THE JAPANESE CONCEPT OF IKIGAI IS THE REASON FOR BEING
…The reason to jump out of bed each morning and the team at Foilco love this ideology so much that they’ve used this premise to create a brand new range of promotional materials.
The Venn diagram-styled concept works for Ikigai because it visually represents overlapping qualities; what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.
Ikigai is a beautiful concept that helps people visualise how they can balance life’s priorities, reduce stresses and live a life that is ultimately happier.
For years Foilco have followed similar ethos’s and when presented with the concept of Ikigai they realised a desire to share this message through print and more importantly, through their foils.
The idea of overlapping foils came to fruition quickly and knowing that many, even regular users, may not realise that you can foil on top of other existing foils (to create unique colour) the team set about creating a promotion that respected Ikigai’s ideas.
“Knowing that we had to potentially over foil 4 products at a time, we identified products within our collection that were solid, semi-opaque, and transparent in nature. We had to ensure that the foils with greater opacity started at the bottom of the order to allow the colour(s) to be seen through the transparent choices that came later on. It was then a case of finding beautiful colour combinations that wouldn’t look out of place on luxury product packaging or greeting cards, yet still gave exciting unique colour mixes that had never been seen before in foil print.
Each finished card includes 4 foils but due to the layering effect we have encouraged, the cards actually showcase 12 different finish and shade combinations. All in all, the Ikigai promotional cards showcase a total of 36 finishes, multiplying the possibilities that stamping foil can bring to a design. The most striking combinations include our transparent cracked ice (7030) on the Fjord Blue (6738) sheen foil or our transparent Oil on Water (1912) over foiled onto our Willow Green (6749) Satin foil.
The Ikigai card series has been designed to encourage people to keep experimenting with stamping foils. It’s important that people understand that there is more to foil than just one impression and we’re working hard to push the creative limits of foil. The possibilities really are endless and in just this example, over foiling allows creatives to blend colours together, creating completely unique offerings. It’s nice to know that there are still combinations out there that may not have even tried yet and we look forward to seeing what people do with this knowledge” explains Jaime Evans, Marketing Manager of Foilco.
To stay true to this Japanese concept, we have teamed up with the wonderful Takeo, one of the world’s oldest and leading paper suppliers. They graciously donated the Kihoushi U-FS deep rough 335gsm paper to the project, which has complimented the layered stamping foils beautifully.
Carrying the Japanese theme throughout, the cards’ folds have been die-cut to reflect the beautiful naturalistic shape of cherry blossom petals which, when folded together, create a blossoming flower that will unravel itself unveiling the delicate colour combinations inside. On each of these petals, Foilco have included the layered foils as a single print, to show you what they look like in isolation.
Due to the nature of the Venn diagram design, Ikigai was achieved through the use of an innovative ‘pocket die’ system crafted by Dreyer Kliche. The system allows for incredibly accurate alignment of stamping dies using a bracing plate. This keeps everything secure whilst allowing the printer/finisher to rotate the dies without the loss of registration.
The Venn diagram-inspired logo and artwork on the cards, have been designed by long-time Foilco collaborator Dave Sedgwick of Studio DBD.
The folded Ikigai cards will be sent out to recipients encased in a delicate, semi-transparent envelope which hosts a printed QR code on its topside. This code will take recipients to the specified foil range on Foilco’s website, where an automatic filter will display only the respective foils used in this promotion.
To request an Ikigai card, you can email Foilco at hello@foilco.com or contact them on +44 (0) 1942 26 26 22.
Credits
Foil: Foilco
Paper: Takeo Kihoushi U-FS deep rough 335gsm
Dies: Dreyer Kliche
Design: Studio DBD
Photography: Jonathan Beer
