#huggingcard – Our die-cut New Year’s cards
by Newprint | January 27, 2021
Starting the New Year with a hug!
What do we wish for in 2021? New ideas, exciting projects and one creative challenge after another! But above all else, we simply long to hug each other again. That is how the idea for our New Year’s card emerged – with a very special die-cut.
Closedfolding cards made their way to our customers’ mailboxes. At first, only two blue arms are to be seen on a plain green background – engaged in a deep embrace. But when both sides of the gate fold are opened, the arms stretch out to the opener as if to embrace him, revealing our message: “May we be able to hug again in 2021, as we did before!” Playing with the linguistic similarity of the German words for “hug” and “print”, one discovers another meaning, brought to light by graphic ambiguity: “May we be able to print again in 2021, as we did before!”
Die-cutting the way to customer loyalty
Our grafic designers got to work and created both the layout of the card and the outline for the die: arms and hands were brought to life in their natural form. After a few digital printed dummies, the design was perfected. It was then handed over to our die cutting team that got to work building the necessary tool set for the punch press. Apart from the outline for punching, the tool also includes all the groove-lines that are necessary for precise folding of the cards in the end. In order to achieve the look of a body with arms and hands we used a gate fold (also known as a window fold). In this way of folding, the outer sides of the card are tucked towards the middle so that they can then open up like windows – or, in our case, to release the hug!
Printing naturally green!
Of course, our card is not merely green on the outside! Like all our products, it was manufactured in a completely climate-neutral process. Our message was printed on FSC-certified recycled paper using eco-friendly PURe inks. Naturally. For our climate.
Posting our hugs!
As our New Year’s cards with their very special die cut could not be enveloped by machine, we had to fold and insert each card into its envelope manually (like many high-end print products) before they went out into the world as colorful mailings. We did not however anticipate the reactions …
A ray of hope amidst the lockdown
Just a few days later, we received enthusiastic feedback from our customers – as well as photos of our cards on the pin boards and desks of their offices. We were overwhelmed by these many positive reactions! Even companies whose last orders dated back years ago reached out to us again: Obviously, our die-cut cards sparked emotions, courage, hope and a feeling of being connected.
We are proud to have triggered such cheerful responses thanks to a die-cut folding card. This incredible echo lets us greet the New Year with confidence – despite the pandemic.
