15 creative designers gather at the Letra plant in Ahmedabad.
Label specialist Letra Graphix, in collaboration with Avery Dennison and Heidelberg Gallus, hosted a Label Yatra on 19 January 2024. At the event, 15 creative designers from TCT Strategic Branding, Beyondesign, Elephant Design, Control-M, Bizongo, Stratedgy, Famous India and Conran Design gathered at the Letra plant in Ahmedabad.
During the event, the packaging the designer group visited Letra’s label production area and spoke with experts, getting insights into label manufacturing and the printing process. The attendees received printed samples produced by Letra Graphix to have a first-hand experience at the event.
Nirav Shah, founder of Letra Graphix and his team also shared information on label production and how Gallus flexo and Labelfire hybrid press add value to overall print production.
Last year, Letra became the first company in India to install the Gallus Labelfire hybrid press, which combines UV inkjet printing quality with the inline productivity of flexo printing and has the benefits of screen printing. The Gallus team, led by Samir Patkar, president of Heidelberg India, was also present. Narendra Kulkarni, regional product manager of Gallus, discussed label print technology, the transformation from flexo to hybrid printing, and the Prinect digital frontend.
Patkar shared insights on the latest Heidelberg Gallus product offerings to help the agencies and highlighted the advantages of Gallus Labelfire hybrid technology. “The event was to get a grasp on the concerns of designers so that we, Letra, Gallus and Avery Dennison, could offer tailored solutions, particularly in the realms of colour management and new design possibilities.”
Avery Dennison’s KM Manoj, director of sales and tech services, LPM South Asia and Vipin Garg, marketing and product manager, represented the company. Vladimir Tyulpin, who joined online from the Netherlands, discussed the trends shaping Avery’s portfolio and what brands are doing to enhance the packaging. According to Tyulpin, factors such as paper structures, felts, finishes, tactile properties, colour, and thickness are important. He presented examples of labels to illustrate his points.
The event aimed to foster collaboration across diverse substrates and print embellishments. Letra invited creative and design agencies to share designs that it could print and present during the Label Yatra. Four creative and design agencies sent four label artworks, which Letra produced. The labels were produced on Avery’s label stock and printed on Gallus Labelfire.
Shah and his team at Letra – Anushree Agrawal, Hetu Hor, Avakar Raval and Manasi Nishant discussed the print elements, including value additions done, for the benefit of the delegates.
The event was a unique experience for the creative designers who attended. The delegates learned about the latest trends in printing labels and got insights into the possibilities of applications. Toral Kabra of Beyondesign said, “This event really helped to understand where the technology is changing and how we can adapt this in even small ways in our design. This, in a way, helps designers and our client get unique solutions.”
Kabra cited examples of her learning. “We saw that there are alternative ways of avoiding counterfeiting, techniques to ensure vignettes are smoother, and how to find cost-effective alternatives to foiling. Small elements like these make a difference.”
Sumit Chaurasia of Famous India said he had a truly incredible time with all the knowledge and inspiration he gained. “Every minute spent at the factory was valuable and eye-opening. I learned so much about the latest trends in printing in labels.”
Chaurasia added Nirav ji’s passion for the industry and his insights into Letra’s cutting-edge technology were truly contagious. “The Galatea label was brilliant. It was produced using different techniques but still had seamless execution. I enjoyed the live demonstration of the design software Prinect machines like Gallus EM 340S and EM280s, the tour of the production floor, and the Q&A session.”
The sum total of all the machines ensured a daily print production of 43,000-sqm. After the factory tour, there was a detailed discussion about anti-counterfeiting. The first round of discussion revolved around the deployment of thermochromic inks, glow in the dark inks, fragrant inks, ink colour mixing and how to intelligently use a simple varnish. The ink kitchen at Letra showcased its ink innovation clout.
Packaging designers and branding strategists like Tasneem Vasi and Jashvi Shah of Ctrl M, Yugandhara Dalvi and Nikhil Phadke of Elephant Design, Eheeta Gurung and Sreerag Praful of Conron Design, Toral Kabra of Beyondesign, Deepti and Swapnil Kshirsagar from TCT Strategic Branding, Shrushti Rao and Hardeep Singh from Bizongo Desworks, Krupa Kapadia and Shahbaz Khan from Stratedgy and Sumit Chaurasia from Famous India were the part of the Digital Yatra.
Letra was named the PrintWeek Digital Printer of the Year in 2023, marking a significant shift in the perception of digital printing technology. No longer just a feature for variable data printing, digital printing has become a standalone technology that is able to handle short-run jobs, even in industries like label and packaging printing that have traditionally relied on flexo, offset, and gravure printing methods.
Sustainability
Sustainability is not always using a biodegradable or recyclable material. It is also about process optimisation, waste minimisation and using the resources efficiently.
Costing
Letra’s samples illustrated that innovative and premium-looking outcomes do not necessarily translate to exorbitant costs. Combinations like double screen printing instead of embossing give similar effects.
Anti-counterfeit
There are non IT-based solutions to counterfeiting as well like use of microtext, speciality inks, multi-colour printing, double screen printing, multicolor foiling and many more that Letra has rolled out.
Design
‘If you know the process, you can leverage it to design better’ is what this Yatra aimed at. The digitally printed multi-colour Kaya label looks simply everything, including diecut. The company digitally printed a special colour on foil to generate copper colour, which it stated, cannot be produced on a flexo machine.
