Product Range Distribution: Authenticity

In order to see how I can add authenticity to my designs during the production process I've looked at forms and processes of authentication to see if this will inform my design process.

Types of document fraud/manipulation:

• Counterfeit:
• complete reproduction to resemble an officially issued document. 
• Forgeries:
• genuine document that has been unlawfully altered.
• Pseudo/ Fantasy Documents:
• documents which have physical appearance of a passport or official document but are not officially recognised.

Equipment used to check authenticity:

• Ultra Violate light:
• can help identify watermarks within paper as well as base fluorescents.
• Base Fluorescents:
•  counterfeit documents that fluoresce more brightly than genuine documents which use dull, secure paper / material.  
• Transmitted Light:
• also help identify watermarks within paper, such as those printed on money 

Other forms of Authentication:

• Watermarks:
• created during paper production by altering the thickness of the paper (see figure 1)
• real watermarks should consist of subtle changes in tone, both lighter and darker areas 
• should never react under UV light 
• Random Fibres:
• security fibres are embedded into the paper during the production process (see figure 2)
• When fibres are distributed in the paper they can been see under natural light but can also be fluoresce (such as red) under long-wave UV light and under short-wave UV light (colours such as green).
• The fibres are made of PET, PA or viscose material  can be specified by one or several security features:
• visible appearance: one or more colour 
• Invisible features: UV, IR responsive 
• responsiveness to enviromental changes: thermochromic or chemical reactions 
• Different Types of Fibres:
• Visible fibres - red, green and blue 
• Invisible security fibres - visible under UV light, red, green and blue  

• Background Print:
• Background areas on secure documents are printed to a high standard
• Solid lines and detailed designs should be visible under magnification (see figure 3).
• Intaglio Ink:
• Printing process which results in ink having a raised and rough feel which can be felt by running a finger over the paper (see figure 4). 
• Optically Variable Ink:
• ink which should have a clear colour change when titles, often featured on official documents (see figure 5)
• Machine Readable Zode:
• Most pasports and identity cards have a MRZ which should only consist of the letters of the alphabet and numbers 0-9.
• These zones should only be printed in an exact font (see figure 6) 

Upon reflection of these elements I plan to experiment with random fibres, background printing and potentially intaglio ink, mainly looking at the texture created through the process. I plan to look at using the colours found within random fibres and those associated with UV light as well as background printing to see if this will add authenticity to the final outcomes. 

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3 

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6