Embossing Experiment

From the laser cut that I did I decided to emboss the letters that was cut out. I thought it was a good idea to do as it would give me an alternative choice of another technique in which I can make my front cover out of. I used different kind of paper stock to test this in order to have variations of paper weights and colours to possibly choose from.

I did all steps that I learnt from the embossing induction and was able to emboss my designs really quickly.

In particular, I really liked the emboss that came out of the white card stock that I made. The embossing came out really well and is really prominent on the page. The same thing also came out on the cream paper stock that I used and I think these two paper stocks made the embossing came out in great quality due to them being really clear and bright in colour. In addition, I also like how there's  a little bit textured/rough and not completely smooth which adds to the embossing quality as it highlights the embossed texture of the paper stock.

I tried to use sugar paper as well but it turned out creased and curled itself when it dried because of how thin the weight of the paper is. Also, because of how thin the paper is the embossing didn't look as good either. On the other hand, I also tried the same mount board that I used for my laser cut experiment but in beige/brown, however I didn't wet it as it would just fall apart because its all layered paper. It turned out really well as made the embossed letters really stand out on the page, which may look really nice as a front cover or part of the publication in general.

I also asked fellow peers which paper stock they preferred and they also preferred either the white or the mount board stock. They liked how the embossing look really prominent especially on the mount board and overall most of the materials got nice feedback.

Thoughts & Reflection

At first, I tried this technique as a way to use the extra letters from my laser cut experiment but it actually tuned out really well and better than I expected. In a way I was also quite glad I picked a serif type face as the soft curved counters and sharp serifs made the embossed letters look quite pleasing. In addition, for this technique I feel like a serif type was also more appropriate as it's quite traditional and hand crafted. 

This technique reminds me of the technique that was used on the vintage books that I saw during the Kirkgate Market Fair and how the leather or material sued for the book looked almost engraved with letters. That being said this technique may be more appropriate to more serious and traditional types of books rather than a contemporary reading publication that I'm designing. Although, this technique is really fun and easy to do, I don't really just want to use a technique just for the sake of having another printing method in my publication because it won't really relate to my content and would maybe look out of place in the publication. Maybe I won't use it heavily but on certain aspects and details of my book. e.g. certain words or letters. However, I do need to take into account the paper weight of my book pages as if they are quite thin embossing might be hard or impossible to do as it will curl up.