鈥淭o really catch the eye you need a range in contrast,鈥� he says. 鈥淟ots of highlight areas, but with a lot of density in other areas. If you have everything on a pack with very low ink coverage, there’s not a lot going on there. But if you have a product against a very dark background, with strong vignettes and high density colors around it, then it suddenly stands out a lot better.鈥�
For this particular design, Mike credits his client for employing designers who 鈥渞eally pushed the boundaries鈥�. Their creation boasted incredibly strong contrast, with subtle highlight areas in the images of the yoghurt, but a lot of density 鈥� dark purples and a sparkling star effect 鈥� in the area carrying the party dress promotion.
But even the best design in the world is no use if you can鈥檛 pull it off perfectly in print. Using KODAK FLEXCEL NX technology, supplied by Reproflex3, InterFlex stepped up to that task. In fact, Mike says flexo proved essential in delivering the range of contrast he needed to do so.
鈥淗istorically if you wanted to achieve that contrast effect, you鈥檇 have used gravure,鈥� says Mike. 鈥淲ith gravure, you could engrave dots smaller than what it was possible to image on a flexo plate. But with the latest KODAK FLEXCEL NX plate technology, today you can hold a dot as small as 鈥� some would say smaller than聽鈥� gravure can engrave a cell. The contrast range in flexo has probably grown by 15-20%. So we can now print much finer dots, offering excellent highlights, while delivering more ink in the solid areas at the top end too. Flexo is now offering a strong challenge to gravure. It鈥檚 typically more cost effective鈥�
This is invaluable for a company like InterFlex which, typical for print firms of its type, is now handling a lot of short-run, fast turnover promotional work,聽whether to tie in with the sporting calendar 鈥撀燤ike is gearing up for the Olympics coming up next year, for example 鈥� or with the latest movie releases. Mike says he鈥檚 found himself manufacturing more and more one-off designs that tend not to repeat. And the stakes are getting higher.
鈥淲e can now print much finer dots. Flexo is now offering a strong challenge to gravure. It鈥檚 typically more cost effective too.鈥�
鈥淚n promotional print jobs, everything is close to the wire,鈥� he says. 鈥淒eadlines are always tight, and as promotions always have an end date, with brands needing to get maximum exposure, they want it on the shelves in front of consumers as long as possible. So there鈥檚 not really any opportunity for a second attempt. It has to work, and it has to work first time. Each and every time.鈥�
He鈥檚 noticed another trend too: Increasingly ambitious customers. 鈥淗aving a matt and gloss effect is a favorite effect of the industry at the moment, for example,鈥� says Mike.
And when it comes to meeting these demands, it鈥檚 not just gravure that flexo is out-performing. Despite how long digital has been threatening to challenge flexo, Mike remains unconvinced. 鈥淭here are still concerns around how you print whites with digital, and how you do metallized colors, like golds and silvers,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd take the volume that you can produce in an hour or a day with digital. Flexo鈥檚 run speeds can knock that out the park. At Interflex, we鈥檝e found that once your batch size gets above 3000m2, flexo becomes the more viable option.鈥�
Flexo certainly worked its magic on the yoghurt party dress promotion: it won gold awards for InterFlex at Drupa and EFIA that year. So in the end the pack didn鈥檛 just adeptly promote yoghurt and party dresses; it threw InterFlex鈥檚 printing prowess in stark relief too.
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Find out more about how flexo aces contrast with our whitepaper on edge definition or our blog post on measuring flexo print contrast.