Craig presented Janice and Kevin with our material portfolio, reviewing both our film and textured paper options. They chose our felt finish Clarence material as it best represented the high end look and feel of the Alfresco Emporium brand. This uncoated paper stock is FSC® chain of custody certified, which means that the paper is sourced from responsibly managed forests. Clarence also contains 30 per cent post-consumer waste which refers to recycled content derived from products that consumers have used and recycled. The Clarence material is part of our ever-growing Hally environmental material portfolio.  

The variety of Clarence chosen for this labelling project has been manufactured with an additional layer that incorporates wet strength properties. This specialty underlay makes the material an ideal choice for products that encounter moisture-rich environments such as the personal care industry.

The textured Clarence material is beautifully complemented by the label design’s inclusion of both hot foil and embossing. The Alfresco Emporium collection includes seven uniquely fragranced varieties across each of the three product ranges. The foil and emboss design elements are unique to each of the label designs in the range.  

Hot foil was the ideal choice for this label design, as the special tooling technique used achieves a finer and higher quality detail than cold foil. Hot foil is a premium effect that is used to communicate quality. The textured, luxurious effect of the embossing was used to give a tactile feel to certain design elements across the series of labels. This is achieved by raising elements of the design. Hot foil and embossing are particularly effective on uncoated stocks, such as the Clarence material.

The new Alfresco Emporium products form part of an existing collection. The labels incorporate the same design that has been printed, and in some cases embroidered, on items such as table cloths and tea towels. Craig worked closely with Milan, Alfresco Emporium’s Product and Packaging Designer, to ensure absolute colour matching between the new and existing product artwork.

We achieved this accuracy by supplying digitally printed v-Proofs on the Clarence material, to represent the finished look of the labels. This method is primarily used for digitally-printed labels, which are printed in 4-colour process. v-Proofs do not provide an accurate colour representation for flexo-printed labels which would instead be matched to PMS. Milan provided our prepress department with artwork for several differing percentages of ink values to determine which reproduced best on the Clarence material and matched the colours of the existing artwork. This allowed us to proof up to 12 versions of one label on a single v-Proof, providing Milan with an efficient way to select the most accurately printed label for each product.

v-Proofs include a printed dieline, but they are not diecut. Because v-Proofs print on your label material, with a liner, you can cut them out by hand and apply them to your packaging for review. This is also a good option for concept testing or product photoshoots prior to launch. You can read more about our proofing options, and the importance of proofing your labels prior to print, in our blog article.

The labels were printed at our Sydney site and were finished with a varnish to protect the digital ink yet retain the premium texture of the material. Digital printing is an ideal solution for shorter runs where there are multiple different varieties. This method of printing does not require any printing plates, therefore reducing the preparation costs and minimising setup waste. We offer the full range of embellishments for digitally printed labels including hot foil, high build, emboss, cold foil, silk screen, lamination, and both flood and spot coating.

Our HP Indigo digital presses are designed with the environment in mind, with each subsequent press model using less energy and supplies per printed page than its predecessor. We print using HP Indigo Inks which are certified for both home and industrial compostability.