All posts tagged print

Printing inks – an overview

By On March 14, 2011 In Design Matters, GIGAbase, Green Design, Positive Design With 1 Comment Permanent Link to Printing inks – an overviewPermalink

We’re starting a review on the chemistry of inks – more specifically on the different pigments that are commonly used and how these end up being an ink. The idea is to describe how the pigments are made and applied for them to become a printing ink, and what the manufacturing aspects are of this procedure.

Then when pigments are understood, we’ll do the same for the binders, oils and additives that are used by printers in their process of ink making.

Why do all that? As print oriented designers, ink is one of the more impacting materials used. While it is often the easiest to have your printer deal with all the finer aspects of ink selection and quality control, a designer needs to also understand the suitability and character of a color and ink. Having knowledge on the constitution and methods of manufacture of these materials helps to better guide your projects through the mazes of sustainable design.
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Want to design Positive? Go bananas.

By On January 16, 2011 In Design Matters, Eco, GIGAbase, Green Design, Positive Design With 1 Comment Permanent Link to Want to design Positive? Go bananas.Permalink

Positive by design, the banana

by SGTH

True story; at SGTH we compare the final outcome of any design project with a banana. It is actually my studio’s professional goal to one day deliver another banana. Twenty years in the business, I have yet to deliver that one. Nor have I seen any design that compares. Here is one piece of fruit that teaches us nine demanding design lessons, for those who truly wish to design beyond just green.

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Why your design is not getting recycled

By On January 11, 2011 In Design Matters, Eco, GIGAbase, Green Design With 2 Comments Permanent Link to Why your design is not getting recycledPermalink

Pollution is everywhere. You did not need me – nor this blog – to point that out to you. Hence we all have this notion instilled in us that we want and need to recycle as much as we can. We figure that anything tossed in a recycling bin is going to get recycled in one way. Maybe more so here in China, where there is always a taker for anything paper.

The problem here is contamination. That’s a pretty big word, and most of us do not fully understand it. What this means is the blending of two [different and unrelated] materials which renders both unsuitable for any intended or further usage.

Contamination is the quickest way to see an entire batch of recyclables head to the landfill and or incinerators. This is especially true for paper. And paper is kind of big for that graphic design thing we do. We craft it, modify it, have it produced to our and our client’s liking.

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