An article published on June 24, 2010, by Harvard University and Yale University found that sensory perception influences a person’s decision-making process(Click to read more). Humans have five basic senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Our sense organs send information to our brains to help us understand and perceive the world around us. When there are so many competitors, how can you make your brand unique to consumers? We may be able to create them from these five senses.
Despite the impact of e-commerce on many offline brands, there are still many great brands that have managed to maintain sales growth, such as Starbucks, Lego, DJI, etc. All of their strategies are designed to create an unforgettable experience for customers and appeal to one of their five senses. As a result, customers may feel curious and impressed with your brand. You will not only be able to make the sale, but you will also be able to educate your customers as well.
A packaging design can also be customized in order to create a corresponding experience. This can be done by enhancing smell with a unique fragrance, enhancing touch with a unique texture, or enhancing visuals with a special process. The following post will explain the special effects that are often used in packaging production processes in terms of touch and visual enhancements. I invite you to read on if you are interested.
1、Lamination
The laminate is a transparent plastic film that is glued to the surface of a print by hot pressing to increase its gloss and protection. Films used for lamination include polypropylene, PVC, polyethylene, polyester, etc., with thicknesses between 12 and 20 mils and different widths. Presently, the most widely used film is the biaxially oriented polypropylene film (BOPP), which has the advantages of high transparency and good gloss. It can be divided into two categories based on the effect of brightness: laminated glossy film and laminated matte film. However, laminated paper cannot be recycled and is not environmentally friendly.
2、Varnish
After being coated with a layer of colorless, transparent coating, the surface of the printed material is leveled, dried, and cured to form a thin and uniform layer of transparent bright color. In addition to protecting the print, it enhances the gloss of the printing surface.
Water-based varnish coatings are widely used in folding boxes due to their many advantages, such as stability, rapid drying speed, transparency, and good gloss. The product exhibits better performance in terms of abrasion resistance, water resistance, chemical resistance, and heat resistance, and is easy to transport, safe, and reliable. As a packaging material, it is widely used in the packaging of tobacco, medicine, food, cosmetics, as well as other commodities, especially in export packaging.
3. Calendering
In order to form the ideal mirror effect, calendering oil is applied to the varnish machine and then calendered by the calendering machine. Similarly to general varnishing coatings, calendered coatings consist of a film-forming resin, solvent, and a few additives. Calendering can produce gloss effects between water-based and UV varnishes. In contrast to water-based and UV varnishes, calendered products have poorer abrasion resistance, so they are not recommended for folding cartons, especially those that require high quantities and high abrasion resistance, and only a few folding cartons used for food are calendered.
4. UV coating
Using a colorless and transparent light-curing coating, a thin and uniform layer of transparent light is formed on the surface of the printed paper after leveling and light curing, followed by UV irradiation, resulting in a durable and uniform layer of light.
5. Stamping
Known commonly as hot stamping (hot foil), this technology involves applying pressure and temperature to a print and stamping foil in a short period of time under mutual pressure, so that the image is transferred to the print surface according to the stamping stencil, during a short period of time under mutual pressure.
As a result of its chemical stability, stamping foil can withstand long periods of sunlight and rain without discoloration for most of its current applications, long-term contact with the air does not oxidize, does not darken, and maintains its metallic luster for a long period of time, rich color can be obtained to achieve gold, silver, red, blue, and green decorative effects.
As a result of the stamping method, there are two types of stamping technology: hot stamping and cold stamping. The hot stamping technology is the above-mentioned method that requires a specific temperature and pressure to finish the transfer of stamping foil. By coating the UV adhesive on the part of the print that needs to be stamped by a certain pressure, cold stamping technology transfers stamping foil onto the surface of the packaging print. Each method has its own characteristics and is well suited to meet the requirements of a variety of products.
6、Embossing/Debossing
The process involves placing the print between the intaglio and convex plates and applying greater pressure to produce relief-like embossed and debossed graphics. The print can be given a more three-dimensional appearance. It is primarily used for printing various high-grade packaging boxes, trademark labels, invitations, greeting cards, book covers, documents, character patterns, animal patterns, landscape patterns, etc. Most embossing is done on paper, and the thickness of paper that can generally withstand embossing is approximately 0.3mm-1mm.
7. Die-cutting
It refers to a process whereby paper or cardboard is cut into a particular shape using a steel knife according to certain specifications. The creasing process involves using steel wire and a creasing die to bend a shape by pressing out the paper or cardboard from the line marks. The process of die-cutting usually involves both of them together.
8. window patching
As a means of packaging finishing, it is increasingly used in the packaging of food, pharmaceuticals, and light industrial goods. To make the goods visible in the display, this process is primarily used in the packaging of folding cartons and rigid boxes.
Above are examples of sight and touch effects that are commonly used during packaging manufacturing. Despite the limitations of the process, there is no limit to creativity. It is important to continue optimizing the unboxing experience for consumers. We welcome your feedback in the comments section if you have any further suggestions.
