback methods. Hardback documents can often be opened flat—which is not possible with a large Perfect / PUR or Burst...

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Compostable Courier Bags – Send Plastic Packing

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HCF courier bag

We all know that we need to reduce our consumption of single use plastics. But what are viable alternatives? Here's a new product that will send plastic packing! Here at BJ Ball, we send out a significant number of courier parcels per year. Like many businesses, smaller sized parcels make up the bulk of our outgoing deliveries. Historically, these went out using custom printed plastic courier bags - something we were not overly thrilled about. Wanting a greener solution, we put our feelers out through our global supply network to source an alternative. Here it is! The new BJ Ball...

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The BJ Ball Student Design Contest – From Brief to Print

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Student Design Contest

The BJ BALL Student Design Contest is back - and better than ever! Designing for print is an essential skill for graphic designers in the commercial world. For design students, however, the complexities and costs involved mean that gaining real world experience is often prohibitive. Cue BJ Ball, who last year resurrected their Calendar Design Competition. For those of you too young to know, this was a staple event within the extended Vis Com curriculum many years ago. Their aim was to give design students an opportunity to have their creations brought to life using real world print. From Brief...

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Understanding Onscreen Colour vs Printed Colour

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Working with printed colour requires not only creative flair, but also some technical knowledge about how colour is produced in print. In this article GSM takes a look at getting the most from CMYK colour. In the world of offset print, CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black). It is also known as process colour. What is important to understand with offset print is the difference between onscreen colour and printed colour. There is nothing worse than seeing that the colours of a freshly printed piece don’t look anything like they did on-screen. This is not the fault...

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Coloured Text – How to get it Right…

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coloured print

Using coloured text in printed magazines and documents is certainly more vibrant than stock standard black text on white stock. However, it can present some potential challenges at the printing stage. In this article, GSM looks at using coloured body text in print documents and how to avoid potential pitfalls... The use of coloured text is quite likely a knock-on influence from its popularity in digital design. Using colour when designing for screens is easy, as what you see is what you get. But, in the world of offset print, the print process itself adds technical challenges that the designer...

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How to Use Pantone Spot Colours in Print…

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The unexpected combination of design, colour & print finish, and choice of paper for the front cover of GSM10 created a result with a difference. Sometimes a little experimentation can create surprising results... For the cover of GSM10 we used a textured uncoated paper, BJ Ball Advocate Linen, on which we printed two spot colours - Pantone 876 (Metallic Bronze) and Pantone 804 (Neon Orange). Combining fluoros and metallics on an uncoated paper is usually a big "No No" but pushing the boundaries can create something special.. Replicating the Cover of GSM10 Advocate Linen is an uncoated textured paper from...

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Print requiring an eye for detail – Take a Look…

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Let's Take A Walk cover

Some print jobs are far from straight forward. This children's pop-up book, ‘Let’s Take A Walk’, was one of those jobs. The extra effort won them Supreme Runner-Up in the 2017 Pride in Print Awards. The judging panel described it as ‘…an excellent job with lots of tricky finishing requiring an eye for detail…’. GSM takes a look… The Concept This particular print job initially began life as a menu revamp conceived by Sam Crofskey, owner of Christchurch café C1 Espresso. The concept of the menu was to use illustrations by Hannah Beehre, of local buildings pre- and post- the...

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Offset Printing – What happens to your Artwork File?

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Offset printing

Offset printing is more than a touch of a button. It takes skilled trades people, with years of experience, to transform an artwork file into a finished printed job. GSM takes a tour of Spectrum Print, in Christchurch, to see how it is done... So, what actually happens when you send an artwork file to an offset print house? We sent designer and photographer, Marty Anderson, along to Spectrum Print in Christchurch to find out. Marty shadowed a number of projects going through the printery so we could see the various stages of offset printing. The first thing that can...

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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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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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