News From the Foil Stamping Front
by Tatyana Sinioukov
The foil stamping industry has been enjoying a quiet year, it seems. Some changes that are worth mentioning, however, include an apparent increase in use of hot stamping foils for books and the emergence of several new products and processes.
More than ever, stamping foils come in a wide variety of colors, finishes and effects: from marble, snake skin, imitation leather, pearls, wood grains and geometric patterns to holograms, pigments, metallics and tints, offering book designers endless creative possibilities.
"The cost of foil has come down considerably over the last two years, too, and that makes a big difference," reveals Stewart Glazer, vice president of sales and marketing, Crown Roll Leaf, Paterson, NJ. The availability of wider embossing equipment (36 to 50'), says Glazer, and reduced cost of such raw material as polyester, have lowered the overall cost of foil stamping.
"It's been our experience that people are making an effort to put more added value on book covers, particularly books that have a niche market, like children's books," Glazer comments. Also, he says, lately, holography and diffraction gratings are used on adult soft- and hardcovers more often than in the past.
In the publishing industry in general, says Brian Monaghan, president of International Holographic Papers (IHP), Glenside, PA, which stocks holographic paper and paperboard grades and manufactures holograms and plates, there is a stronger demand for holographic paper and board.Monaghan says that some publishers, bitten by the millennium bug, are now contacting him regarding using holograms on their book covers because they want to do something "technologically advanced, collectable and eye-catching." Monaghan recalls the famous holographic cover of the National Geographic, done about a decade ago. People often ask for a similar look, he says, which, since the technology has advanced so much, is now easier to reproduce.
