double page spreads...

As part of the ongoing colour for print project, we have been asked to produce 6 Double Page Spreads or A3 boards. Each one must inform the viewer about the different colour systems. The 6 we must talk about are: Spot Colour, Greyscale, Monotone, Duotone, CMYK and RGB.

I am not very pleased with these spreads and believe I need to do more work to them. The layout could be played with more. I also found writing the text the hardest part. I wasu nsure what I was trying to say so how was I meant to write it down?!

Below are my boards thus far....

playing/with/colour

The top image is called 'subtractive colour'. This is because each colour blocks the reflection of colour, thus 'subtracts' colour. In other words the colours 'subtract' brightness from white. Hence the result of mixing all the colours together is black. This combination is CMYK and is for printing (litho or offset).

The next image is the exact reverse of subtractive colour. The more colours added the whiter and lighter it becomes. This is RGB and is used for computer monitors/screen based.

RGB colour model is used for screen instead of printing is because RGB has such a wide gamut that a printer cannot print all colours.

colour/models

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1. CMYK - is short for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key black. Used in lithography printing process.
2. RGB - short for Red, Green and Blue and is screen based as it has such a large gamut.
3. Greyscale - composed exclusively of shades of neutral grey. Can vary from black (weakest intensity) to white (the strongest).
4. Duotone - when you print with two inks. However, you can also use three or four colours.
This is known as tritone and quadtone, respectfully.
5. Spot colour - one or more specially mixed colours.
6. Monotone - to print with one colour. However you can use the stock as another colour.

start/of/my/printing/investigation

There are 4 print techniques I am going to investigate first.

I am going to start with rotary printing. This is an automated print process where the image is wrapped around a cylinder. Within this process there are 3 main types, offset lithography, rotogravure and flexography.
Offset lithography, more commonly referred to as litho, uses aluminium plates. The etched image rotates to transfer ink onto an offset blanket cylinder, which in turn transfers the ink to the paper surface.
Rotogravure (Gravure) uses copper plates (with mirror images). This process transfers the ink directly to the paper. The advantages of this process are that the plates are very durable, therefore brilliant for doing long runs, plus the colour quality is very high.
Flexography (Flexo) uses rubber polymer plates and an ink reservoir. A positive, mirror image is used and applies the sticky ink directly to the paper feed.
Digital printing uses codes to reproduce digital images on physical surfaces. No intermediate physical process.

Screen printing uses a woven mesh to create the image. The ink is forced through the mesh and touches the paper. The image is created by using an ink blocking stencil.
Pad printing is when a silicone pad is used to mould around the i and places a 2D design/image onto a 3D object. I.e. pens