Process To apply images, fonts and logos on promotional gifts and packaging hollow bodies, there are various options.Especially before important trade fairs or before the end of the year, many advertising managers think about what they want to distribute as more or less useful and original gifts. Then you have specialized service providers decorate items of all kinds with company logo, slogan and web address. Decorating - the technical term for the direct printing (body printing) or indirect transfer of subjects onto objects - is not just limited to promotional gifts, however. In addition to giveaways and give-aways, there are also mass-produced everyday objects and hollow packaging that need to be decorated. The size, shape and material of the objects to be decorated are almost unlimited. Processes are therefore needed that can be adjusted as flexibly as possible to the variety of objects. Many decorating tasks could be handled with several processes; in the end, economy, design and necessary ink film thickness determine the respective choice of process (see box "Decorating processes").
Really tastyThat tablets and pharmaceutical capsules are printed with food coloring is not surprising. Something special is the printing of chocolates and pralines with colored chocolate mass or colorful paste, sometimes in combination with individual molds - there are almost no limits to creativity. There are even special food screen printing machines for this purpose, e.g. the RukoPrint RP 2.2. The repertoire of chocolate printing ranges from small confectionery runs to large industrial runs of hollow bodies, e.g. Santas and Easter bunnies. Traditionally, Switzerland is one of the chocolate printing pioneers.
Printing on objectsMany print service providers specializing in printing on objects and textiles use screen and pad printing machines together. Both screen and pad printing machines are designed similarly according to certain logistics scenarios. For example, there are timed lines with printing stations that the object passes through, or the printing module is located above a rotating rotary indexing table on which the objects are positioned, printed and ejected. Other solutions provide for a vibratory feed and discharge of the objects. There are also carousel machines in which four or more printing modules rotate above the object and are lowered one after the other for printing. In rotary pad printing, the mostly small objects run closely above and next to each other on conveyor chains.
In screen and pad printing, precise and secure positioning of the objects is essential. For many objects to be printed, a precisely fitting counterpart is required that acts as a reliable holder. This is because universal conveying, gripping and clamping tools are not always sufficient. The suitability for certain object sizes is also reflected in the dimensioning of the machines. For example, there are a large number of dedicated machine concepts. These are also combined with screen printing modules, e.g. for white priming in CD or glass printing.
Digital printing is on the riseThe days are over when Indigo, a supplier of digital printing systems, frantically sought exotic marketing opportunities and adventurous applications. Indigo Omnius, introduced at the drupa 95 trade show for direct and individualized printing on beverage cans, disappeared from the portfolio after a few systems were sold. Today, under the HP Indigo name, "industrial printing" essentially refers to the printing of two-dimensional objects such as mouse pads and plastic cards.
For two- and three-dimensional objects, the inkjet printing process is more recommended than ever. It has long since moved beyond the stage of simply marking screw caps, lids, can bottoms, folding boxes and other packaging with expiration dates. Two-dimensional items such as CDs, plastic cards, mouse pads and leather are easy exercises.
Flatbed printing systems are on the rise, using optimized UV inks to effortlessly print on rigid substrates several centimeters thick: signs, doors, ceramic tiles. They are thus conquering further territory from screen printing, and even large-area white preprinting is already on offer.
After the Durst Rho, several systems are now entering the market: Lüscher JetPrint UV, Spühl Virtu rs and Zünd UVjet from Switzerland, and Gandinnovations JetiUV, Grapo Octopus, Inca Columbia/Spyder, NUR Tempo L, Océ Arizona UV, Tampoprint CP/DMD and Vutek PressVu UV from the rest of the world.
The Tampoprint DMD U 1500 occupies a special position: In special versions, where the print module is locked correspondingly high above the flatbed, it can print objects up to one meter thick, e.g. complete refrigerators. Even curved and structured objects are no problem for it: photorealistically printed engine hoods (was on show at drupa last May), garage doors and radiators, beer garden benches and tables printed with advertising, furniture decorated with imitation wood. In addition, the DMD U 1500 can handle all types of inks. German Tampoprint, one of the largest pad printing machine manufacturers, sees the inkjet process as a digital complement - just as it has been for years for screen printing.
Indirect decorationOften it is disadvantageous or impossible from the production point of view to print the items directly. One way out is the printing and transfer of pre-prints. In such cases, either labels, sliding images and decorative webs are printed, with which the objects are equipped, or the materials from which the objects are later formed. In addition to the respective printing technology, a transfer technology corresponding to the object is then also necessary - usually an intermediate carrier material and a device for transferring the pre-printed subject. In principle, this extends the range of printing processes that can be used.
Labels and stickersThe most trivial solution is offset or flexographic printing of labels, which are then applied to glass or plastic bottles, for example. Also common are self-adhesive stickers from the screen,
Offset, flexo and digital printing. With or without printing, cutting plotters prove advantageous for lettering shop windows, car rear windows and doors, and walls for trade show booths.
DecalsMore demanding is the production and transfer of decals - the new collective term for decals and decals. These printed products are often confused with one another, but they are clearly different. The only thing they have in common is printing on a special carrier paper that has a water-soluble layer to transfer the images to the object after a water bath. The water bath causes the upper paper coating to dissolve, so that either the backing paper can be peeled off after application to the object surface (decals) or the images can be slid onto the object surface on the dissolved layer residues (slides). The different application results in opposite printing sequences: In decal printing, a waterproof, membrane-forming primer (slide varnish) is printed, followed by opaque white, if necessary, and then the colored printing inks in side-by-side reproduction. In the case of decals, everything is reversed: first the colored inks are reproduced laterally, then the top coat of varnish, which also forms a transparent membrane that reliably carries the printed image after the water bath. So-called scribers, which are otherwise printed like decals, manage without a water bath.
However, other criteria determine the printing process to be used. Screen and offset printing are the first choice if no further processing step follows the transfer - i.e. when applying to plastic (e.g. model railroad cars, toys, appliance housings, computer keyboards), wood (toys) and optical glass (windows, eyeglasses). If baking or glazing and firing is required after application, special inks are needed. Firing (approx. 630 °C) is mainly practiced on thicker or tempered drinking glasses to preserve the glass firing colors scratch and dishwasher resistant (see e.g. www.rastal.ch). Ceramic firing colors are required for ceramic tiles, decorative ceramics and porcelain mass-produced goods; here, the decals are transferred to the rough object surface before the entire object is covered with a glaze, which is finally fired at up to 1400 °C. The glaze is then applied to the glass surface. Although such inks can also be formulated on a molten glass basis, they must also compensate for a color change that occurs as a result of the glaze firing. As if the challenge to color management were not great enough, the specific color change depends not only on the temperature, but also on the ink film thickness! Therefore, the ceramic firing colors must be printed in exact layer thickness. This is only possible in screen printing with optimum stencil thickness and mesh quality or in sheetfed gravure printing with lasered and depth-variably etched printing forme cylinder.
Iron-on and stick-onMany copy stores offer "Your photo on your T-shirt" or "Motif of your choice on your coffee mug". The fastest way is to print side-to-side with a digital color copier or color laser printer onto a transfer foil, from which the printed image is ironed onto the T-shirt in special hot presses. Copiers and inkjet printers are suitable for transfer via foil onto coffee pots and similar souvenirs. Comparable processes also exist for screen printing foils, then mostly to transfer the image onto textiles and baseball caps using transfer devices with flat or curved printing surfaces.
Decorative webs for furnitureRoll gravure printing reigns supreme. A few specialized companies produce tons of wood imitation decors for the furniture industry. The printing forme cylinders must be endlessly engraved without seams, i.e. capable of printing a repeat décor. The printing itself runs within the tightest color reproduction and register tolerances. Before the printers rewind or convert the printed paper web, synthetic resin is applied or the web is soaked in resin as a finishing process. The furniture manufacturers then laminate the decorative papers onto the wood and pressboard parts using cold glue. If high gloss is desired, an additional varnish is applied, which must be polished.
Finally, metal sheets are printed with UV inks and varnish on converted sheetfed offset presses. These metal sheets are often the semi-finished product from which beverage cans, crown caps, metal boxes, etc. are formed and assembled on special processing equipment. Not infrequently, this happens in conjunction with the filling of the packaging.
Decorating methods at a glanceScreen printing The oldest direct decorating method is screen printing. The screen printing form consists of screen fabric, partially covered with stencil material, and the frame. Either the screen fabric is clamped in a frame with medium tension (flat screen) or formed into a drum with high tension (round screen). The ink is applied to the object by a squeegee pressing the ink into the screen meshes, thus forcing out the ink already in the meshes. Screen printing machines are automated to varying degrees; fully automated lines are found primarily when printing on objects that are easy to handle, such as CDs/DVDs, plastic cards, and textile webs. One advantage of screen printing is the high ink layer thicknesses. This allows larger effect pigment particles to be embedded without difficulty. Since the printed image is applied in a raised, tactile manner, screen printing is suitable, for example, for Braille, printed circuits and ceramic slide images.
Pad printing If the ink layer thickness does not have to be particularly high, pad printing is the easiest way: Due to the numerous and easily interchangeable pad shapes and sizes, the ideal way of printing can always be found. Tampons are so elastic that they literally cling to the shape of the object and even reach inside walls. The imaging of the tampon printing clichés always requires consideration of the object surface shape or the corresponding tampon shape. The subjects must be distorted depending on this.
Indirect gravure Indirect gravure is reserved for use in pad printing machines. Flat photopolymer clichés are used in flat form printing. In equipment resembling a contact grill or waffle iron, exposure is through the copy film. Tampoprint developed laser-engravable aluminum oxide clichés as an alternative. Rotary tampon printing requires polymer and metal clichés that are mounted on a cylinder and print masses of small surfaces, such as caps, via rotating tampon rollers.
Metal decorating Metal decorating is over 130 years old and was the very first indirect printing process. Today, metal sheets are printed with UV inks and varnish on converted sheetfed offset presses. (dk)
Printed or engraved Swiss Army Knives are among the most popular promotional gifts.
Computer-to-screen with the Lüscher JetScreen.
Optimum quality is delivered by waterless offset printing with UV-curable inks on CDs/DVDs with Metronic CD-Print.
Computer mice and mouse pads are classics for screen and pad printing.
Rotary knobs for heaters and machines - a case for pad printing. Photo: Printing Intl.
The printing industry and its suppliers present themselves with such giveaways. All possible decorating processes are represented.
Dieter Kleeberg

