Who: Letra Graphix in association with Avery Dennison and Gallus
What: The first edition of Label Yatra
When: 19 January 2024
Where: The Letra Graphix factory in Ahmedabad. A PrintWeek Award winner for Digital Printer of the Year in 2023
Whose Benefit: 17 packaging designers from across the country
How So: A factory tour along with knowledge-sharing sessions which highlighted label evolution, innovations, new substrates and the challenges
USP: Understanding the flexo process and demonstrating how a label converter adds value to design
Nirav Shah, founder of Letra said, “We thrive on innovation. As a company, we have a reputation for the value that we add plus the variety of options that we provide our customers. Label Yatra helps designers
know the concepts so that they inculcate these in their concepts and bridge the gap between the converters and decision-makers like brand owners and product managers.”
The D-day
It started with a factory tour that involved machines demos of three flexo machines (the eight-colour EM280, the ten-colour EM280, and the 18-colour EM340S) and the hybrid-flexo plus digital (Labelfire- 12 colour + foiling + screen print). All customised by Gallus as per Letra’s needs.
JASHVI SHAH- Ctrl M
The Label Yatra provided an insightful exploration into the intricacies of label printing. From understanding what value addition means at the converter end, to understanding how we can use these while we design were both informative and engaging. The hands-on demonstrations and case studies showcased the impressive capabilities of modern label printing techniques, leaving me inspired and eager to apply this newfound knowledge.
SWAPNIL KSHIRSAGAR- TCT Branding
For me Label Yatra was a great platform to discuss possibilities in label printing with the veterans in the industry like Letra Graphix along with our fellow creative experts. The best part was understanding practical implications of the new and hybrid technology in printing and its application to solve the problems for brands with a touch of creativity.
SREERAG PRAFUL- Conran Design Group
The Label Yatra was a unique journey that took us behind the scenes of the latest print technologies. Delving deeper into technicals broke the commonly accepted misconceptions about the limitations on colour, finishing and substrates that can be achieved with mainstream printing techniques. This will enable us as designers to consider more innovative interventions in the future.
DEEPTI KSHIRSAGAR- TCT Branding
Label Yatra organised by Letra Graphix was one of a kind event. I am glad to have actively participated in it as the knowledge will help us add value to the projects and brands we engage with as an organisation. The Kaya label was one of the most intriguing labels for us.
EHEETA GURUNG – Conran Design Group
The workshop focused on solutions for counterfeiting, colour limitations, substrates, and enhancing the haptic effect for the consumer’s sensorial experiences. The team’s deep knowledge and passion for their craft made the session not only informative but highly engaging. As designers, we gained clarity on overcoming existing misconceptions, paving the way for future packaging innovations without limitations especially with colours.
TORAL KABRA- Beyondesign
The size of the group, the right speakers and audience came together to fill in the gaps when design shifts hands from one to the other. The sessions had shown about shifts in innovative printing solutions, even in ways that can be implemented at the design stage that results in cost effectiveness and innovation. Premium labels, budget-friendly and counterfeiting solutions were the three take-aways for me.
We were informed that the sum total of all the machines ensured a daily print production of 43,000-sqm.
After the factory tour, there was a detailed discussion about anti-counterfeiting. The first round of discussion revolved around the deployment of thermochromic inks, glow in the dark inks, fragrant inks, ink colour mixing and how to intelligently use a simple varnish. The ink kitchen at Letra showcased its ink innovation clout.
Packaging designers and branding strategists like Tasneem Vasi and Jashvi Shah of Ctrl M, Yugandhara Dalvi and Nikhil Phadke of Elephant Design, Eheeta Gurung and Sreerag Praful of Conron Design, Toral Kabra of Beyondesign, Deepti and Swapnil Kshirsagar from TCT Strategic Branding, Shrushti Rao and Hardeep Singh from Bizongo Desworks, Krupa Kapadia and Shahbaz Khan from Stratedgy and Sumit Chaurasia from Famous India were the part of the Digital Yatra.
Letra was named the PrintWeek Digital Printer of the Year in 2023, marking a significant shift in the perception of digital printing technology. No longer just a feature for variable data printing, digital printing has become a standalone technology that is able to handle short-run jobs, even in industries like label and packaging printing that have traditionally relied on flexo, offset, and gravure printing methods.
Sustainability
Sustainability is not always using a biodegradable or recyclable material. It is also about process optimisation, waste minimisation and using the resources efficiently.
Costing
Letra’s samples illustrated that innovative and premium-looking outcomes do not necessarily translate to exorbitant costs. Combinations like double screen printing instead of embossing give similar effects.
Anti-counterfeit
There are non IT-based solutions to counterfeiting as well like use of microtext, speciality inks, multi-colour printing, double screen printing, multicolor foiling and many more that Letra has rolled out.
Design
If you know the process, you can leverage it to design better is what this Yatra aimed at. The digitally printed multi-colour Kaya label looks simply everything, including diecut. The company digitally printed a special colour on foil to generate copper colour, which it stated, cannot be produced on a flexo machine.
Top job: How Pragati created high-value cards for ITC
On 18 January, during BMPA’s PS 24 event, the WhatPackaging? team discovered a set of card samples by ITC in their goodie bag. The unique finishing and colours of the cards caught our attention. To learn more, we approached Harsha Paruchuri of Pragati Offset, which had produced the gift pack for ITC. Harsha explained that the first set of images was produced using metallic colours through a hot foil stamping process followed by four-colour printing.
Next, a matte varnish was applied, and the cards were embossed. The second set of images was produced using a high gamut and followed a seven-colour extended gamut printing with gloss UV, a matte varnish, and a screen print with raised UV.
The Pragati team used standard Toyo inks CMYK and Pantone orange, green, and blue. The seven-colour separations were done using Esko Equinox software.
P Narendra of Pragati Offset said that the colours required for an extended gamut are CMYK + green + orange + violet, but creating a seven-colour profile made the process easy. “Which is why, the gamut is brilliant; it made me feel very good when these sheets came off the press,” said Narendra, who even took them home to show off.
He shared with us “how these little things make life a lot more pleasurable.” We agree.