Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Gas Ghosting

via  thegraphicgroup

“Gas ghosting, also known as gloss ghosting, is the transfer of a printed image from the front of one sheet to the back of another. The transfer is caused by a chemical reaction when vapors from ink drying on one side of the press sheet interacts chemically with dry ink or paper coating on the other side of the sheet. Gas ghosting can also result when the ink drying on the second side is accelerated or retarded by fumes given off by ink on the first side. The problem is typically solved by changing the chemical properties of one of the variables in the process.”

I recently experienced this ghosting at work. Here are the specs:
Final size 8"x8" booklet cover
Printed two out
Sheet size 20"x28"
100# Productolith Dull Cover
Work and Turn
PMS 877 [Silver], PMS 295 [Dark Blue], flood dull varnish
Printed on Heidelberg SORZ
Wet trapped

The photo shows the gas ghosting of the lion shrine statue [it appears almost like a negative on the solid dark blue area]. It showed up predominantly only one side of the printed sheet. Next year, we plan on printing PMS 877 silver first, let it dry a few days, then come back with PMS 295 [dry trapping]; after that dries, run the varnish. This would be a very cool technique to do on purpose; I wonder if anyone has created a gas ghost intentionally on a printed piece?

More on ghosting can be found on Gordon Pritchard’s blog, “Quality in Print,” here and here.

A+B=C [Atoms+Bits=the neue Craft]


via Adobe Museum of Digital Media

“John Maeda, one of Esquire’s 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century, examines some of the history that connects the worlds of analog creativity and digital creativity. Set in the museum’s freshly constructed auditorium, the lecture is brought to life with interactive projections, animated infographics, video clips, and mini documentaries of various hands-based Rhode Island School of Design workshops, such as glassblowing and letterpress.”

Watch his talk, here.

Obsolete Occupations: 7 Short Films


spotted by a friend in NYC

“Buckminster Fuller famously said, ‘You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.’ And the new models of the digital age have been making increasingly more old-timey crafts obsolete. But there seems to be something remarkably poetic about these dying professions. Over the past few months, we been noticing– and noting — a number of beautifully shot microdocumentaries romanticizing this impending obsolescence. Today, we’ve curated seven of our favorites. . . ”

Read about and watch the seven short films, here.

Design Council UK Explains What Graphic Designers Do


via @Issue Journal of Business & Design

“Probably more people know what a microbiologist does than what graphic designers do. Undoubtedly your aunt and grandma – and possibly even your mother – don’t have a clue. They’ll look at a printed piece and praise the photography, the illustrations, the writing and sometimes even the feel of the paper, but they aren’t quite sure what role the designer played in this. That’s why we are grateful to the Design Council UK for producing a video that succinctly explains what graphic design is and what graphic designers do. We recommend that you forward it to every member of your family especially just before a holiday gathering, and perhaps selectively to a few clients.”

Watch it here.