In September last year, printer William Gibbons and print finisher Celloglas worked together to collaborate on a magazine with an even-more-ingenious cover than the previous two. 

What did the job entail?

The 16,000 run of SRA1-sized 96-page magazines had a cover that could be scratched off to reveal the final countdown of top design studios. The cover was produced over two days in the middle of September and the magazine was launched a couple of months later. 

How was it produced?

The magazines were printed on 200gsm gloss paper using William Gibbons’ 10-colour Komori Lithrone G40P sheetfed press. They were then transported from William Gibbons’ Wolverhampton site to Celloglas’ Leicester finishing division. 

For the cover, Celloglas applied silver latex varnish using its B1 Sakurai silkscreen machine, using a 24 mesh. Two bars spread and scraped the varnish to ensure the correct amount was laid down and it was then fed through a UV dryer for enhancement and to apply the Computer Arts masthead. 

The Sakurai machine was running at 2,500sph, finishing four covers 4-up, meaning that the entirety of the finishing job took just 90 minutes. 

What challenges were overcome?

Celloglas sales director Steve Middleton said: “Obviously the silver scratch is designed to scratch off so you have to be careful of marking and that sort of thing as you put it through the machine. It’s very very easy to scratch off.”

What was the feedback?

Celloglas is already in talks to do the finishing for next year’s Top 30 front cover, which would be its fourth in a row for Computer Arts. 

Editor Nick Carson said: “We’ve had loads of good feedback from readers and on social media, from people who’ve really enjoyed engaging with it as we always do when we experiment.

“Celloglas is always really responsive in discussing the limitations of other treatments from the outset.”