Design for Print / Production / Laser cutting

10 / 11 / 13

DESIGN FOR PRINT / OUGD504
LASER CUTTING
IDEAS / TESTING / PRODUCTION.


(From initial planning and sketching I knew that the laser cut section would come first in the publication.)

I would lie to physically show the different effects that can be gains from using the laser cutting technology. I have to keep in mind that what ever the resolution is, it has to be appropriate and suitable to be part of a working book. This means considerations of stock.

An idea that i really wanted to run with was having a photograph of a close up on the laser nib inside the laser cutting machine.

I feel that having a Photograph mixed with different stock would add to the hands on, craft like feel to the pages. I sketched some ways in which I could arrange this idea through out the pages of a book.

I went to the laser cutting room on a lunch time and took some photos of the laser inside the machine. I felt that having these images will help me to visualise the idea properly in order to make sure that it translates well as a concept.


I looked into possible typefaces that i could adapt in order to create the appearance of the later cutting this tie out of the stock.

I felt that script like typefaces would be the most suitable for the look I was hoping to active. Here are a few that I considered.

I decided on the typeface called 'Harbell'. I think even though it has a flowing nature, it still has a rigidity to it making it easy to read.

I started to play with the typeface and adapting it through Illustrator to make it appear as if it was being cut out from the laser.

While creating this image by adding a laser beam and adjusting the type, I didn't feel that the image was really as powerful as i had hoped and initially thought. Because of this I decided to stop.

I think the mix of the photograph and the digital image just looked out of place with each other and didn't interact successfully.

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After stepping away from this aspect and looking at the concept I realised (like I had done with the entire concept of the book) I had to simplify my idea. I was definitely to worried about spelling out the function of this printing process to much for the audience.

I decided that simply stripping back the concept would work better. By getting rid of the laser cutter photo and just having the script type displayed in the effect and a small explanation underneath describing this effect.

I prepared Illustrator documents ready to use on the laser cutter. I took multiple types of stock to my laser cutting slot as i had know idea what these effects would have.

First I tried raster on some 'mango yellow' card. I was pleasantly surprised on the effect this gave and really liked how nearly see through the paper went this also meant that what ever colour paper you put behind it, influenced the overall aesthetic.

 The next effect I tried was the cut out effect. I used black sugar paper as I though that having a darker stock laid over a lighter stock would work well and be easy to read.

I must have ha the laser cutter on the wrong setting as it did not cut all the way through. However the effect this gave looked really nice! Because, it seems, that the paper is coated, the original colour of the material is showing through.

I decided to keep the cutter on the same setting and use this as the engraving example.

For kiss cut, because the results can be really faint, I decided to use a lighter stock so the burn lines could be seen a lot clearer.