Stetson is a true original. A legendary fragrance reminiscent of the American West. Coty Inc., the world’s leading fragrance company, aimed to create a holiday promotion that captured the spirit of the brand – rugged masculinity, originality and independence. They turned to Diamond Packaging to create a gift set carton as bold and original as the product. .

Stetson Cologne is one of the top-selling men`s fragrances in the marketplace. It is also one of the most recognizable, embodying the qualities of the modern cowboy. Diamond's task was to design promotional packaging that captures the spirit of the brand and instantly grabs consumers' attention in the retail environment.

Diamond delivered by utilizing special techniques to elevate a standard tuck carton to an unprecedented level.

The French straight tuck carton features a combination of foil stamping and embossing that serves to augment the subtle graphic design. The entire front panel was stamped with gold foil, prior to printing and embossing. The embossed paisley pattern and Stetson logo above the top of the die cut window combine with a micro-embossed pattern around the perimeter of the carton to create a unique visual and tactile presentation, suggestive of the rugged individualism of the American West.

Die cutting on the front panel retains the rigidity of the carton and also leverages brand identity by allowing the products to show through. Perforated tags communicate pricing information at the time of purchase, yet can easily be removed prior to gift giving.

The stunning graphics were achieved by offset printing UV black, one PMS color, and UV metallic gold ink in-line with UV gloss coating. Metallic ink was printed over foil to complement the micro-embossed pattern around the perimeter of the carton.

The result is a promotional carton that captures the spirit of the brand, and delivers impact in the retail environment.

This segment is the second in a three-part series that will discuss areas of production where the design of a piece directly impacts cost, quality, and the overall success of the job.

Avoid Knock Outs

When stamping a piece that has been printed, it is best to stamp over the ink instead of knocking out the image to be foil stamped. Metallic foils are completely opaque, so it is unnecessary to knock the image out. Trying to hit the exact mark every time in perfect registration is an impossible task.

Because every press has a slight amount of movement, creating a piece with the images knocked out is creating a registration nightmare. The answer? Simply print the entire piece and overstamp the images, making sure that the correct inks and coatings are used.

Build in Trap

Situations do exist when an image needs to be knocked out. For example, when stamping a piece with foil that is not completely opaque, such as with a pearl or pigment foil. If knock out is necessary to maintain color integrity, then it is imperative that appropriate trap be built into the design, just as with printing. Trap, as far as foil stamping is concerned, is defined as fattening up the foiled image so as to allow for a small amount of overlap onto the printed area, thereby accounting for slight variances in registration. The amount of trap that should be built into the design can depend on several variables, including size of the image, type of the font (e.g. serif, sans serif), and even the type of die used – as some will expand more than others. However, as a general rule of thumb, the amount of trap should equal at least .020” or approximately 1/64.