Boston Beer binder:

Boston Beer wanted a simple looking binder to house its training information. They wanted bare chipboard covers with cloth on the spine and inside lining. They also wanted a die cut window to reveal the image of hops leaves on the cover. The look was simple and clean but the execution was anything but simple. First of all, chipboard is recycled from various waste and newspaper sources, so the color varies from grey to brown depending on what it is made of. Atlas had to find a source of chipboard that was consistent in color throughout the run and within the piece. We also applied a very thin “washcoat” of color overall to the chipboard to make it harmonize with the hops image. That took quite a few iterations. The front cover was made by sandwiching a 4/c litho sheet between (2) layers of 50 pt. chipboard. The top layer of chipboard was die cut to the shape of the hops image below. The user is actually looking through a window to the hops image below. Careful gluing and mounting was required throughout the job to ensure proper registration. In the end, no fabric fit the look and feel that Boston Beer wanted, so we ended up printing a 4/c scanned image of fabric. All of the litho sheets were treated with a matte film lamination for strength and a satin look. The end result is something that both Boston Beer and Atlas are quite proud of.