Techspan’s TUI Calendar marks 40 years in business
Warren Hadler describes a special anniversary project at Techspan
The team at Techspan have taken great pride in releasing the company’s first ever wall calendar to celebrate the 40th year in business. The calendar
uses a Photographic Fine Art Print embellished with foil to create a very distinctive image.
It was important for us to have the calendar printed in New Zealand as the Techspan Group is 100 per cent New Zealand owned and we wanted to demonstrate what can be produced right here in New Zealand.
I have been involved with this kind of production previously. However back then, I relied heavily on service providers to create and manipulate the imagery until we achieved what I was looking for.
Working on this project with the team at Techspan has been a lot more rewarding and very different, as it all started with a photograph of the iconic New Zealand Tui taken by our very own Bernadette Fastnedge of Bernadette Fastnedge Photography. Randolph Neueli, a friend of the Fastnedge family, worked with us and spent hours layering and building the foiled areas as files on this complex design.
Our goal was to create something that was not over the top but clearly conveyed what Techspan’s range of Hot Stamping Foil can do to embellish print. We are very proud of what we have achieved in house and with the help and generosity of local businesses.
B&F Paper’s quality 350GSM Creator Gloss stock was delivered to Contact Labels for the initial foiling of Techspan MET 11 Bright Silver, three areas of foil placed strategically and precisely on a blank sheet where they would later be over-printed. The team at Centurion Print were most helpful and laid down four colours of H UV ink on top of the foil to give the neck, leading wing and tail areas of the Tui a metallic blue look without losing any of the intricate detail of the feathers. This was then dulled down with an aqueous coating ready for more foil to be applied. The result was just what Techspan was looking for and at this point the picture really started to come to life.
At this stage Techspan was already getting requests for copies of their calendar. After printing, it was back to Contact Labels for five more foiling passes (six in total) on a Heidelberg Cylinder to apply Techspan foils: MET 43 Red, The New Brighter and Seamless Rainbow H11 Silver Holographic, Shatter H 385 Gold Holographic, MET 23 Bright Gold and OSP 120 Matt Silver. Obviously, keeping registration was imperative and the team at Contact labels did an outstanding job. Inline Graphics worked with
our files and supplied the high quality foil blocks in perfect sizing. Any mistake here and the project would have been in trouble.
Techspan would like to thank every business and individual involved for your commitment to our project, we could not have achieved this without your support and dedication.
If you have seen the Techspan calendar and would like a copy of your own, please feel free to contact Warren at Techspan on (09) 827 6567.
Techspan’s Tui calendar marks the company’s 40th year in business –
During its 40 years, Techspan has gained the expertise necessary to source the highest quality solutions for its customers.
The Techspan Group of companies comprises :
Techspan Industrial Printing Systems Ltd, which supplies:
• Hot Stamping Foil
• Cold Stamping Foils
• Thermal Transfer Ribbons
• TSC Label Printers
• Comec Pad Printers
Techspan Trading NZ Ltd, which supplies:
• Engel Injection Moulding Machinery & Robotics
• Rinco Ultrasonic Plastic Welding & Cutting equipment
• Elma Ultrasonic Cleaners & Steam Cleaners
• Bak Plastic Welding Equipment
• Plastic Welding Rods
• BAK-AG Process heating & Industrial Hot Air Tools
• Acim Heater bands, Cartridge Heaters & Cermaic Infa-red Elements
• HSGM Hot Knives & Styro Cutters
• Staubli Quick Couplings & Connectors
• Dyna Purge Purging Compounds
