Case Study - Pentagon Police business cards
I spoke with an police officer over the phone who was in need of business cards, just like any normal call at the shop but this was different. It was for the U.S. Pentagon Police and he needed a very special card. He needed a generic card that the police officers could carry and hand out with a special notes section on the back to write. Also with their own badge created die embossed on the front with 110pt card stock and raised ink. He kindly delivered something comparable from another bureau as an example to the shop. He needed these to be designed from scratch and he had come to Minuteman Press to take care of the job. We never said no to any job and that is something that I will always take with me, no matter what the creative challenge, I will find a way to produce a solution.
U.S. Pentagon Police Badge
U.S. Pentagon Police seal
Foil stamping dies are used to imprint foil images onto paper or cardboard. As the dies are heated during the stamping process they are usually made commercially from magnesium, copper, brass or zinc. The image negative is professionally engraved onto the metal plate.
The problem us Minuteman Press is a digital print shop and we are not capable of raised ink and using dies for printing. This was apart of my other duties at Minuteman, finding the right outside wholesale vendor. It took some digging but I finally found an offset printer that could take this on. They weren't on our usual list, because we do not get complex requests like this, but the Pentagon Police budget allowed for it. He then instructed me to what my next steps were, creating a die digitally and the business card design. In return they take the artwork to make the die and also use thermography for the front. They will keep the dies created and will continue to print with them as we request in the future.
Plate 2
I created these composite seals in Illustrator, the files needed to be vectors to create embossed dies.
Plate 1
Composite
*Thermography is a specialized process that combines offset printing ink with a powdered resin which is baked so that the resin rises to give the ink a raised, textured effect.
Here are the final digital proofs that were approved before production. This would end up turning into one of the most complex but beautiful business cards I or the offset printer have ever done. The dies are in two pieces to achieve a gold embossed layered badge for the front of the card that would be adorned in the center.
The final prints and a close up of the printed seal
By the end of the job I had built a relationship with the new offset printer and the officer I'll never forget. Being able to be talk with the offset printer I learned a lot about gold foil embossing. Also I knew that even after I left Minuteman Press, that printer would always use the seal I created and the officer would always come back to Minuteman to print his special cards.
