To commemorate the occasion, a special cover, which was designed by illustrator and paper engineer Helen Friel, had a range of special finishes applied to it by Reading-headquartered print finisher Celloglas.

What did the job entail? 

The finishes applied were Cellocover rough matt varnish, Celloscreen high build gloss spot UV, a grain effect textured deboss and an emboss on the main lettering and heart shape on the cover. Celloglas key customer services manager Matt Hodgson said: “Working with Computer Arts really gave us the opportunity to push design boundaries and demonstrate combinations of new and innovative finishing possibilities.”

How was it produced?

Celloglas finished 11,000 copies of the cover, which were initially printed by West Midlands-based William Gibbons using Precision Special Gloss 250gsm stock. At its Leicester site, Celloglas applied a rough matt varnish to the cover using a 15,000sph Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 twin coater. A screen high-build varnish was then applied to produce an extra glossy effect. A grain-textured deboss was applied to the blue area and a raised effect was then created on the main text and heart shape to produce a 3D effect.

What challenges were overcome?

 The varnish, grain deboss and emboss finishes all had to register perfectly in a confined area. The high-build gloss spot UV needed to have a higher recess than normal to ensure that the rough matt varnish would stand out on the white-out text. The multi-level emboss was reversed out of the grain deboss to provide a contrast between the varnished areas and the diamond area to ensure that the difference in recess was noticeable to consumers.

What was the feedback?

Computer Arts editor Nick Carson said: “The ‘Love Print’ issue has received a hugely positive response from our readers on Twitter and Facebook. The cover demonstrates how great design can be achieved when you combine inventive finishes and fantastic design ideas.”