In the constant battle for the attention of consumers, brand owners are always looking for ways to separate their products from competitors. Adding tactile elements to packaging is one approach, but with the growth of digital printing, textures have not been available.
   
Domino Digital Printing has changed this with “Textures by Domino,” which the company offers on its Domino N610i digital UV inkjet label press. Launched at Labelexpo Americas 2014, the N610i Digital label press is 13.4″ web width / 13.11″ print width, and prints at speeds of speeds up to 75m/min (246ft/min). The press uses UV curable inks.
           
“Textures by Domino” was launched recently in North America during Labelexpo 2016. The textures that can be printed are practically limitless; the effects range from raised, grainy feels and metallics to glossy effects.
 
“Consumers don’t just use their eyes when making purchasing decisions – they use the sense of touch as well,” said Bill Myers, marketing manager for Domino. “Research has shown that a brand’s impact increases by 30% when more than one sense is engaged in the packaging design. The textured-printed labels not only capture consumer attention, but more importantly encourage them to take the product off the shelf.”
 
With Textures, converters print three-dimensional labels that are digitally textured and visually intriguing.  It prints on a wide variety of substrates, including coated paper, polyethylene and polypropylene.
 
“A label printer can go to their normal inventory, pull their material and substrate, and add the value to printing the textures their customers are looking for,” Myers said. “It can print on a variety of substrates, and many of the substrates do not require pre-coating. “What is exciting is that ‘Textures by Domino’ provides a new and differentiating capability for label printer converters to present to their customers…the brand owners. It is a fantastic value-add, and really makes the label stand out from the crowd.”
 
Myers said that Textures by Domino is ideal for the wine, beer, cosmetics and beauty markets.
 
“These markets are the sweet spot as you tend to see a more expensive label on those types of products.  So the benefit is that the label printer converter can offer, and the brand owner can now have, that textured look and feel without having to use expensive label materials and substrates,” he said.
 
Myers noted that the interest from customers has been “fantastic.”
 
“Rather than use expensive substrate materials, ‘Textures by Domino’ offers a more cost-effective approach to getting that tactile look and feel from the labels, which brand owners like as it helps them stand out from the crowd,” Myers concluded. “As more and more brand owners learn of this new capability, they will want this from their label printer provider. We encourage label printer converters to add this to their offering. Not only does it provide an exciting product for their customer, but it helps them differentiate themselves from their competitors as well.”