OUGD504: Design Production - Further Research

Following on from a previous workshop we were asked to identify a list of things we did not know about but would like to look into. I wrote:

What do I not know but I would really like to find out about?

How to emboss and deboss
Mass production of carrier bags
What is pad printing
How much bespoke brands spend on packaging and promotional material
How is foiling mass produced and what machinery is needed
Is screen printing always a cheaper alternative to digital print?

Some of these questions cannot be answered until I have physically put them to the test but I am going to try and answer as many as I can.

How to emboss and deboss

I need to attend workshops about these two processes but for now I am going to carry out a quick Google and YouTube search.

Source[WikiHow]

Mass production of carrier bags

I approached this question during the workshop and answered it with some YouTube videos.

Source[YouTube]

When looking into the production of a carrier bag I was surprised. I expected the process to be somewhat like screen printing but instead it was done with a machine rather than by hand. On reflection this makes much more sense as the amount of carrier bags which are produced and used within the UK alone is a very large quantity.

What is Pad Printing

Pad printing (also called tampography) is a printing process that can transfer a 2-D image onto a 3-D object. This is accomplished using an indirect offset (gravure) printing process that involves an image being transferred from the cliché via a silicone pad onto a substrate. Pad printing is used for printing on otherwise difficult to print on products in many industries including medical, automotive, promotional, apparel, and electronic objects, as well as appliances, sports equipment and toys. It can also be used to deposit functional materials such as conductive inks, adhesives, dyes and lubricants.

Physical changes within the ink film both on the cliché and on the pad allow it to leave the etched image area in favor of adhering to the pad, and to subsequently release from the pad in favor of adhering to the substrate.

The unique properties of the silicone pad enable it to pick the image up from a flat plane and transfer it to a variety of surfaces, such as flat, cylindrical, spherical, compound angles, textures, concave, or convex surfaces.

Source[Wikipedia]