Workshop created in 1980
Workshop created in 1980
Ever since it was first produced, the paper has been carved to match the details of seals and mouldings, embossed for relief patterns or stamped to fit into cavities. The pressure of the hand presses has increased tenfold today and the increasingly fine and precise engravings make it possible to work a 3D pattern, mixing the finest details with the most sculpted embossing. How do you transfer a visual onto paper? Which solutions and textures are transferable and, above all, how far can you go? This is the subject of this post and proposal: and of our workshops that play with the limits of paper to surpass them!
"WHEN THE IDEA IS TO ACCENTUATE THE EFFECT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, AND THE SUPPORT IS THICK, STAMPING IS THE BEST SOLUTION."
During the night, the magnesium engraving factory runs so that a file received, checked, BAT is engraved and delivered in a few hours. In the early morning, the foilers discover their tools, prepare them and refine the details by hand. Engravers and foilers work hand in hand to tame the clichés by melting the cast iron and paper. Under 2 to 200 tons of pressure, they seek balance by "betting" to distribute even pressure on the paper. The techniques seem mechanical, yet they require the dexterity of a tightrope walker to strike his precious tools on such a fragile sheet of paper.
Sculpted embossing
Printing takes on its full meaning when the object melts into the paper, when the facade is marked on a map, when the details of a garment, the lace of a dress becomes a piece of sheet. What a challenge! What a complexity in the file design and in the brief! We work on those steps with a 3D developer, able to model an HD file, and with our team of craftsmen experienced in setting up the mould on their embossing presses. They know the hazards of a pointed shape, the vagaries of a too stiff paper, the solutions to get your details out in the heart of a massive volume. Only the chosen paper dictates its limits, combustible, ephemeral, sensitive.
Cardboard embossing
When the idea is to accentuate the effect as much as possible, and the support is thick, stamping is the best solution. But what surface, what thickness, what type of material? We tested many; leather takes very well details and small typographies, corrugated cardboard imposes rather thick typefaces, while dense cardboard allow visuals and textures to express themselves at best. Felt is the most capricious, accepting to reveal letters only if their fineness fits its fibers. To your markings!
Embossing and cut-outs
The Monaco Lux Pack 2017 invitation designed by Made Thought, reproduces the seal of Monaco in a sculpted and meticulously layered laser-cut embossing. While seeing this design, we can imagine the laser would have a hard time attacking these papers, distorted by the pressure of the embossing… and yet here it is, laser perfectly wedged on the embossing, paper transformed into an object, an invitation that has become a collector!
"THE EMBOSSING IMPRINT CAN BE APPLIED AT THE MARSH PRINT SHOP ON SUPPORTS AS DIVERSE AS YOUR CREATIVITY."