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Current issue      anufacturing       news Light Impressions pack enhancement with holograms LEATHERHEAD,ENGLAND -Take a close look at Kunming Cigarette Factory's pack design for its YunYan brand. The gold star motif isn't just a fancy piece of Chinese lacquer work, but a very fancy piece of British design technology, courtesy of Light Impressions International Ltd., that it has been supplying Kunming since early 1995. There are presently 40 different brands around the world using holographic effects to enhance pack design and foil counterfeiters. Brands carrying Light Impressions holography have almost trebled their sales in the last four years, so it is little wonder that there are rumors that British American Tobacco is considering the use of holographic bundle-wrap on some of its premium brands. It is to Asia ?especially China ?that you have to look to find the widespread use of holograms on packs. Despite the obvious attractiveness of holographic pack design, the chief reason for the industry's use of them is to cut back on the RMB 10 billion in revenue and taxes that is lost through counterfeiting every year. Light Impressions are presently supplying holograms for five different brands on the market and it was the makers of YunYan who approached the company after learning that it was supplying another Chinese brand in an attempt to beat the counterfeiters and enhance brand awareness. The sparkling star contains the brand name which can be read in either Chinese or English depending on how the light catches the pack. Light Impressions latest product is the True-Color Hologram, which they claim is "a dimension in inkless printing." The process can convert a full-color transparency into a multi-level 3D diffractive color image. (SH)

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© Copyright 1999 By Lockwood Trade Journal Co., Inc.