Foiling and Flocking

Foiling;
Foiling is a process I have never done before, and is something that I have always wanted to try but didn't have the time or knowledge to do it. Experimenting with foiling gives me experience in the process so that if I want to use it in a future brief I will know how to and know how long it takes so that I can manage my time. There are three ways of foiling, using the laminator, printing then using the heat press, and using a screen and the heat press. I have used the laminator before, I have also printed then used the heat press, and neither of those methods gave me the solution I wanted. The quality of the foiling using those processes are not very reliable and consistent. Therefore if I foiled and thought it looked really good even if it didn't foil well, I wouldn't be able to reproduce it.

For this foiling I used a screen which I have never done before. I found that even though this method takes a while and is quite fiddly, the design itself looks a lot better than if you use a laminator or digitally print it.

Holographic on Grey

The holographic foil I thought looked a bit cheap and like wrapping paper when I first bought it, but after printing it, I think that it actually looks quite effective, and I would use it again, but would have to consider stock, as I don't think that it would work very well on other stocks.

Rose Pink on Black

Rose Pink on Navy

Rose Pink on Black

Rose Pink on Light Grey

Rose pink was a good foil to choose to experiment with, I thought that I would only look good and stand out on a dark stock, but I also tried printing it on a light stock, and found that it looks just as good.

Gold on Black

Gold foiling on a black stock I think is very cliche, and personally think it looks quite cheap and over used in this print. It may have looked different and created a different effect with a different design, but on this example it doesn't look aesthetically pleasing. Also my design was quite close to the bottom of my screen, therefore when I was running the glue through my screen I obviously didn't completely reach the bottom of my design.

Black and Rose Pink on Black

Black and Rose Pink on Black

I did the same thing on this design, missing off the bottom, so I decided that it would look better if I took the bottom off so that the quote was just 'BE NICE'. Which I think works quite well too.

Flocking;
Flocking has the same process as foiling, the only difference is the heat setting on the heat press, the amount of time the design has under the heat press, and the flock has to be texture down, where as foiling is texture up. As they both used the same process I thought that experimenting with flocking would be a useful way to use my time, it also gives me primary research on how to flock your design.

Grey Flock on Light Grey

Grey Flock on Light Grey

Grey flock on Grey

Flocking is a great effect, it adds to the design greatly. It it something that I definitely want to use, if its appropriate to my brief. Flocking can be used more creatively than I have used it in my experiments, for example you could print animals and use it as fur. There are many different colours you can use too, so it doesn't have to be monochrome.

Foiling and Flocking;
Using greaseproof paper allows you to block out parts of your design that you don't want to either foil or flock onto, this is why I decided to use both flocking and foiling in the same design. I did this so that I could experiment and see if it gave the design a better effect.

Rose Pink Foil and Grey Flock on Light Grey

Grey Flock and Rose Pink Foil on Grey

Grey Flock and Rose Pink Foil on Grey 

 

Doing this created a good effect, although on the bottom design, the quote wasn't aligned properly, therefore when I was printing my foil onto my already flocked paper, some of the greaseproof paper got stuck to my design and ripped it.

The reason why some of the prints were off when mixing foiling and flocking was because on the flat beds it is had to see where to put your paper so the the design is centered, this is something I will consider next time I flock or foil. Doing this process has helped me to figure out how long it would take if I wanted to foil or flock in a project, also it has shown me the positives and negatives to the processes, therefore I will know whether my design would look better with or without this method.