OUGD 504 - Latex Scratch Off Overprint

After having met up with Luke, founder of Formula Studio, we were very excited to experiment with our new found knowledge into the DIY method of creating latex overprint. We found out how we could create our own version that would work in the exact same way; despite it being a fairly tricky process to get right we were determined to perfect it. Initially we had to mix up our ink, which was made up from metallic pigment and paper binder. This has to be done using a big fan in order to prevent ourselves from inhaling the toxic metallic dust.

Once we had mixed up our metallic ink, this then being ready to use for normal screen printing, we added another ingredient. This isn't normally added to the ink when screen printing, but it makes the ink become much less viscous and paint like which I think is one of the reasons it allows us to then scratch it off. We just added a small amount of this washing up liquid into the mixture and gave it a stir until it reached a consistency that we felt would work.

This was the consistency that we first tried out.

Another ingredient to this process was something that wouldn't normally need to be used, but in order for us to make it work we needed to use it. Normally, if this was being printed commercially via a digital printer, it would be printed onto a much glossier surface. Without this gloss, the ink would just soak into the paper and therefore not scratch off. By applying this sticky back plastic to the paper first, we gave ourselves that glossy surface to work with.

We then masked off the areas around the small areas of sticky back plastic so that when pealed away, it would reveal small rectangles of latex overprint. We also used a completely empty screen, just so that we could print big areas of latex overprint; after placing the sheet underneath the screen, we then taped around the edges so that the only areas that would be printed would be the three rectangles.

As you can see from the above image, the only areas that will be printed on, after the tape is removed, will be the three sections that we have applied the sticky back plastic to.

In the exact same way that we would normally screen print, we just pulled the metallic ink through the screen. It is a very simple process when applied using this method, but as we are mixing the ink by hand, if we get the ratio wrong it wouldn't work as efficiently. A lot of trial and error will be needed in order to perfect this method. We then let the ink dry and removed the tape in order to see how the areas of scratch off looked on paper.

Here, I think that we used too much washing up liquid, as the print seems to be very patchy and bubbly. Obviously, we are aiming to get it to look more like an actual scratch card and will try re-mixing our ink in order to achieve a more professional finish.

The masking tape stuck to the paper more than we had anticipated, and so it damaged the surface of the paper. However, as we have to re-mix our ink anyway, this isn't too much of a problem. For this experiment, we just wanted to see if it would actually work.

Success.

Now that we know this DIY method actually works, we are going to continue to explore it in order to try to achieve a more solid colour that still easily scratches away. We went back to the start of the process and re-mixed our ink, this time using much more metallic pigment and much less binder and washing up liquid. This meant that the actual consistency of our ink was much thicker than I thought we would need. However, when we printed with it we realised that it still worked but just left a much more solid, flat colour as opposed to the bubbly quality it had before. We also let the ink dry and apply more layers of the ink in order to get a more solid colour. This worked very well, each layer made the block of scratch off look much more professional.

I also realised that when applied to a larger area, like in the image above, the sticky back plastic is much harder to work with and apply successfully. It is very easy for the plastic to stick to itself and also crease when not carefully applied to the substrate. When the plastic creases and is then printed onto, it it still very obvious that the plastic underneath is creased, lowering the aesthetic of the design. We also wanted to see if our new ink could cover an image or some text; this would be the way in which we would incorporate this technique into our actual practice. Although it took three layers, it completely covered the information and just appeared to be a solid silver box.

As you can see, it scratches off just like an actual scratch card, leaving small shavings of silver. Overall I think this has been a complete success; we have managed to successfully implement an alternative method of print. We wanted to start thinking about ways that we could incorporate this within our practices and the ways that this technique could improve our actual designs. When thinking about design for print, the basis of my entire project being set around the theme of exploration, discovery and ambition, I thought that this technique would be very suitable. I decided to completely cover a screen print with latex scratch off overprint and explore the idea of exploration and discovery. This is what I found:

As you can see from the image above, it was a success. However, the foil could be seen through the latex overprint due to it being slightly raised from the paper. Other than this, the image was completely covered and couldn't be seen until the latex was scratched away.