Certain graphic pieces are distinguished by creativity. Christmas cards are a common example. Companies look for these pieces to excel, either by their luxurious finish or by their originality. Designers often resort to special die cuts so the cards stand out on the proverbial mantelpiece.
For those, like us, who produce these pieces, the challenge is precisely their originality. It compromises the use of the common manufacturing processes and sometimes requires long manual interventions, since they get outside the parameters for which the production machines were designed.
Take, for example, this card we just produced for BWV. The designer devised an interesting effect: to create a Christmas tree with cutouts and folds opening in a three-dimensional projection.
The cards should, of course, be delivered already folded in such a way that, when they were opened, the Christmas tree would be projected. The small paper strips had to be folded inwardly from the main folding crease of the card.
We were almost resigned to having to recruit a brigade to manually fold the cards one by one when the old hand Luís Rodrigues' brilliant mind devised a creative solution to answer for the designer's creativity: with pieces of metal and plastic he fished around the workshop, plus a not insignificant amount of tape, he created a gauge that allowed the card to be folded semi-mechanically, accurately and quickly!
Whoever picks up the card does not notice this, but we are proud (especially Rodrigues, of course) for our ability to invent unusual solutions to unusual problems.