Chiaroscuro, another dimension…

Behind a great design, there must be a great client. This past 18 years, we have been working together with Indonesia Printer. They’re more than just a client for us, they’re also our partner in printing. We believe that their understanding of a designer’s mind, their creativity and their passion for learning, lead them to be a successful printer in Indonesia. Welly Bolung and Edi Hambali realizes that it’s not only about a new technology and high machinery, but it’s about the art of printing.

With a new technology that they want to introduce, we would like to create something fun and inspiring, a design which we can play with, we can touch and have a whole new experience. Emphasizing on the fun and surreal effects, we chose the “Chiaroscuro” to explore different kinds of illustration. During the process, either a simple illustration or a complex one, each of the artworks are very detail-oriented and involving high craftsmanship. For instance, to be able to have the expected result on a metallized paper, first we have to print the image area with white and afterward print the real image on top of it. In total, the calendar requires 72 times printing run, 22 special colors and 15 kinds of finishing.

For the cover, beside using 11 special colors and smooth sand hologram, we also use 4 special colors printed on plastic and eyelet to create optical illusion effect.

Printed on Yupo (synthetic water resistant paper), we use spot UV to create the glossy effect and also the fine hairlines which give hair texture on the paper.

For this one, we use pearl foil on the swan to be more subtle and elegant.

The reflection of this graphic can be seen on the metallized paper used for the previous month. For this graphic, we use smooth sand hologram, silver foil and chemical embossing for texture. The die cut human figure on the metallized paper also adds a twist on this artwork.

Using lenticular plastic printing, we can create 2D and 3D effects on this particular artwork. We can see certain depth on the cloud, and some movements/transformations. The skull and the hands are moving, while the deer transforms to a wolf .

Despite the very tight timeline with a very compound techniques, overall this has been a wonderful and challenging project where we can learn so much more, from both design and printing wise.