The cover of the November issue of Digital Printer was produced using HP Indigo’s new fluorescent pink ElectroInk by Screaming Colour
Technology to enable a bright future for print.
Innovation and creativity drive the printing industry as surely as profitability and printing presses do. These traits are in our genes at HP and we are committed to developing ways that enable print service providers to inspire and execute the best ideas that their customers can conceive, to demonstrate the continuing power of digital print.
It is HP’s goal to deliver technology that enables a bright future for print. This is an ethos that we believe in and care deeply about, and the front cover of this issue of Digital Printer shows just how bright that future can be – fluorescent pink bright!
Fluorescent Pink is the latest introduction to the HP Indigo ElectroInk range. With it, HP Indigo users can upgrade the look and feel of greeting cards, promotional collateral, posters, books and magazines covers. Due to its fluorescent characteristics, the ink glows under UV light. You may want to try it with your copy of Digital Printer!
HP Indigo ElectroInk enables the quality and versatility that printers need to satisfy the most demanding brands, combining superior colour capabilities with the widest colour gamut in digital production. It is the only Pantone-licensed six- and seven-colour on-press solution in digital printing, allowing users to produce highly accurate Pantone emulations on-press. Off-press colour mixing also means that users can extend their spot colour offerings and deliver accurate brand colour matching. HP Indigo users can cover up to 97% of the Pantone range with the HP IndiChrome off-press solution.
Working with HP Indigo ElectroInk also makes possible a wide range of special effects, delivered on press and on demand. Multiple layers of HP Indigo ElectroInk can be used to create textured and reverse textured effects, including an embossed look for high-value invitations, business cards, book covers, and more. Printing variable layers of HP Indigo ElectroInk Transparent gives rise to raised print effects.
Production of this special HP Indigo ElectroInk Fluorescent Pink cover took place at Screaming Colour in London, using its HP Indigo 7800 Digital Press. “We are really excited to be involved in printing the cover of digital printer magazine in conjunction with HP. The fluorescent inks are just one of the innovations on the HP Indigo that make it stand out from the competition,” said Mark Evans, managing director at Screaming Colour.
Working Smart
As part of our commitment to innovation, HP introduced a new range of digital printing solutions across our portfolio earlier this year, including key new technologies aimed at the needs of the labels and packaging sectors. As well as unveiling the new HP PageWide C500 Press, we were able to share how a host of customers worldwide are already benefiting from the new HP Indigo 12000, 8000, 7900 and 5900 Digital Presses.
The challenge to deliver technology that enables a bright future for print is not just confined to the realms of printing presses and innovative new inks, however. HP’s SmartStream Designer software is a highly-valued tool for HP Indigo users, a plug-in for Adobe InDesign and Illustrator that makes it possible to create sophisticated, custom jobs through a simple and affordable variable data tool that is optimised for HP Indigo presses.
There are more than 2000 HP Indigo customers using HP SmartStream Designer and realising its many benefits, which include creating one-of-a-kind products, personalised and individualised collateral in large quantities, high-end brand protection with security solutions such as micro-text and micro QR, integration with third party solutions, and the ability to impose a complete project of different page sizes into a single InDesign document.
In recent times, the functionality of HP SmartStream Designer has taken a leap forward with the introduction of HP SmartStream Mosaic. This is a dynamic personalisation application that, through the use of scaling, transposition and rotation, automatically generates potentially millions of unique graphics from a fixed number of base patterns, which can be embedded into a variable data job. It is available free with HP SmartStream Designer.
Nothing brings such capability to life better than real-life examples of high profile brands that have already used HP SmartStream Mosaic to bring remarkable levels of individualisation to some mass market campaigns.
In 2014, Diet Coke led the way, producing two million bottles for its Extraordinary Campaign, each with a unique design that was generated through the use of HP SmartStream Mosaic software with no human intervention, starting with just a handful of base patterns. The bottle sleeves were printed using HP Indigo technology. It meant that every consumer that bought one of the bottles had in their hands a true one-of-a-kind product. The campaign was extended to give Diet Coke fans the opportunity to create and collect items such as bags, t-shirts, mobile phone covers and cups that matched their unique bottle. It was an incredible example of how digital printing technology can integrate into a very tight supply chain.
Bud Light’s 2015 Mad Decent Block Party music festival promotion was the first custom packaging campaign for the US market
The following year, Bud Light was another high profile brand to harness HP Indigo printing and SmartStream Mosaic software, when it produced 200,000 unique cans for the 2015 Mad Decent Block Party music festival events in the US. This was the first ever custom-packaging campaign for the US market, and gave recipients the kind of unique, customised experience that today’s consumer is looking for, according to Valerie Toothman, VP of Innovation at Budweiser parent company Anheuser-Busch, proving that custom graphics can be impactful.
And only this year, the magazine Wallpaper* embarked upon a ground-breaking campaign to mark its 20th anniversary, using HP SmartStream Mosaic in the creation of unique commemorative posters, printed on FE Burman’s HP Indigo 10000 Digital Press in London. Twelve designs from the esteemed studio Spin were used as base patterns for the automated processing of 220,000 custom graphics and two unique posters were sent with each copy of the publication.
220,000 unique posters were produced using SmartStream Mosaic by FE Burman for the 20th anniversary of design magazine Wallpaper*
Sarah Douglas, Creative Director at Wallpaper*, commented: “It’s a designer’s dream to be able to create this many original artworks and to push digital printing as far as we have with HP Mosaic. Working on this project has inspired us to totally re-think our attitude and approach to print technology and the printing process.”
What all of these examples have in common is that high profile brands have been able to apply previously unthinkable marketing approaches to create truly inspiring campaigns, enabled by the innovation and expertise of HP and its customers – the print service providers that are taking this technology and spirit of adventure into the market. It is making brands see print and its capabilities in a new light, opening their eyes to fresh possibilities. The software, the printing presses, and the inks – these are just the starting point.
Visit www.hp.com/uk/indigo for more information.
This article is an advertorial; the featured company created the wording and paid for its placement. It has been thoroughly checked by Whitmar Publications to ensure that the information is accurate and meets our standards.
