Unwrapping CMF Design on Rising from the Water – Water Transfer 拆招CMF設計談出水芙蓉 —— 水轉印

[ 彩材拆拆 x 𝗨𝗡𝗪𝗥𝗔𝗣 𝗖𝗠𝗙 ]
𝙲𝚑𝟹𝟶. 𝚄𝚗𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙲𝙼𝙵 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 – 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚎𝚛
Ch.30 拆招CMF設計談出水芙蓉 —— 水轉印

^{CMF is a specific discipline within industrial design that focuses on the development of a product’s color, material, and finish. Unwrap CMF writes about little stories of CMF Design for those who are interested in learning more about this niche field. Comments and inspirations are welcome!}

Water transfer printing is nothing new, and so, its production has been stabilized across industries and used on various products: helmets, toy guns, rackets, automobile interior, home appliances and accessories. It’s everywhere!

The principal of water transfer isn’t difficult to interpret. It is somewhat similar to tattoo stickers (but not 100%): printing patterns on a water-dissolvable layer, and transfer the patterns onto product surfaces while the layer dissolves in the water.

Process flow of water transfer
Video of water transfer (0:19 to 0:40)
_{^{Note: provided by Sage1988.com}}

For manufacturers, the investment of water transfer is relatively low. Whoever cannot afford automatic machines can start with manual equipment. But that means the industry is filled with manufacturers of different capability. One must pay extra caution for vendor selection. Employee training, quality control, equipment, dust-free production line – all these details can contribute to the quality of the final product.

Sage (Cheng Feng-Chih Hui Co., Ltd.) interviewed for this blog post, has further expanded its capability after mastering in water transfer. The company now also owns production lines for IMD and OMD (in-mold decoration). Both of which are processes using mold and films to apply patterns on product surface – more details to be shared in another future post.

In comparison, water transfer has the flexibility of wrapping over complex surfaces. If we were to wrap a film around a sphere or complex curves, it will inevitably create wrinkles around the edges. This technical limitation for IMD and OMD has become a unique advantage of the traditional water transfer.

Old but gold. In another word, each process has its pros and cons. Therefore, when converting design intent into mass-production, sometimes it takes to challenge ourselves with the newest manufacturing technologies, and sometimes, opportunities are risen by bringing new applications to the existing processes!

^{Note: Please keep in mind that the terminologies mentioned in this blog post may be called differently across industries and companies.}

^{CMF為Color Material and Finishing，譯為色彩、材質、及表面處理工藝，屬於 工業設計 旗下重要的一環。Unwrap CMF（ 彩材拆拆 ）將圍繞著這個主題，以淺而易懂的小故事拆解 CMF設計師 的日常。}

水轉印 並非新技術，但也正因如此，在各種產業的生產線都已成熟穩定並被多元運用。比如運動產業的頭盔、獵槍、球拍等，車內裝飾，家電和生活配件等產品上，在我們日常生活週遭都可以發現水轉印的蹤跡。

每每提到工業技術似乎就難以想像，但其實水轉印並不難理解，有點類似小時候的紋身貼紙（但不完全相同）：將圖案印製於 水溶性薄膜 上，在水溶的同時將圖案轉印於產品表面。

水轉印工藝流程圖解
水轉印工藝流程影片（0:19秒至0:40秒處）
_{^{註：由承鋒智慧提供}}

對製造方而言，水轉印的投資成本相對較低，負擔不起自動設備的廠家也可以先入手小額的手動機台。但也因為入行門檻不高，大小廠的品質有別，甲方選廠時必須格外謹慎。人員訓練、品檢、齊全的設備及無塵車間都可以間接地提升成品的高級感。

這次採訪的 承鋒智慧 在精進水轉印之後，又更進一步的拓展IMD、OMD等模內裝飾技術。 模內裝飾技術 是一種利用模具和膠膜合成的紋理裝飾工藝，未來會再準備一篇介紹。

相較之下，水轉印的優勢在於曲面包覆性。如果將膠膜包覆於弧度複雜的立體曲面及球體表面，無法避免的會在角度及邊緣產生皺摺。這個多數模內裝飾技術等工藝甚難突破的瓶頸，反而成為傳統水轉印技術的獨特優勢。

老技術也不乏優勢，或者說，無論哪一種技術，都有它的強項及短板。因此，在將設計稿轉換成量產的階段，除了挑戰新工藝，時而成熟的傳統技術也能帶來新運用。

_{^{註：本篇文章所提到的專業用字在不同產業、公司可能會有各自的術語。}}

CMF學無止境，歡迎留言補充。
Comments and inspirations are welcome!
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