Alcoholic beverages In order to refresh its image, Smirnoff is setting itself apart from its worst rival with visual-virtual bar opulence.Lifestyle author and "New York Times" food columnist Eric Asimov recently reported on a vodka test. In this test, several new brands that have come onto the market in recent years in designer bottles and accompanied by marketing measures were blindly compared with a selection of established premium brands. Although a vodka test can hardly be compared with one of Burgundies, Belgian beers, or malt whiskeys, because purity as an evaluation criterion is difficult to taste, the panel of connoisseurs had come to a unanimous result: Smirnoff had outperformed all other brands of schnapps. Thus, they obviously came to a different conclusion than the majority of consumers, for whom an absolutely different vodka brand is top of mind. Even in layman's terms, the latter stands out for its cosmopolitan, independent and artful advertising presence.
Smirnoff is responding to this with the international communication concept "Get Out," which is intended to refresh its image. The international campaign is based on the idea of asking the target group to go out and enjoy life to the fullest. The Swiss distributor Diageo commissioned JWT+H+F to implement the campaign idea in compliance with Swiss alcohol laws, i.e., a presentation that clearly refers to the product and its characteristics. The creative team focused on the place where Smirnoff is consumed. This was to appear unique and different from what was expected. This is how the letter bar campaign was created, which turns cocktail names into bars. The typography and color scheme are each based on the character of the respective cocktail. Above the ingredient bar, a literally expansive bar backdrop grows on each motif, on which the vodka bottles are presented as if on a revue stage. A visual experience that tastefully conveys the world of Smirnoff.
Cheers: JWT+H+F presents Smirnoff on the revue stage.
Spot on: JWT+H+F gives Smirnoff a grand entrance on the revue stage >> Page 9
Luca Aloisi

