NEW VIEW ON HOLOGRAM APPLICATION ON GRAPHIC MATERIAL

Žiljak Ivana, Žiljak Vujić Jana


Abstract :

This paper refers to new areas of a graphic designer‚s activities in creating printouts and special protection on packaging material.

Today there is a growing need for product individualization and product protection. Besides it‚s visual design, each product can have on packaging material the following elements:

1. hologram (only for that product, special in form and place where it is positioned)

2. special screening element (created to that product only)

3. additionally pressed elements on the packaging material of each agent and distributor

1 Introduction

A hologram is important for a product in two ways: it is a unique form of product protection and gives the product a new additional value as a marketing element. A hologram opens many possibilities in the development of many-layer visual messages, messages in motion, and spatial 3D display. It is possible to print holograms on packaging material additionally, in modified series, for each product series and distributor separately.

Holograms may be positioned at specific points, such as the place of opening, in order to prevent replacement of the original product with a fake one in well protected and marked packaging material.

Holographic marking is not widely applied because the knowledge about the whole process (from design to production) is not sufficient. Therefore, this paper has the goal to encourage entering the world of holography.

We are anticipating a period of large-scale hologram application on packaging material, because we would like to be new. Holography is a new means that is not an unknown or foggy area today and there is no market-oriented packaging material that does not have holograms

2 Hologram individualization on packaging materials

By using some other especially protected techniques (metal, glass) and not printing techniques, a hologram may be adapted to the product size, prepress temperature, various prepress printers (laser printers, ink jet), large surfaces of holographic, geometrical interpretations of the same hologram, various cutting blocks.

All of these are designer and marketing effects.

Packaging material for one product may have several holograms. A 3D hologram may be individualized by using various techniques in breaking up the picture in stages.

3 Advantages of holography

Holography is considered to be the quickest recognizable marking in comparison to all other printing techniques. For instance, there is a technique where it is necessary to illuminate colors with special equipment in order to be able to see them (for instance UV colors). This is all right, but it is not to be expected in practice for each user to have such equipment at hand in order to determine a productís authenticity.

This is why holography is so great. It is noticeable and recognizable even in broad daylight. Therefore, holography is a good protection not only because it is difficult to copy, but also because it is quickly and easily recognized. Holography also has great advantages because it is not necessary to intervene with postpress under various temperatures, cutting with various blocks, block on block, hologram over hologram, color on hologram, year and month of publishing, metal-like colors. A holographic band may be stamped in such a way that the stamp form is noticed only after opening the product. Thus there may be new forms and new messages when the product is opened.

For instance OPEN or the chance game YOU HAVE WON. A product may also acquire a new value at opening: for instance, when a perfume box is opened there may be a new message in the hologram. After it is once opened, it is impossible to return the hologram to its original form. This is especially important if certain parts of a productís packaging material must not be opened because of the product warranty. A hologram may thus be not only a visual, but a physical means of protection as well. In other words, a holographic mark gives new information only when it is physically shattered.

4 Screening element

Besides creating the visual design for a product‚s packaging material, it is necessary to design a special screening element to be for this product only. The proposal is that each pixel and vector design, i.e. printed matter both in digital and conventional printing may have their individual screenings. Screening is controlled with a very simple mathematical function that represents a special configuration in it‚s 2D or 3D format. The configuration may be a completely abstract one, but may also be figurative ˆ descriptive. Thus instead of a screening dot we may create a propeller, a grain of coffee or something abstract. This abstract element may be a product‚s serial number, a producer‚s personal identification number, a product‚s name. Each producer may have his own screening as a signature, each printing house may have it‚s own screenings. The mo! st important use of screening is in the interpretation of the printed matter‚s visual message. It may be visible if the lpi is low or hidden if the lpi is high. All vector and pixel graphics may be interpreted with completely new screening elements.

5 Hologram application

As an enclosure to this paper I would like to give the example of holography application on wine labels. When we are labeling a product, we need to have superior design and marketing performance. For this reason it is quite adequate to use holography as a media. The user will have a feeling that he has purchased not only a product in modern packaging material, but also the wine that is described by the label text. The small number of top quality printed labels may be made with the use of digital printing. Such small editions are not expensive and may be practical for special purposes: celebrations, business gifts, and even for printing single-bottle labels for special occasions.


Labels for gallery Sv. Ivan Zelina / design: Ivana Žiljak

 
Vine Label / design: Jana Žiljak Vujić