Luxury Packaging
Support technologies for luxury collectibles
By Tom Kerchiss, chairman of RK Print Coat Instruments O
nce a package has fulfi lled its protective and functional obligations and met its visual marketing and presentation requirements, it is generally thrown in the appropriate colour coded bin ready to be recycled, incinerated or directed to landfi ll. Sometimes - only sometimes, product containment vehicles, suitably embellished, become almost as valuable as the paid for contents. Collectibles are a distinct category within the luxury product sector and include items where future resale values are aff ected by whether or not the seller has
kept hold of the original packaging and labelling and its condition. For example: metal die cast military models, vehicles, vintage planes and model soldiers meant more or less for display purposes and bought by adults for adults rather than children are clearly collectible. Generally it says so on the box. Paperboard is a favoured medium, due in part to its print and convertibility. Its key properties include stiff ness, compression strength, tear resistance and the relative ease with which material can be creased, folded, die cut for a display window and heat -sealed. Carton can be made into a wide range of shapes and
sizes. Manufacturers of luxury goods including gifted chocolate boxes and perfumery choose triangular, hexagonal and other shapes of interest to attract attention and convey luxury.
Packaging must look good, it encapsulates the essence of the brand, aids the consumer in the decision making process and encourages repeat sales using visual cues such as consistent brand colour and readily identifi able graphics and logo.
On the other hand, inconsistency of colour, poor rub and chemical resistance as well as blemishes will jeopardise pack or label presentation, harm sales and aff ect the future profi tability and viability of the brand. Packaging for a collectible item may be around for many years, process errors, variability of colour could have repercussions not just now but far into the future.
Good package design begins at the design stage. It’s the graphic designer that puts shape, colour and graphics into context. Good design is one that enables the converter to print at a commercially viable speed while maintaining optimum colour saturation throughout the tonal range. With so much riding on appearance, brand owners rely on their supply chain providers, the converter and the suppliers of substrates, the ink and coating providers and others to output products to agreed specifi cations, time after time and run after run. RK Print Coat Instruments colour communication or proofi ng devices help converters that print to meet colour targets and make the product look as inviting as possible. One of the compact devices that help ensure continuity of quality is the GP100.
The GP100 is a device for the production of high quality proofs using gravure inks of press viscosity. It incorporates a microprocessor-controlled servo- drive and off ers a high degree of controllability with variable printing speeds of between 1 and 100 metres per minute.
The GP100 gravure proofer can be used for R & D, computer colour matching and for the production of presentation samples. Both the producer of inks and the user of gravure inks should fi nd the GP100 a useful quality control device.
Another option, ideal for multi-print process plants is the K Printing Proofer. An advantage of this compact unit is that quality proofs can be obtained using not just gravure inks but also gravure-off set or fl exo inks.
46
May/June 2026
www.convertermag.com
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