Many designs these days usually have a 2D output such as business cards, social media posts, saddle stapled books or poster art. From time to time, a request will come through for a design that – while printed flat, will be folded to a 3D shape, such as a perfect bound book cover, presentation folder, carton or point of sale display.

With this in mind, it is worth being aware that when preparing such artwork, consideration should be given to the final 3D shape, and it is my opinion that prototyping such artwork should be critical.

A simple demonstration

Take the following example. Fictional travel agency Allons-y is preparing an A4 size presentation folder for holiday packages to the Australian state of Tasmania to coincide with a major cycling event being held. Some printers have a forme-shape on file for an A4 presentation folder, and the agency has their printer’s permission to use that forme-shape for their project. Their printer has supplied a PDF and instructed their client to place it into an InDesign file on the top most layer and to prepare their artwork on lower layers, which they have done.

At their printer’s instructions, they were told to export the PDF with the forme-shape in place and to export it using the .joboptions file they were supplied. This has exported the PDF with crop marks and the forme graphic still in place.

Technically, everything is correct and the artwork should print without any prepress issues. However, the glaring issue becomes apparent once the artwork is printed and folded to shape.

Instead of a folder that would encourage cyclists to make the journey to Tasmania, the folder art takes on an unwanted and perhaps humorous connotation. On a lesser but still important note, when the client opens the folder, the inside folded panels feel more like an after-thought rather than an integral part of the design.

Practicality

Apart from context, other reasons to prototype are to make sure that a 3D product will work once manufactured. Even if a known and tested forme-shape has been supplied from a printer or manufacturer, it is still important to prepare a prototype. Apart from the contextual and design example shown earlier, this can be used to demonstrate:

• EAN13/UPC barcode compliance. If such a barcode has been added, does it scan and represent the appropriate number? Does it meet supplier’s minimum requirements (such as GS1 compliance)? Will a customer easily locate it when scanning the rest of the products in their cart?
• QR code. If a QR code has been added, does it scan with ease? QR codes are certainly far more error-tolerant than EAN13/UPC codes, but still need to be a size that a smartphone user can scan the QR code with minimum of fuss or having to try and zoom or refocus their phone camera. Also, while a QR code may be able to be read, has the QR code’s actual destination been tested? This is important in case the QR code was made or supplied from an unknown source and takes the user via an unintended third party site.
• Manufacturing issues. Once folded to its final shape, have any items become unintentionally obscured by other panels; can it hold the desired product without rattling, breaking or leaking; and have varnish/ink free areas been left alone? One issue I see regularly concerns this type of carton (for the carton nerds out there, it’s ECMA A60.20.00.03) where icons printed on the base of the carton have been obscured by the closing mechanism.

• Legality. Does the product meet all relevant laws or requirements for its sale? I’m not going into items that could or can appear on a product as these will vary worldwide, but know that it is not a printer’s obligation to make sure that your product will not be pulled from sale because it did not meet appropriate requirements for display. An earlier Colecandoo article did touch on some items that a label may need to display, but again was not legal advice.
• Tolerances. Have appropriate manufacturing tolerances been considered? Remember that printed products may have tolerances in millimetres, so make sure to speak to your printer about mechanical tolerances that need to be considered. Again, this has previously been discussed on this blog.
• Does the shape actually work? I’ve an anecdote where a client supplied artwork that they claimed was from their previous printer, but when an attempt was made to assemble several prototypes on actual stock, would not assemble in a manner that would go through the carton assembly line.

Going about it

Prototyping can be done to scaled sizes, but this is more to check for contextual foul-ups such as the original demonstration in the article. Where possible, I try to prepare prototypes on the actual stock at 100% scale. If the size is larger than A3+, I’ll usually print to a wide format printer with the forme-shape visible, and then mount that print to the actual stock.

Go the Cricut!

If the size is under 30cm x 60cm, I’m able to use the Cricut to prepare the prototype. As I own a Cricut Maker 3, I’m able to print a sample from an A3 printer with crop marks but minus the forme-shape, but then take the forme-shape into the Cricut Design Space software and apply it to the print.

Cricut does offer a print and cut feature, but this requires both the print design and the forme-shape being taken into the Cricut at the same time, printing from the Cricut interface with its own registration mark and then apply the forme, but this has the following issues:

• My printer and Cricut are in different buildings and suburbs, so inconvenient.
• I want colors and features to appear as intended and not be manipulated by Cricut’s Design Space application;
• Cricut’s Print and Cut has limited sizes it can work with; and
• Just isn’t necessary if a user lines up the artwork on the cutting mat to the same position as the forme on the Design Space cutting mat positional, and knocks their mat to the right hand side edge.

Screens need prototypes too

Just as 3D items should be prototyped, so too should items that are going onto screens that may have UX elements on them. Take this screenshot from an Instagram reel – the footage is interrupted by not only elements from the app, but the phone as well.

YouTube advertisements that contain conditions of sale or health warnings at the bottom are major culprits – while designers have considered users watching on a computer, users are also watching YouTube on their phones or smart TVs – for those not aware, YouTube shown on a smart TV adds a black gradient to the bottom fifth and also includes a timer, skip/next button, play/pause button, and the channel information. An example is shown below.

Ask to see a mockup

If making a mock-up to a smaller scale is something you can do, but making to actual size is not, perhaps consider requesting a mock-up proof from the provider.

In certain instances, mock-ups provided by the provider may be the only way to truly see how a design will look once applied to a product. This is particularly the case when the design isn’t flat, so may have to be unnaturally distorted so that once applied to the product, appears correctly. Such an example would be a label on the outside of a tapered bucket.

Also remember that a mock-up is just that – and not a finished sample. Occasionally there will be details that are hard to simulate on a mock-up, such as:

• PANTONE Colours,
• Embellishments such as foils, embosses, raised varnishes,
• Final substrate, such as fluted board,
• Security features such as microprinting, UV threads, watermarks.