Marianne Agnew, of M. Agnew & Company, created the Ackerman Family Vineyards crest from several bits of obscure clip art. “Lauren Ackerman is an avid rider, so I ‘hid’ a horse in an elaborate, scrolly crest, modified a few shapes, transformed some ivy into grapevines, and kept going.” Marianne assumed Digital Engraving would foil stamp and emboss the crest for the stationery system, which is how the Ackerman wine labels are produced, “but Chip Forman suggested engraving plus embossing instead. This was the first project I’d engraved.” The Ackerman business cards are engraved on Strathmore Writing Cover Bristol {Soft White Wove 88cb} and the letterhead and envelopes on matching 80t.
Engraving is a recess process – the text and imagery to be engraved are etched into a metal engraving die with a photo-sensitive coating. Metallic engraving inks are actually a very thick mixture of metallic particles {tiny flakes} with a clear vehicle that affixes the particles to the paper. The particles are rough and can reflect diffusely if they aren’t smoothed and polished by burnishing. In the case of Ackerman, the embossing pass accomplished this. This counts as an additional press pass, even though no ink is involved – something to bear in mind for a project budget. Embossing the Ackerman crest made it look truly gemmy.
Jill Giles of Giles Design had an organic vision for Palmaz Vineyards. She comments, “We had done engraving projects in the past, stationery systems for corporate clients, including law firms. Florencia Palmaz really gave us free rein, and I felt engraving would be a great way to evoke the quality of the wine. It hints at richness, texture, Old World.” The calligraphy is the fruit of a collaborative process in the studio – several designers experimenting under Jill’s sharp eye. No wine was imbibed in the process, though the clever tiny splashes on the card {lithographed} might suggest a candle-lit session of Pass the Quill.
The stock, Strathmore Pastelle {Fluorescent White 80c}, has a felt finish – an unusual choice for engraving. It’s perfect for Palmaz, an additional textural element, and the engraved “splotches” look as if the ink has actually run on the card. {Paper fine point: Pastelle is actually made with a deckle – which Giles uses to nice effect on the homepage. Touché!}
Cathy Terashita, a senior graphic designer at Gensler, worked with Tuck Beckstoffer on his mark and identity system. Cathy is a long-time fan of engraving. She comments, “I know I can get really small with the type and still hold detail. When we can’t do letterpress for that same reason, engraving is a way to add texture.” As it happens, the serif font is Engravers, from Monotype, “and the really thin delicate strokes were the indicator of why we would do engraving. Engraving was the way to hold the line weights at the size the client was comfortable with for the information.” The sans serif font is Engravers Gothic.
The design inspiration for the T-button “was to create something that looked similar to the top of the foil on a wine bottle. In fact, the client wanted a little bit of a metallic to simulate the foil, so Digital added a little bit of silver metallic flake to get a little sheen.” The heavy, slightly toothy stock {Strathmore Cover Bristol Ultimate White Wove 110cb} meant “we could get a bit chunky with the embossing of the T. However, we still had to be careful with the in-line circle to prevent cutting through.” So, the T-button was engraved first, then embossed in dead-register; it literally looks like you could lift it off the business card. On the companion note card {Strathmore Cover Bristol Ultimate White Wove 88cb} and envelope, the T-button is blind-embossed only.
Chip Forman, who founded Digital Engraving in 1992, comments, “The designers we work with continue to expand and refine the creative possibilities and the capabilities of the engraving process. I feel that the perception of engraving as ‘traditional’ no longer applies. It’s become modern and even more sophisticated.” We’ll drink to that!
