Made to think
The Xerox Iridesse metallic colour swatchbook (2019-2020)
About the Swatchbook
The “Made to think” booklet is a printed metallic colour palette for Xerox® Iridesse™ Production Press, made for the clients of Kanovits Print Atelier to help to choose gold and silver metallic colours and hues, similar to the printed Pantone Colour Guides. The name “swatchbook” comes from the words “colour swatches” and “notebook”.
Brief
At the time the Kanovits Print Atelier purchased the Xerox® Iridesse™ Production Press, there were not many ready-made materials for metallic printing, and clients were curious about the Silver and Gold Specialty Dry Inks mixed with CMYK. There was significant interest in rose gold tones, especially from the side of wedding and event designers. Also, many clients wanted to include “their version of rose gold” in printed materials, such as business cards, brochures or leaflets. It was obvious, that the agency needed a usable colour sample palette, that not only the clients would appreciate, but makes the designer’s work easier.
The Design Process
I decided to create a colour swatch palette, which is similar to a booklet, with the most commonly requested CMYK, Silver and Gold samples and colour codes, based on research among clients. As the interest in metallic printing grew, the booklet was used as a necessary tool, when communicating with clients.
It was designed to be a simple and practical spiral-bound, notebook-like format, that can be quickly produced and distributed among clients. Firstly, I designed a journal-like booklet (size A5), where users can take notes, make comments and mark the most used colours. For practical reasons, it was reduced to a size of 130 x 150 mm, to fit 6 pages to one SRA3 (450 x 320 mm) sheet. The paper waste was reduced and we could fit more booklets on one page.
The Outcome
Sales Managers and Art Directors sent out the swatchbook as a sample of metallic colours to the agency’s long-term clients, who then could choose their desired colour, and send back only the specific CMYK and speciality colour codes for designers, including myself. It made my work as a graphic designer easier and faster. The time spent with mixing the desired colour for clients was reduced, and the clients were satisfied with the outcome.
Impact and Feedback
Zoltan Kanovits, the CEO of Kanovits Print Atelier presented the Swatchbook together with the agency’s other types of work, including laser cutting, engraving and a special see-through effect on paper at Fuji Xerox 2019 Premier Partner Conference in Tokyo.
Mr Kanovits decided to expand the booklet with pages representing various technologies at Kanovits Print Atelier. I designed the cover pages, and sheets with laser cutting, engraving, see-through effect, raised (multi-layer) gold and white printing, combined with clear varnish. The agency got permission to include an interesting page with COLOR-LOGIC Special Effects for Print™.
The Swatchbook was named after the Xerox’s famous quote “Made to think” and was sent out to over 50 countries, to design and print companies after the conference in Tokyo. It was also presented at Xerox Forum 2019 in Portugal.
Important Keywords
Xerox® Iridesse™ Production Press, Fuji Xerox, colour swatches, colour palette, swatchbook, booklet, spiral binding, metallic printing, Made to think, Silver and Gold Specialty Dry Inks
Copyrights
Kanovits Print s.r.o., Korzo Bélu Bartóka 790/4, Dunajská Streda, Slovakia, www.kanovits.com
Photography: Studio Kanovits, Alžbetínske nám. 1, Dunajská Streda, Slovakia, www.studiokanovits.sk
Graphic design & DTP: Eva Farkas-Czifra