At the beginning of March, Irmtraud Oelschläger moves from IHA-GfK to the Institute for Accompanying and Social Research Zurich (IBSF). She takes over from Managing Director Max Müller as Head of Communications and Media Research. Müller will remain responsible for market research. ...
Trimedia Geneva is now headed by Alexandra Rys. Rys was most recently a partner at Rochat & Partners and previously deputy director of CIPR Communications. She is a member of the Geneva Cantonal Council for the CVP.
...
Judith Bizozzero (pictured) will take over the management of the newly formed "creative pool" in the Ringier Group's Magazines division at the beginning of March. The pool is responsible for sponsoring and cooperations as well as for the search for new distribution channels, in particular for Tele, Glückspost and Bolero. Bizozzero is currently Area Sales Manager for the Ringier-
Magazines and cash.
...
Urs Helbling is to become a new member of the editorial board and deputy editor-in-chief at the Aargauer Zeitung. He will take over his duties as head of news and editor on June 1, 2005.
Helbling is currently Head of News and a member of the extended
Editorial director at Blick.
...
The Swiss lifestyle magazine Faces has hired Alex Wiederin as Creative Director (CD). The Austrian began his career as CD at Tempo magazine before emigrating to the USA and founding the agency Büro New York. Wiederin is co-founder and CD of the fashion bible Another Magazine and CD of Glamour Italia. He will continue these two tasks alongside his work for Faces.

