Production Methods. The main production techniques are: . Hand Block Printing. . Hand Screen Printing. . Surface Printing. . Flexographic Printing

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2 Production Methods At Cole & Son we use a number of different production methods in order to create the very varied range of wallpapers that we are able to offer. The main production techniques are:. Hand Block Printing. Hand Screen Printing. Surface Printing. Flexographic Printing. Gravure Printing. Digital Printing The following slides will provide you with an insight into each process.

3 Block Printing Considered to be the pinnacle of wallpaper production, block printing is a method that has been used since the early 16 th century. This highly skilled process transfers the printing ink from a carved wooden block onto the wallpaper base. The design is carved in relief on blocks of fruitwood, usually one for each colour, and is applied to the paper in sequence.

4 The Cole & Son block archive contains over 1,800 designs and the historic printing blocks are stored in a specially built store room, where temperature and humidity are carefully controlled.

5 1. An ink bed is created and used to ink the block before each application. 2. The block is applied to the ink bed to fully coat the carved design areas. 3. The inked block is then transferred to the wallpaper. 4. The block is carefully positioned on the wallpaper and pressure is applied to transfer the ink.

6 Once the correct amount of pressure has been applied, it is then removed carefully from the paper. This is a very meticulous process as the block needs to separate cleanly without smudging the print. As the block is slowly and carefully lifted from the surface of the paper, the result can be seen and the full effect of the design is revealed.

7 Screen Printing Cole & Son developed one of the first screen printing studios in Europe in the late 1940 s. The studio was located above the showroom when it resided in Mortimer Street. Hand screen printing uses a fine gauze stretched over a frame that does not allow for the ink to pass through the blocked areas of the design. As the printer forces ink through the screen onto the paper, the open spaces allow for the ink to appear on the substrate and flat but crisp imprint of the design is left.

8 This photograph shows one screen printed repeat of the iconic Woods. This design, originally conceived in 1958 by Michael Clarke, has become synonymous with Cole & Son and has been in constant production since this date. Clarke was a lecturer at the Royal College of Art and was one of a group that were approached by Cole & Son s Design Director, Douglas Robinson, in the 1950 s to produce new designs that could be printed as wallpaper.

9 Traditionally the wallpaper is hung up to dry during production. This is known as festooning and is still used for traditional hand screen printing. As with block printing the design is built up one colour at a time and the wallpaper is allowed to fully dry before the next colour is applied.

10 Surface Printing Surface printing is the oldest automated method of printing and was developed in the mid 19 th century, during a time of exploration and transition. This method transfers ink from an ink reservoir, to a blanket and then to a print roller that has been engraved to leave the design in high relief. This print roller then transfers the design to the wallpaper. Like block printing, surface printing lays down a heavy deposit of ink and this results in the characteristic reticulation (movement in the ink) and a lip.

11 Surface print machines can print a maximum of twelve colours and Cole & Son use this machine for a number of our high colour designs. A twelve colour surface print represents the very best of what can be achieved with this production method and is reserved only for the most prestigious wallpapers. Arguably one of Cole & Son s most recognisable and oldest designs, Hummingbirds, is printed in this way and uses nine out of the twelve rollers to produce an opulent and rich finish.

12 These images show the production of Large Trieste, a single colour surface print from the Cole & Son archive dating back to around In the foreground of the below image, the inked blanket transfers the ink to the design roller, which then deposits the design onto the red base paper. The image to the left shows a digital rendering of the design before it is sent to production.

13 Flexographic Printing Where a design requires a much more detailed print effect we often use a printing process called flexographic printing. This method is very similar to surface printing but the rollers are made out of a softer material and the ink transfer is more finely controlled. This means that not as much ink is put down and allows a finer detail in the print. The images below show a flexographic machine and Orchid, which is printed using the flexographic method.

14 Gravure Printing Gravure is a type of Intaglio printing process, where the each element of the design is engraved into a solid metal cylinder and each colour has its own roller. This method is used where a design requires incredibly fine detail and shading, it is also a very quick process as the drying time between each colour is almost instant. Macchine Volanti from the Fornasetti II is produced in this way to achieve the complex shading and detailing that the design possesses.

15 Digital Printing Relatively recent advances in digital print technology have allowed us to use high quality wallpaper substrates to produce designs with a scale and range of colours, that would be impossible to achieve with any other traditional printing methods. Both Fontainebleu and Versailles Grand from the Foile collection, as shown below, use this advance method of printing to produce the breadth of colours and large repeats that these designs call for.

16 With such a wide range of production techniques, we are able to ensure that the wallpapers that we offer to our customers are produced using the very best materials and techniques. Our in house design studio works very closely with the print team to ensure that we achieve the highest levels of quality on all of our wallpapers.