Great Expectations...

Color management commonly describes measures undertaken to ensure color integrity from design through printed output. “Brand” color management ups the ante, so to speak, by attempting to identify, communicate, and reproduce vivid, accurate corporate spot and brand colors on packaging materials from design concept to shipment. That said, how are brand colors reproduced? What is required to maintain brand color fidelity? Where does color management fit into the production life cycle? To learn the answers to these and other questions, packagePRINTING spoke with two experts on the topic: Iain Pike, business leader, color management, Sun Chemical North American Packaging; and Jan De Roeck, director, solution management packaging software for EskoArtwork.

pP: Would you elaborate on the difference between color management and “brand” color management”?

Pike: Color management most often refers to assuring quality reproduction of 4-color process printing. This process has been very successful, as evidenced by the IPA, The Association of Graphic Solutions Providers, proofing shoot-out campaigns where most vendors, including soft-proofing and hardcopy proofing solutions, were able to match press materials very closely based solely on the ICC (International Color Consortium) profile of the press configuration. Brand color management, on the other hand, focuses specifically on spot colors associated with key brands and related branding elements on packaging materials and structures. In these instances, the use of process color is often limited to images, while branding elements are reproduced with special match colors to deliver higher chroma (saturation) and greater vibrancy, as well as to achieve more consistent reproduction—and in some cases, reduce costs via fewer printing units.

De Roeck: It depends on how you look at things. From the perspective of the converter, printer, or trade shop, it is all about reproducing a color to match a target from a technical point of view. From the brand owner’s perspective, brand color management is about managing the appearance of the brand. Color is one of the design elements of the message. This is completely different from one-to-one color management on a printing press working with multiple substrates, print techniques, separations, etc. There is a serious difference: with color management, you need a tool to measure and control color; with brand color management, you need a collaborative tool to share color as an asset across all the layers of the packaging supply chain.

pP: Color has always played an important role in brand design development. Why do the stakes appear higher now than ever before?

Pike: The world of branding has become increasingly fragmented, with the proliferation of product versions and line extensions tailored to buyer interests and needs. Today, typical grocery or retail stores carry an unbelievable average of 30,000 different products. In an average 30-minute shopping trip, those are some pretty fast decisions. However, because our reaction to color is emotional (using the brain’s limbic system) as opposed to cognitive (processed in the brain’s cortex), color is one of the most efficient coding mechanisms we can use in branding, and the management of brand color can help deliver marketing results. Color consistency and recognition are key to supporting split-second consumer decision making. If the color is not right or is not recognized, brands can erode.

De Roeck: Retail sales of mass consumption goods is a highly competitive playground and packaging is an easy way for a brand owner to differentiate its product from the competition on the shelf. The more a product is a commodity, the more a company typically spends on packaging. In a given product category, if there is no loyalty, the consumer might pick the nicest packaging. In the competitive landscape of the retail business, there is also a fierce fight between private labels and traditional brands. The fight for the attention of the consumer is very fierce. In the UK, for example, the majority of sales are through retail brands, making the competition among established brands that much more complicated. Brand color management is an effective way to help differentiate a brand.

pP: What is the impact of a badly color-managed file on the packaging supply chain?

Pike: One danger is that the bad file may be used to set expectations of the brand or a proxy color decision maker. When these results are not or cannot be achieved, due to errors in the file, the result is disappointment, possible rework, package development delays, and increased costs. Setting realistic expectations up front is crucial to successful results across the supply chain.

A bad file also can manifest issues with each party in the workflow. In design and premedia processes, for example, artists and operators each may need to spend time correcting the file, incurring processing delays and higher costs, which are likely to be passed on to the brand. In the creation of printing tools and in the formulation of ink colors, a bad file may lead to extra processing time, wasted materials, and on-press delays.

In some cases, problems may not be spotted until the first packages are printed, kicking off a slow, expensive troubleshooting process. Occasionally, the ink can be adjusted at press to achieve acceptable results, but, in some cases, the solution involves new printing tools, changes in press configuration, and/or acceptance of sub-standard brand color results.

De Roeck: Again, look at how we behave when we survey the store’s shelves. If there are two products on the shelf and one is different from the other, we invariably will pick the box that appears the nicest, freshest, and most up-to-date. When reprinting a packaging job, color management is one of the greatest challenges. We do not want to have the same products side by side on the shelf with packaging colors that do not match. Even a complete redesign of a package is a problem, because savvy consumers instinctively know to pick the package bearing the new design, rather than the old one.

pP: What limitations do various printing systems impose on the reproduction of brand colors?

Pike: The curing system, press speed, ink film thickness, or other printing system properties occasionally can constrain which color bases can be employed, or which extenders and vehicles can be used. In these cases, it may not be possible to meet the brand owner’s expectations. Other variables also can have a far larger impact on the ability to achieve color results. Substrate is perhaps the biggest culprit—depending on the material’s whiteness, colorfulness, surface characteristics, and absorbency, certain colors may be achievable on one substrate but not on another.

The end use of a package, as well as its transport, storage, and display requirements, may also affect the ink properties and the achievable colors. These should be considered with the ink supplier early in the package development process in order to avoid costly issues later on.

De Roeck: It’s all about the gamut of each device and the reproduction of CMYK in flexo, as opposed to CMYK in gravure and CMYK in offset. If brand colors are reproduced in CMYK rather than as spot colors, management of the process is critical to assure that it matches within tolerances. If a brand color is reprinted using different printing technologies, it is important to reseparate the colors every time using color profiles of the actual inks on the actual substrates for each printing process. With different substrates, you have to match the entire process to take everything into consideration.

Look at a tea bag, for example. The small sachet and the label typically are printed with flexo. An offset press usually prints the folding carton. The corrugated shipping box is probably printed with flexo. Any gift wrapping is probably printed by flexo. When the same brand is brought to market in different regions, these printing processes may differ depending on run length, not to mention that the inks used also will be different. With different substrates, inks, and techniques in the mix, brand color management has become a 24/7 global challenge to match color in different factories or across different processes. You need an expert player in the shop to manage the challenge for the converter and brand owner. For trade shops, that is a way to differentiate one’s services, since converters are building more and more prepress departments. The trade shop’s competency in color is a significant asset.

pP: What are a printer’s production challenges in ensuring accurate color reproduction?

Pike: If the ink is formulated correctly and based on a proofing system that is calibrated to the press, using the right materials, and with all of the end-use properties disclosed, the printing process could be straightforward. If, however, the color expectation is set based on an unrelated print technology, using different materials and end-use requirements, the production work might be problematic. Second, maintaining color on press has much to do with process control, consistent printing and makeready procedures, ongoing press maintenance, and up-front communication of expectations and possible areas for concern. Finally, a key benefit to spot color reproduction is that it deals with single inks. Unlike overprinted colors used in process printing, there may not be a balance required between two or more colors in order to achieve the final color result. For this reason, printers not only have an easier time printing spot color, but brand owners often gain the advantage of shelf appeal because of the consistent results, even from multiple suppliers.

De Roeck: Accurate color reproduction highly depends on the converter’s ability to implement and adhere to a standardized printing process. If you fingerprint a press but a press operator decides to tweak the color, the entire color management system and the valuable color management process will not be valid. Standardization is the challenge in flexo, because few approved standards exist. That’s a problem. pP