Theater Anyone who knows anything about theater knows that theater websites have complex requirements: Online bookings, daily updated offers with a clear navigation structure.TBS Identity believes it has solved the challenge for the Lucerne Theater. Since the start of the current season, the Central Swiss theater has been presenting itself in a new design.

Digital printing Canon launches the iR125 VP and iR150 VP black-and-white digital printing systems on the Swiss market at the beginning of 2005. They offer high production speeds of 125 and 150 A4 pages per minute respectively, and feature a modern order acceptance system that can be carried out via the Internet and with JDF job ticketing and is based on a PDF workflow. Canon's target groups include offset print shops, which can use them to produce ever shorter runs cost-effectively.

Christian media In the USA, stylish Bible magazines and edification literature are enjoying market success. The good news is omnipresent and also highly profitable.
Religious inspirational literature has increasingly found its way into the mainstream in the USA in recent years. Book chains such as Barnes & Noble now have their own "Christian Inspiration" section, and God also has a permanent place in various TV series. Only one media institution wanted to put a stop to the trend: the youth magazine Rolling Stone, where the publishing house Zondervan, the largest US producer of Christian literature, placed an advertisement for its new "Christian Inspiration" section at the end of January.
youth bible, Kent Brownridge, the manager responsible at the publishing house Wenner Media, objected. The advertisement was unacceptable because of its "spiritual message"; Rolling Stone was not in the business of advertising for religious purposes. After a storm of indignation from conservative media, Wenner Media backed down after just a few days. The campaign is now running in Rolling
Stone as well as in the satirical magazine The Onion, the bridal magazine Modern Bride and the websites of MTV, AOL and VH1.
Sexy on the outside, moral on the insideZondervan has of course profited from the controversy: its newly distributed youth Bible series "Scripture - Today's New International Ver-
sion" (TNIV) received a multiple of new orders.
The TNIV concept is emphatically youthful: because many teenagers cannot relate to the Old and New Testament in its traditional form, other Bible publishers are also changing its style and presentation. Thomas Nelson, for example, a Christian publisher in Nashville, Tennessee, launched "Revolve" on the faith market a year and a half ago - a Bible for young women in magazine form, with beaming girls' faces on the cover and practical life tips inside.
As trendy as the language and look of the title may be, its message seems outmoded. At least from a European perspective. When it comes to skin care, for example, it says: "When you apply sunscreen, use the time to talk to God. Tell him how grateful you are for the way he has made you. Soon enough, you'll get into the habit of talking to him - as familiar as you are with cleaning your pores." Certain rules also apply when looking for a partner. "Are you chasing a boy because you think he can increase your popularity? Check your priorities, sister, you're way off the mark," Revolve advises amicably. Because love has nothing to do with selfishness, and that is exactly what is being cultivated.
More attractive target audiencesAnother reason for the triumph of Christian media is that they appeal to a different, broader audience in terms of content. The days when only a less educated, right-wing conservative audience used Christian books, magazines and TV stations are over, says Heather Hendershot, communications professor at Queens College in New York. "Many Christians no longer identify with the old-fashioned, Bible-thumping televangelists who howl and shake their fists at the cameras." Rather, today's devout consumers are urban middle-class people with good incomes who want nothing to do with the radical, atonement-minded "televangelists" of the 1980s, but who are looking for
encouraging rather than punishing meanings.
The Christian book market has literally exploded since the turn of the millennium. The Christian Booksellers Association puts annual sales in the fiction sector alone at two billion dollars. According to the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, annual growth rates have been 10 to 14 percent since 2000. No wonder the top seller in this category, "The Purpose Driven Life", is currently ranked 30th on Amazon.com with a total of 20 million copies sold and landed at number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list shortly after its publication in 2002.
Boom factor Nine ElevenBoth secular New York publishing houses such as Random House and Doubleday, both of which belong to Bertelsmann, also carry Christian literature in their ranges. Zondervan also belongs to a publishing giant, namely Harper Collins. This in turn belongs to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Random House also has the conservative preacher and author Tim La Haye under contract, whose 12-part doomsday vision "Finale" reaches a worldwide audience of millions. The apocalyptic scenarios in these books, which are based on the Book of Revelation, fell on fertile ground after September 11, 2001. While the first eight volumes in the series sold a total of 30 million copies, the ninth book, which appeared immediately after Nine Eleven, achieved a circulation of 20 million.
"Publishers are realizing that more and more enlightened, consumer-minded people want such books," says Andrea Doering from the Christian book club "Crossings" (which is also owned by Bertelsmann). And points out that many large publishing houses were still offering Christian literature in the 1940s and 1950s. It was not until the left-liberal civil rights movement of the 1960s that this genre was socially and economically marginalized. Now the circle has closed again. Jesus is back on the mass market.
Top 10 US bestsellers in Christian literature 2004 with author and publisher
1. "Purpose Driven Life", Rick Warren, Zondervan 2. "Glorious Appearing: The End Of Days", Jerry Jenkins, Tyndale 3. "5 Love Languages", Gary Chapman, Moody 4. "Wild At Heart", John Eldredge, Nelson
5. "Its Not About Me", Max Lucado, Integrity 6. "Purpose Driven Life Journal", Rick Warren, Zondervan 7. "Your Best Life Now", Joel Osteen, Warner Faith 8. "Passion Of Jesus Christ", John Piper, Crossway
9. "Humor Me: The Geranium Lady's Funny Little Book of Big Laughs", Barbara Johnson, Nelson 10. "WakingTheDead", John Eldredge, Nelson
Source: ECPA
Whether as a magazine or Bible ad (in Rolling Stone): Christian media is clearly on the rise.
Gerti Schön

