Packaging 101: The Secret World of Chipboard

Everything You Need to Know About Chipboard
(for the Promo Product Industry)

Chipboard consists of pressed fibers made out of recycled paper, and is used mainly in packaging and for journal covers and notepad backings. It is generally available in grey, natural or black, and in different thicknesses. It’s the least expensive material you can use, with grey being the least expensive. In general, because of its recycled content, the color and texture of chipboard varies, especially if you are working with natural chipboard. Whereas black chip remains the same color with slight variances in texture, natural board ranges from a greyish to light brown.

Thicknesses: We stock chipboard in 18 pt, 22 pt, 40 pt, 60 pt, 80 pt and 100 pt. Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, here is a general guideline:

Packaging

Small boxes- 18 – 40 pt. If your client needs to package notecards, coasters, a mug, pencils, or something small, then 18 or 40 pt is sufficient. 18 pt may be a little flimsy- think of two thin business cards stuck together. It just depends on the shape of your product- I had this lovely eco lunchpail done in a 22pt and it was just the right weight.

We can also use a colored material and mount it onto chipboard.

These cute boxes are 2 pc boxes with purple paper mounted onto it and a one color silkscreen.

Available Closures:
Velcro
Snap
String Tie ( looks great with recycled theme products)

Presentation

Most full color presentation folders are 14 pt- in comparison, our thinner chipboard works best as chipboard does not bend and stay flat- it tends to bow a little towards the middle. Oftentimes we recommend an elastic closure or something similar to solve that problem. If you are creating a binder, the stock material is 40 pt, but with that, you get something fairly thin- like a binder at Staples. If you are looking to present something to a big client, it will look a lot nicer with a thicker 80 or 100 pt chip. In fact, we can find a paper material ( say, if your client has a PMS color they want to match) and mount it onto the front of the board- that way, it has a nice smooth finish and a cool two tone look ( the inside would be the chipboard)


Journals

Chipboard journals are very versatile- there are so many ways to decorate these, your head will be swirling if I go off on a tangent. So let’s keep it simple- here is a list of things you can do with chipboard.

- Plain board: You can use the board alone, and foil stamp and/or silkscreen it. This is clean and ideal for someone looking for an eco-friendly book, plus we can turn it around very quickly.

- Material Mounted: The tricky thing with chipboard is that it only comes in three colors, so if your client wants to match a certain color, our options are to either silkscreen the entire board ( which is not recommend due to the nature of inks. You don’t want it to flake or wear off with frequent handling, and this is possible with large chunks of ink) - or, easier, mount a cool material to it. The varieties of papers are endless- recycled color paper, textured linen / cloth material, remnents of someone’s pants- you get the gist.

- Full Color: We can print a full color sheet and mount onto the chipboard as well. Check out this cool Jansport journal we did- the client was looking for someone eco and cost effective, so we printed a cool leather texture onto a matte sheet and it almost feels like a hard leather. Sometimes art makes all the difference.

Packaging 102: The Basics

Everything You Need to Know About Packaging

Part I- Packaging 101: The Basics

Oftentimes distributors need packaging, and don't know where to start. You get some vague direction from your client, who does not have really have an idea of what they want and you have to present something really quick. Either that, or your client needs a cheap aluminum box (almost an oxymoron) or a very high-end box with all the bells and whistles that you never knew existed! This time-consuming research and quoting process

can be sidestepped if you know exactly what to ask for.

This is a quick and dirty guide that will give you enough knowledge about the back end of packaging so you will have an idea of price range, imprint capabilities and materials without having to waste time calling different suppliers and asking around.

1. Recycled Chipboard- Comes in Black or Natural. Least expensive and most versatile- mount a croco, faux leather or silver paper onto one side to jazz it up. If you have a logo with 6 colors, we can mount a digitally printed sheet onto the chip (seamless) as an alternative to the more expensive silkscreen. Looks best with a foil stamp. Be careful with silkscreening bright colors onto black chip- it does not come out very bright.
Range- $
Plus setups for silkscreen, foil stamp/deboss, custom die (varies)

2. Polypropelene- This plasticky material is flexible and available in thin to medium thickness. Slightly more expensive than chipboard, it is also less versatile. Mostly used for metal edging or the old-school tuck boxes where the seams are tabs that tuck into the other edge. Good for snap and slit closures, and looks best with silkscreen and foil stamps. This is durable and will last with normal wear and tear. Most popular for its transparency- frost or clear poly is great if you are packing some colorful products and literature.

Range: $
Plus setups for silkscreen, foil stamp/deboss, custom die (varies)

3. Digital Printing - This is a printed stock that we can mount onto your chipboard containers. It's great because there are no setup fees, and your client can have their 10-color logo with gradient without breaking the bank. The best thing is, if we mount onto a white box, you cannot tell where the digital print ends and the box begins. The downside- this is not recycled material, and the box sizes we can do with digital printing are fairly small.

Range: $-$$
Setups: Custom Die ( if we don't already have a similar size here)

4. Aluminum Boxes- Depending on the size and quantity, this may not be as expensive as you think- our aluminum boxes do not require a die since it is cut from our routing machine. If you are doing 10 custom- sized boxes, aluminum is the way to go. Sometimes the client is set on aluminum- must have it-but has a small budget. You can do an aluminum top and a metal edge chipboard base for a less expensive alternative. Looks great with a silkscreen. Can be nicely stamped depending on the weight of aluminum used. ( Deboss / Emboss not recommended for thicker aluminum)

Range: $$$
Plus setups for silkscreen, foil stamp/deboss, custom die (varies)

Stick around for next week's Packaging 101: The Basics. I'll get a little more in-depth with other aspects of packaging and provide a checklist of what to ask when before going to your suppliers.

More questions? Email me if you have questions or need to know if something is even possible, I'm the packaging expert! Visit our showroom in LA and I can show you the different types of packaging that we've done ( stuff I can't even post on the web)

Judy@trafficworks.us