New encyclopedia of finishing techniques

extra contains 33 different print finishing technologies varying from structural varnish, lenticular printing, flock printing, metallic foil lamination, cold foil transfer, stamped holograms and lasercut.30 graphic designers from nine countries collaborated for the production of extra and 11 producers applied 33 techniques on five different papers qualities such as Sappi’s HannoArt or Algro Design Duo for the carton board.

The idea for the book came to the creators, Franziska Morlok and Till Beckmann, from Rimini Berlin when they were searching for hotfoil to be used as a book cover. "We were surprised how difficult it was to source what we needed", explains Morlok. Like many graphic designers, Beckmann and Morlok did not know much about the various possibilities and techniques involved with print finishing. The existing design books did not contain true finishing examples but rather photographs of the end product. So, Morlok and Beckmann decided it was time a book like this was created and set out to achieve it themselves.

Frank Denninghoff, Managing Director of German based converter Gräfe Druck & Veredelung, was one of the many inspirational partners involved in the production of extra. He was pivotal in the creation of several pages on embossing techniques, which, amongst others, contained complex artworks such as those created by famous French designers Antoine+Manuel. The design contained four different crease-basket, web and plaster structures for the foil printings and three different shades of foil ranging from pure copper, golden and reddish copper; each required a separate set-up and pre-run on the machine.

Lars Scheidweiler, product manager at Sappi comments: "We have been involved from the beginning so we could carry out several tests to select the most appropriate substrate, surface and basis weight for each design. In the finished result, not a single sheet of paper or carton board has failed during the production process, which is remarkable considering the experimental approach and complexity of realising such a masterpiece."