Product Design - Paper and Boards

Cartridge paper

Thick white paper, completely opaque and more expensive than photocopy paper. Used in sketching, ink drawings.

Layout paper

Light, semi-translucent, good for blending inks and artist markers. Used for sketching, drawing and some tracking.

Tracing paper

Translucent paper, slightly thicker than layout paper. Used for copying images

Corrugated cardboard

Strong but light, rigid triangles of card sandwiched between a top and bottom layer. Used in outer packaging and food packaging

Bleached card

Chemically treated to brighten the surface, suitable for high-quality printing. Used in greeting cards, high-quality packaging

Mount board

Made from cotton fibres that have been compressed. Very Rigid. Used in modelling.

Duplex board

Light card with white outside layers, waxy coating can be added. Used for cheap packaging, if waxy coating is applied, can be used for food.

Foil-lined board

White card coated with a thin aluminium layer. Foil is great for insulation and water resistance. Used in takeaway containers.

Solid-white board

High-quality white card with a smooth finish. Stiff and holds colour well. Used in greeting cards, packaging and advertising.

Metal effect card

High quality card with thin metal effect layer, can be embossed. Used in gift packaging.

Stock forms:

For paper range from sheets sized A0 - A8. They can also be available in rolls after being primary processed. Paper thickness is in grams per square metre (gsm).

Performance characteristics

Impact resistance, difficulty of bleaching, compliancy (how easily folded, cut, etc), how easily recycled, whether or not its biodegradable, if the surface is good for printing.

Primary processing

Paper is made by first making pulp, pulp is a mix of tree fibres and water. This is cooked and bleached white and adding any other additives. The pulp is then drained and goes through calendaring, where the pulp is drained and goes through rollers to convert it to its stock forms.

Die cutting (wasting process)

Steel cutting dies and creasing rules are used to cut out the net shape.

bending (shaping process)

Sheets of paper are placed onto a folding table. Then bent to the desired angle.

Laser cutting (wasting process)

A laser is used to cut and engrave into the sheet material. This is often a more quick and accurate process than manual methods, and ideal for one-off and batch production.

PVA glue

Water-based adhesive for attaching wood to wood. Not water-proof.

Contact Adhesive

Used for bonding large areas and can be used attaching different materials together eg. plastics to woods etc.

UV hardening adhesive

A clear liquid that 'cures' when exposed to UV light. Can be used on metal, glass and plastics.

Solvent cement

Commonly known as dichloromethane and can join polymers to each other. It softens the polymers' surface, making it easier to fuse together.

Epoxy Resin

Comes in two parts, a resin and a hardener. Once combined the mix can join different materials together and must be left to 'set'.

Jigs and Fixtures

These are used to ensure parts or components are made the same when made repeatedly. A jig holds and guides a tool, and a fixture holds work in place.

Lamination

Can be done via encapsulation or via surface coating. Encapsulation used a desktop laminator and the paper is coated by a plastic pouch. Surface coating uses a liquid for menus and signs.

Embossing

Creates a raised design on the surface of paper or card. Can be used on business cards, greeting cards etc.

Debossing

Produces an imprinted depression that sits on the surface on paper or card

UV varnishing

Clear non-coloured ink is used on pre-coated papers to enhance the colour and give a layer of protection. UV provides a smooth finish and is abrasion and chemical resistant. Applied using rollers and cured with UV light.

Spot varnishing

Follows the same process as UV varnishing but is applied to specific areas rather than the whole surface.

Foil Blocking

Heat and pressure is applied to metallic paper (foil) and joins it to paper/card. This helps create depth and texture to improve aesthetics.

Screen printing

Can be used in one-off and batch production. Different screens are required to print different colours, so can be slow and high-cost. Ideal for posters, t-shirts, and displays

Flexography

Uses the 4 main printing colours and they are printed on top of each other to create the desired colour. The process is simple and least expensive compared to other printing methods. Used for cartons, labels, carrier bags, comics, newspapers, etc.

Offset lithography

Extremely versatile process that can produce 1 colour, 5 colours (CMYK + metallic) or ten features (CMYK, metallic, varnishing and duplex). Ideal for medium and long runs of products e.g. books, magazines etc.

What are the key printing colours

Cyan, Magenta, yellow and key black