January 13, 2004

By: April Tom
Website: http://www.1st-in-cosmetics.com

Packaging meets effects - highlights at the Merck fair booth

“We are giving color a new dimension” – since 1957, this vision by the Pigments division of Merck KGaA has been enlivened by the development and marketing of innovative effect pigments. Iriodin, Bi-Flair, Colorstream, and Xirallic are the brand names that set a new accent. The conventional color world is being newly defined with each effect pigment. The Merck IPEX trade show team selected the “Magic Cube” as the leitmotif for the booth design. The color gradations on the block have a refined appearance due to the use of different pigments a distinct interference effect.

“Magic Cube” with interference effects

“Magic Cube” is the name of the puzzle piece which, as a highlight of the Merck fair booth at the IPEX, stimulates visitors to assemble it intelligently. The cube’s color gradations appear in different variations. The choice of Iriodin effects makes the difference.

Hidden behind the colorful design of each cube element’s side is a color gradation system, that has already been used in the Merck Color Compendium and was produced in cooperation with CD Cartondruck. The challenge for experimentally-enthusiastic visitors is to assemble the elements in a way that the color gradations match on all sides of the finished cube. This unique puzzle distinguishes itself with its additional interference effect. The colorful cube moves into the fourth dimension, so to speak, by a coating of Iriodin 7235 Ultra Green overlaying the base colors.

While visitors to the booth play with the giveaway version of the cube, the new dimension that Iriodin gives the colors opens up to them.

Paper tissue dispenser with perspective

In cooperation with the print shop Ken Wilkens, ink manufacturer Gibbon Inks and design agency Serigraph, a sample box for a paper tissue dispenser was developed, which shows the use of Iriodin in pre-print. Using a flexo printing machine, for the first time an Iriodin pigment could be applied in a single machine pass both before and after the process colors. The result is a folding box which supports the three-dimensional perspective of the used images. Through the added interference spot varnish, individual elements of the image are emphasized and angle-dependent effects are shown.

Napkins with shimmer effect

New and captivating design possibilities are possible with Iriodin in tissue printing. For the first time Merck, in cooperation with the BASF Druckfarbensysteme GmbH, is showing the feasibility of applying a multitude of effects with Iriodin in traditional flexo printing on a cellulose substrate. Various pigments of the interference series are applied on different undercoat colors. With the application of Iriodin on napkins, Merck comes back once more to the topic of its Color Compendium, where nine different Iriodin effect pigments and the process colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black, were used to achieve 13,500 different color effects.

A poster creates desire for effects

Already in 1998 Merck created “Desire for Effects” with a poster of the same name, which showed the creative refining techniques of Iriodin on nine A4-sized images with various applicational objectives. Merck presents the Edition II of this poster at IPEX 2002, which demonstrates nine different variations of Iriodin in offset printing as well as overprinting varnish using just one motif. A special feature of this poster is the use of a Soft-Touch varnish that was used partially with and without Iriodin as a finish. Through the different colors and application of the print refinements of the motifs, the color concepts “deep & rich,” “soft & care,” “young & fresh,” and “aesthetic & function” are impressively demonstrated and characterized. In order to arouse the desire for effects not only for printed paper, Merck transferred the concept onto a bottle sleeve, which shows by using the same design, the application of Iriodin can be used on different materials.

Shrink sleeves as “hot spot” in the packaging market

Shrink-wrap packaging has become grown in popularity during the last several years. In order to increase the value and differentiate the packaging, Merck, in cooperation with the companies Sicpa UK, Decorative Sleeves and Tronic Gravure, all of Great Britain, took the existing design concepts “deep & rich,” “young & fresh,” “aesthetic & function” and “soft & care” and transferred them onto foils for the gravure printing process.

Shrink-wrap foils are especially useful for packaging bottles, cups, cans and similar objects. Through effective design, the shrink-wrap foils can visually bridge the gap between the outer packaging (cardboard, boxes or cartons) used for transport and the inner packaging used for the product, by merging the appearance of the two and thereby increasing the recognition of the product considerably.

For years the market for shrink/sleeve labels has substantially increased. Besides pressure-sensitive and glue-applied labels, non-pressure-sensitive roll labels and in-mold technology are recording a high rate of growth, which is estimated by LPC Inc. to reach almost 10% per year by 2005.

Rub-ons - rub on and start

Merck has developed a new demonstration procedure for product and packaging designers which can demonstrate the effect of a design finished with Iriodin on an object early in its development phase. The new process uses the so-called “dry transfer foil” which is applied to the parts of the products or packaging that are to be designed with Iriodin® effects. The Iriodin is simply rubbed on with hand pressure, and thus transferred, from the back of the foil onto the object.
The dry transfer foils are a valuable addition to the demonstration tools already available, for instance the Pantone® color sampler and Iriodin-covered ink jet paper. The special advantage of the foils lies in their ability to simulate not just one printing effect, but rather the array of offset printing, printing varnish and flexo printing. The Iriodin effects pigments show different strengths of their potential effects in the various printing methods.

Self-adhesive labels – with Iriodin and Colorstream

Self-adhesive labels are the focal point of a cooperation between the companies Sicpa, Schäfer Etiketten and Merck. Designs will be presented at the IPEX 2002 which relate to actual products on the market and design possibilities will be shown for products used in daily life. Included in the demonstration materials are self-adhesive labels for drinks, cosmetics and motor oil. A total of five motifs were produced by UV book printing and UV rotation silkscreen printing.

Transparent folded boxes - the new packaging trend

Transparency is trendy. This is also true in packaging. The customer wants to see what he or she is buying without having to open the packaging. At the IPEX 2002, Merck is presenting a new and interesting method of transparent packaging.

The “glassy” packaging was designed by Merck in cooperation with the CD Cartondruck, an innovative company within the folding box manufacturers. The transparent box was fabricated from three different materials: PVC, PP and PET. These materials were finished with a silkscreen-printed layer of Iriodin Ultra Interference pigments in gold, blue or green.

The visual charm of these folding boxes is the combination of transparent foils and interference pigments. The result is a very special effect: the pigments show their body color on the surface view, and their complementary color in the interior view.

The transparent folding box set is cleverly combined with cardboard, so that a cardboard cube seems to be floating in the interior – a packaging concept lets the packed product stand out against the others on a store shelf.

Refillable bag - effects presented flexibly

The focal point of a cooperative project for innovative packaging from Merck and Goglio in Italy resulted in a package prototype made of polyethylene based on the cosmetic line of Lever Faberge’ Lux “Pure and Soft” soap gel in three interference effect colors: lilac, blue and green.

The Goglio Group stands for flexible, hermetically-sealed vacuum packaging, known worldwide under the designation “Fres-Co System.” The Italian packaging manufacturer’s desire to identify processes with minimum environmental impact led to a cooperation with Merck Italy.

The Iriodin Pearlets interference pigments Fine Yellow W, Fine Blue W, Fine Green W were used in the gravure printing for the refillable PE cosmetic packaging. The applied printing inks, in combination with the Iriodin Pearlets of interference pigments, are suitable for the recycling system of the solvent. The environmental aspect plays a large role with Goglio - starting with the manufacturing process and continuing to the environmentally-friendly use of the end-product. The Iriodin Pearlets won over the renowned packaging company because of their exactly predictable production quantity and the significant shortening of the production process compared to conventional pigments. With Iriodin Pearlets, dust and excess residue belong to the past.

About The Author:

April Tom is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-cosmetics.com.  Tips on skin care, hair care and beauty products to bring out natural beauty.