The Production Process
Creation of an Ornament
CONCEPT - Art and Design
The very beginning of the process of designing an ornament starts with
you, the client. You choose which images to send to Tom Pollard
Designs. Perhaps there is a certain angle you wish to see of your
building or you have a new logo or mascot you would like to have made into
an ornament. You choose what images (photographs and/or drawings) you
send to us and our artists will work within your parameters to design an
ornament unique to you and your organization.
There are times when a client doesn't have any images to send us.
They might just have an idea. Our artists are designers who will bring
your conceptual design to life both artistically and technically. They
pride themselves on their ability to communicate and creatively work towards
a common goal to satisfy the customer. In addition to providing us
with images and conceptual ideas for your ornament, you will also be asked
for any specific wording you wish to have incorporated into the design and
whether or not you wish to have your ornament designed as a flat, pop-up, or
three-dimensional piece.
Usually the pop-up look has a border with the center image being pushed
back slightly to give a dimensional effect. The three-dimensional
ornaments are a bit more involved as they can incorporate extra pieces being
held together with tabs and/or certain aspects of the piece having a slight
twist in the metal. Although most of our ornaments are made with a
gold finish, occasionally a client wishes to have a silver finish or perhaps
have both finishes in their ornament (as is possible with our
three-dimensional ornaments). Some clients wish to have color(s) on
their ornaments as well. These decisions are all made in the designing
stage. Sometimes our clients are happy with the first drawing and
other times they wish to make revisions. We won't go to the next step
without your 100% approval on the ornament design.
Once you approve the design, the artists make the artwork technically
sound and put it in values of black and white so that it is ready for the
etching process. At this stage, white, equals metal and black shows
the areas that are to be recessed and/or pierced. The artwork is
compensated technically for loss of metal from the etching process, insuring
the beauty, quality, strength and longevity of each piece.
LAMINATION - Photo Resist to Metal, Masking and Printing
The sheets of metal that are to be used for your ornaments must be
inspected and cleaned before any further steps are taken. A technician
laminates both sides of the metal with a photo resist (or photo mask).
From there the images will be transferred to both sides of the metal sheets.
The transfer of the image is accomplished by photographing the images onto
the resist masks in the reverse value of the files; in other words, a
negative is produced on both sides of the metal. The photo
resist lamination protects the metal from any etching or piercing taking
place. The lamination and images on both side of the metal tells the
machine whether to pierce the metal or to etch the metal. When there
is the same black image on both the front and the back, the metal is pierced
to leave behind a cut out. When the black only appears on one side,
this directs the machine to etch the piece, thus creating scribed detail.
ETCHING - Controlled-Acid Etch
The piercing or recessing of the metal happens to the areas without the
lamination. These piercings and recesses are done to make up the
desired design of the ornament. The etching effect is achieved by
passing the metal sheets through a machine which applies a series of
controlled acid sprays to the metal. The machine monitors the sprays
to insure the accuracy in depth or etching. Length of exposure
time as well as pressure, speed and temperature all affect the metal in
various ways. This process is tightly controlled so that the
desired effect is achieved and so that each sheet of metal comes out exactly
the same as the others; over etching will cause the pieces to become weak.
Once the etching is completed, the excess photo resist is removed from the
large metal sheets, leaving behind a clean metal surface. Now the
sheets are ready to be moved onto the plating process.
PLATING - Quality Finishes Applied
Depending
on the finish you wish to have on your ornament, the plating department
electro plates the ornament sheets with the desired finish you choose.
The finishing options are gold, silver or variations of the two. If
you wish your ornament to have additional colors, the colors are screen
printed onto the metal by using epoxy paints. The metal is then cured
insuring that the painted areas will be long lasting.
FINISHING - Rubber Wheel, Quality Control, Packaging and Shipping
The sheets of metal can contain at least 40 or more ornaments.
These sheets are then cut leaving behind individual ornaments that are ready
for the final finishing process. Any rough edges on the ornaments are
smoothed by holding each piece up to a rubber wheel until all rough edges
are gone.
The last step in this process is to assemble any pieces together that may
need to be assembled, pushing forward or backwards parts to achieve the
pop-up effect where necessary, tying the gold thread hanger onto each piece
and inserting each finished ornament into individual plastic pouches. If
special packaging is desired, the ornaments are packaged in boxes or plastic
sleeves at this time along with the custom-made package insert that is
written with your input telling a little history about your subject or what
makes your group special. From there the ornaments are shipped to you to
sell and/or share with others.