Just prepare 10 pieces of 10 x 10 cm squares of the mentioned paper.

Then place all 10 pieces of paper on a weighing scale.

The weight showing on the scale is the actual weight of the paper.

So if the weighing machine is showing 300gm, then the paper is 300gm type A paper.

On our first try using digital print, the resulting colour was a greenish brown colour. Nowhere close to Gold

On our second try using offset print, the resulting colour was still a greenish brown, a military camo colour.

On the third try, instead of using CMYK, we dropped the K and print using CMY instead using offset printing. The resulting colour is totally different from the first and second try, this time it is a brown.

In conclusion, the colour Gold cannot be reproduced by both digital and offset printing. The only way to get the colour Gold accurately is to print using Pantone Gold Ink, which was confirmed by our client calling Pantone themselves, and the resulting colour is a shiny Gold. So whenever you come across the colour Gold for future projects, save yourself time and stress, print using Pantone colour. It is the only way to get the job done right.

Business Cards, Brochures, Catalogs, Posters and Specialty Printing.

Just about anything.  From paper to chopsticks, to crocodile leather.

Design, layout and production including Spot UV and Silver foil as well as others.

Short run printing.  Responsive and reliable professional service.

More information on standard and specialty printing can be found on our Bangkok Printing page

or visit the Brochures Blog, Business Card Blog or Printing Blog

Ask about our Sourcing and Buying Services too.

There are two main types of paper for printing – each one has it’s own specific use.

Printing With Art Paper

Art paper has a hard, smooth surface on one or both sides, which created by a coat of fine clay compound. Art paper is commonly used for printing business cards, brochures, catalogues, posters etc. It comes in a range of different paper weight for different thickness and strength. It is not possible to write on art paper.

Printing With Woodfree Paper

Woodfree paper is a printing and writing paper which contains little or no mechanical woodpulp. It is commonly used for printing letterheads, notebooks, notepads and other similar type items, which are used for writing or standard printing.

Woodfree paper comes in 80 – 100gm thickness.

Based on your printing requirements, this should help guide you to know what type of paper to ask for in your next printing project.

The first thing I did was to come up with a concept and the art direction. Since ATW is about the students and for the students, featuring the students on the poster would definitely convey this. There is also the continuing education factor which I feel must be prominent in the poster too.

To keep the education link, the students were photographed in their school uniform while taking part in various activities in the school. However, the images that strengthen ATW concept of continuing education are those of the students walking to and from the school. The act of walking to school implies continuing education.

The volunteer photographer took many pictures of the students walking to and from school and all I had to do was select the image that would receive the appropriate reaction, crop it to size (bleed) and add the necessary graphics and text.

The artwork is then sent to print on 160gm paper and finished off with UV coating. I decided on UV coating against gloss laminate because there is a high possibility that the posters will be exposed to direct sunlight and weather – UV coating not only protects against the sun but also strengthens the paper. Most importantly, it will retain the glossy effect much longer than a gloss laminate would.

The end result was a nice looking poster that gives the right impression on ATW and it’s valuable work. I hope that there will be more projects with ATW in the future, it has been fun and most definitely worthwhile working with the volunteers.

Since ATW is about the students, I feel that it is essential that they are a predominating feature in both the brochure and poster. The first barrier that we had is that we do not have any high resolution (300dpi) images of the students. Unfortunately, the services of a photographer are not cheap. The next obstacle is that the students are located at Khao Lak in Phuket while the volunteers are located in Bangkok (there is the issue of having to organise a trip to the school).

To solve the initial issue of high resolution styled images, we sent out a plea to the volunteers for ‘hobby’ photographers and were fortunate to find someone in less than 24 hours. Then a trip was immediately organised within the month so that we can get as many high resolution styled images as possible.

And the result is amazing; I had so many styled images that I was spoiled for choice for both the brochure and the poster. However since ATW is about going back to school and education, I feel that it is essential that we only have images of the students in their school uniform.

With the problem of the images solved, I now started concentrating on the layout for the brochure. The brochure has to be an easy size and on one side has a form, which requires the sponsor to fax once they have made a donation. There was also a variety of information on ATW, which must be included in the brochure.

The best option I had was to separate each side into 3 columns. This allows me to have 6 different columns (3 on each side) and was therefore able to allocate a content category into a column. For the side with the fax form, I have to ensure that the content on the form will be clear when faxed so for this side, I kept the background white and the content in ATW corporate blue.

On the reverse side, I was able to go with the ATW blue as background with the content in white. (Similar idea to the business card design).

For the final spec of the project, the artwork is printed onto 160gm paper and then matt laminate on both sides to give the matt effect before it was folded. I must say that the final result was impressive. The quality printing ensures that the images itself adds the colour to an otherwise matt finish. This emphasises the images of the children, which is the objective of the charity.

For the design of the business cards, I felt that a dual sided business card is more design effective.
On one side, a very light blue background with just their logo and tagline and on the reverse side, their corporate blue background with their logo print on with spot UV.

The spot UV process is an ultraviolet cured process that involves plastic liquid. It gives more protection and a higher degree of gloss than aqueous coating. And with the card’s matt finish, the glossy spot UV effect on the business card gives an even greater contrast.

The artwork is then printed onto 250gm paper and finish the business cards off with rounded corners.
I am very pleased with the finished business cards with both the spot UV and rounded corners effect.

You can see the artwork for the After The Wave business cards on our portfolio page.

Typically, ATW supports children who:
- Lost one or both parents in the tsunami.
- Are no longer provided with their basic needs for school
- Require scholarship for further study.
- Have special medical needs.

After The Wave is dedicated to supporting the neediest students at R35 by providing their basic needs so that they can focus on getting an education.

Designchemical is happy to provide our services for free to assist After The Wave to achieve their objectives.