HardwareThe new Vaio notebook series from Sony conceals the latest Centrino generation with Intel Chipset 915, an optimized 15.4-inch display, a double-layer DVD+RW drive and a super-fast PCI Express graphics card from nVidia in a slim and elegantly designed magnesium casing.

Motorpresse The car magazine Swiss Tuner is to be renamed Autolife. Following the name change and a facelift, the magazine will focus on "automotive lifestyle" as its main topic. A regular supplement will appear under the previous name, focusing entirely on tuning and accessories. Swiss Tuner is published by the small publishing house X-Press Media in Gockhausen ZH.

Newspaper printing The newspaper printing company Ringier Print Adligenswil has been certified in accordance with the principles and criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), enabling the company to offer its customers printed products on newsprint that comes from forests managed in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. FSC papers contain at least 30 to 50 percent fibers that come from such forests and are independently certified.
have been certified according to the FSC criteria.

Print The printing company Fischer für Data und Print in Münsingen was sold to the management at the beginning of the year, with the three managing directors and new owners Daniel Linder, Beat Schaffner and Daniel Troxler taking over the shares from Fischer Management in equal shares. The 75 jobs are to be retained.

Television Italy's TV advertising poses a threat to children's natural eating habits. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by La Sapienza University in Rome, which examined the programs of the state TV station RAI and three channels of the Mediaset Group for two weeks in March 2004. The Italian channels showed twice as much food advertising as US channels, the scientists concluded. 40 percent of all TV commercials were about food, with a child playing the leading role in every third commercial. Psychologist Maria D'Alessio believes that this distorts children's natural relationship with food.

The company Farbendruck Weber in Brügg near Biel, which has been part of the French Partenaires-Livres Group since 1999, specialized early on in high-quality commercial web offset printing. And web offset means large print runs: Weber produces quantities ranging from 40,000 to several million copies. On the occasion of the sale of three Rotoman web presses from German machine manufacturer MAN Roland, Paul Steidle (Member of the Board) and Bernhard Bitzl (Head of Department) traveled to Brügg to sign the contract with André Ducommun, President of Farbendruck Weber.
The Rotoman is a revised machine generation that was first presented at the drupa trade fair in May 2004. With up to 1.12 million A4 pages per hour, the Rotoman sets high standards in terms of printing performance.
The three new machines will be equipped with the latest technology, which will enable a considerable reduction in set-up times and waste. Better printing results can also be achieved.
realize. A control system for automatic color control will simplify adjustment and ensure that print quality is maintained. Each machine is equipped with a gluing device and a three-knife trimmer for the integrated production of inserts or brochures. This eliminates the need for expensive offline finishing processes, which has a positive impact on unit costs.
Investment of CHF 30 million André Docummun explained after the contract was signed that the investment volume (including minor structural changes) amounts to around CHF 30 million. To ensure that the replacement runs smoothly, the machines will be replaced in stages. The starting signal will be given this summer and the replacement of the systems should be completed in the second half of 2006, according to Bernhard Bitzl.
André Ducommun (2nd from left) and Paul Steidle flanked by Bernhard Bitzl (left) and Piet von Gunten (right) at the signing of the contract for three new Rotoman systems.
Jürgen Franck