Test Your Fate: Print Process

Initially I planned to print each element as a sticker suing matt self-adhesive paper and then laminating to make brighter as this was the only adhesive stock larger enough to deal with the size of the designs. However upon presenting the files to James in digital print, he suggested using vinyl as this would allow for a better finish and also be cheaper. Furhtermore this method also allowed an exact colour match across all elements of the machine whereas printing stickers left some room for printer error. This meant each element of the design needed to be expanded so an outline would be created that the vinyl cutter could cut around, creating the whole image (see figure 1-2). Therefore the white sections of the designs were cut out of white vinyl which will then be transferred onto blue the blue vinyl used for the base of the machine (see figure 3). Although this method is more time consuming and technical, the finish will be of a higher quality aking the additional time worthwhile. The only issue with this process was the limited amount of blue vinyl available meaning only one of each element could be printed apart from the main board. Two versions of the white were printed as there was is more likely hood of error in the transferring process due to the details within the design which could tear if not cut accurately due to being os intricate (see figure 4). Furthermore some of the text didn't cut as well as hoped due to the use of serifs making it difficult to remove the excess white when preparing for transfer. However as two versions where printed elements form each can be used to create on board.

Figure 2

Figure 1

Figure 3

Figure 4