Printing has the ability to do much more than provide a cover or packaging for a product. Sometimes a printed piece can amuse and amaze the viewer, almost to the point of becoming a work of art in its own right.
 
Rochester, NY-based Diamond Packaging’s “Grandfather Clock” 2016 calendar does just that. The multi-award winning calendar combines a wide array of techniques, including creative design, multi-color UV printing, UV gloss spot coating, cold foiling, multi-level embossing and intricate die cutting. It creates timeless elements, from an embossed clock face and debossed wood grain pattern to a functioning clock door.
 
Outside of the “Grandfather Clock” calendar, the company has won many awards for its folding cartons, which it designs and manufactures. Diamond Packaging specializes in personal care (cosmetics, hair care, skin care, fragrance, oral care, and shaving), health care, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and food and confectionery industries.
 
Diamond Packaging celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011, having started as Diamond Paper Box Company in 1911 by George and Harriet Snow as a supplier of folding cartons primarily for the garment and bakery industries. In 1963, Harry Voss joined the company and became its owner in 1973.
 
The company is now led by Karla Fichter, Diamond’s CEO and owner, who is also Voss’ daughter. Diamond Packaging designs and manufactures paperboard and plastic folding cartons and promotional packaging for Fortune 500 companies worldwide, including Bausch & Lomb, Beiersdorf, Coty, Elizabeth Arden, Estée Lauder, Godiva Chocolatier, L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble and Shiseido.
 
“Diamond specializes in producing value-added packaging for the personal care, health care, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical industries,” said Dennis Bacchetta, Diamond Packaging’s director of marketing. “Diamond differentiates itself through packaging innovation, technical expertise, highly skilled craftspeople, and award-winning creative designs. Diamond leads the folding carton market in sustainability, through our green box initiative and zero manufacturing waste to landfill program. It is our mission to exceed our customers’ expectations each and every day.”

The Grandfather Clock Calendar
 
The design of the Grandfather Clock calendar started at about the time the company’s 2015 calendar was being hung up on the walls.
 
“We began discussing themes as early as January 2015, with several layouts fully mocked-up by May,” Bacchetta said. “The grandfather clock theme, with its inner mechanisms perfectly balanced, was chosen to represent the collaborative and precise nature of Diamond’s work. It also lent itself to some key design objectives we set out to achieve: to illustrate many of Diamond’s capabilities; to showcase the type of decorative effects that can cost-effectively elevate our customers’ brands, including cold foiling; and to create a colorful, beautifully-decorated structural and ornamental piece – one that users will want to have near their desk.
 
“The design, printing, specialty effects and intricate die cutting all contribute to creating a beautifully-decorated structural and ornamental piece,’ Bacchetta added.  “As a calendar, it can be enjoyed by users all year long, continually reinforcing Diamond’s brand. As a capabilities piece, it can be used longer than one year, which increases its shelf life.”
 
The graphics were planned, designed and produced by the entire Diamond team, led by Renee Guercio, one of Diamond’s design engineers. The graphics were comprised of actual images of grandfather clock components, and enhanced with additional design flourishes, to bring both authenticity and flair to the final design. Bacchetta added that a collaborative effort between Metal Magic’s designers and Bill Poniatoski, Diamond’s lead embossing operator, led to suggestions on optimizing the embossing dies to add realism to the overall grandfather clock design.
 
The header, insert and backers were offset printed with four color process inks, UV matte coating and UV gloss spot coating. The calendar pages were converted utilizing Domtar Cougar Natural Smooth 80# Text and offset printed with one color (black). The cold foiling was done in-line utilizing the state-of-the-art Compact Foilers CF1000PM cold foil module, which is mounted on the Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 offset press. ITW CFS 100 silver cold foil was overprinted with four-color process inks.
 
The calendar was printed on one of the company’s two Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 eight-color offset presses (with Compact Foilers cold foil unit); it also offers a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 10-color offset printing press. The Heidelberg presses also have a flexo coating unit upfront (to lay down Liquid Metal or MiraFoil eco-friendly metallic coating effects or specialty coatings), as well as a compact cold foil module and a dual flexo coating unit on the end.
 
Diamond Packaging also used its Bobst BMA Hot Foil Stamper/Embosser, Bobst ExpertCut 106 PER Die Cutter and Alpina 110 II Gluer. The clock window was produced with a Heiber + Schroder WPS 11/2 Window Machine.
 
Diamond partnered with several of its suppliers in the production of its 2016 calendar. Huber Group provided the inks.  Clearwater Paper provided paperboard for the header, insert, and backers (.018 SBS), and shipper (.010 SBS laminated to E-flute), all of which is 100% recyclable and made from a renewable resource. ITW Foils (cold foil), Metal Magic (embossing dies) and Jamestown Container (corrugated case shippers for the calendars) also played key roles.
 
Bacchetta said there were quite a few design and production challenges in producing the grandfather clock. In terms of design, how to best recreate the clock face was notable.
 
“This was achieved through the use of a separate printed, stamped, and embossed insert, which was erected and placed within the folding carton,” he said.
 
On the production side, registration and showcasing Diamond’s capabilities as efficiently as possible were key goals.
 
“The calendar design also required extremely tight registration of the UV gloss spot coating, cold foil, and multi-level embossed areas to the printing,” said Bacchetta. “The production layouts were optimized to best support the registration requirements. We also strove to incorporate all of the value-added processes in a few production steps as possible. Diamond optimized the structural design and layout of the calendar, which reduced the number of forms and press passes, and helped to conserve raw materials and energy, reduce greenhouse gases, and minimize discards.”
 
From an ink perspective, Jeff Dieter, printing manager and director of innovation for Diamond Packaging, noted that Diamond considers a variety of factors when evaluating an ink supplier.
 
Certifications (e.g., ISO, Pantone, Pantone Live, G7), processes and procedures for quality color matching and repeatability in a manufactured product are important, Dieter said. He added that the type of quality reports and certificate of analysis the ink supplier can provide is important, as well as the company size, headquarters location, the number of branches and proximity to facilities and the volume the company can handle. The ability to provide in-plants as well as technical support is also essential.
 
Awards and Recognition
 
Diamond Packaging has received many compliments regarding its quality of the calendar from its customers, but even more telling is the numerous awards it has received, including:

• 2016 Premier Print Awards – Benny Award, “Foil Stamping and Embossing/Debossing,” as well as (AOR) and (COM) awards in the Print/Graphic Arts Self-Promotion and Calendars categories, respectively;
• 23rd Annual FSEA Gold Leaf Awards – Best of Show, as well as Gold Leaf and Bronze Leaf awards, “Calendar” and “Self Promotion” categories, respectively;
• packagePRINTING Excellence Awards  – First Place in the “Specialty – Technical Achievement” category and Third Place in the “Sustainability – Folding Cartons;”
• 29th Annual Gold Ink Awards – Pewter Award in “Calendars.”