Margie Dana

One of the greatest things about print manufacturing is that no one knows everything about it. I love learning about new processes. It happened recently when an email from Doug Billings of Empire Screen Printing in Onalaska, WI, popped up in my inbox. He’s the VP of Sales & Marketing at Empire. Doug mentioned that, among other things, his company offered “doming.”

Doming? I had to learn more.

The simple definition is this: Doming is a process that turns a label into a 3-D branding tool.

Before we spoke on the phone, Doug sent me a big box filled with samples and marketing materials. Once I was done grappling with the tape and cardboard and actually got inside this box (who knew they made bullet-proof boxes?), I was delighted.

Nestled among the tons of customer-friendly content was a big book about domes. I picked it up. Squeezing this 8 ½ x 11” book hinted at what was inside. It was lumpy and crunchy in a good way. Nearly 20 colorful and 3-D domes were affixed in the center spread. The accompanying photo to this Print Tip shows this spread, but doesn’t do it justice.

I called Doug to learn more. He assured me that I’ve seen examples of domes but just didn’t know it. “I’m pretty sure you have some domes somewhere in your house,” he said. (Still looking.)

How Do They Make Domes?

Domes are created with special equipment that dispenses a clear, non-yellowing, polymer coating over a printed label. The coating, or resin, is resistant to UV exposure, dents and scratches. It also renders the 3-D label flexible.

After the customer supplies the art files, designers at Empire prepare the art to their doming specs. Doming resin can’t flow into sharp corners and points, so a slight radius must be used. The labels are either screen printed or printed digitally. Then they are sent to be cut via one of several methods. The actual cut makes a lip or a dam on the outside edge to hold the liquid resin. Once it’s cut, it goes to the doming press. It is pin registered on a flat surface and held on a vacuum while it goes through the oven. Dispensing heads dispense the liquids. A computer program figures out how much liquid to dispense and how to dispense it. The dome flows through the oven, and then it’s racked up to 24 hrs.

Doming has a memory. It “wants to go back to flat.” Empire has a variety of specialty adhesives for curved surfaces, but typically they sell the product for flat surfaces.

I asked Doug how they got involved in doming. “It started with the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) market. We approached OEM-type customers, like Toro and Leer, manufacturer of ICE merchandisers.

Doming’s also popular with the beer industry, with gift shops, and with the POP (point-of-purchase) industry for in-store signage.

Professional sports teams like the Memphis Grizzlies have lots of uses for doming. And the hospitality industry is a great market for doming as well. Many hotels have domes for American Standard equipment in showers to clearly identify hot vs. cold water.

If you go into a Walmart store, you’ll see samples of domes in the auto section, where the products are for sale for consumers to use as decorations on their autos. Other industries that use a lot of domes include archery, hunting, boating and jewelry.

More Than One Type of Dome

Empire also makes scented domes. Among the roughly two dozen fragrances are Lily of the valley, apple, melon, chocolate, mint – and garlic. They aren’t air fresheners, per se, but they have “excellent smell persistence” even after a year, said Doug.

There are phosphorescent domes that glow in the dark, thermo-chromatic domes that change colors with the temperature (like a mood ring J), and embossed domes.

Empire makes domes of automotive-grade doming resin for vehicles or outdoor applications.

I wondered about the cost. Doug said “the best way to explain it is that there’s a small business in town that sells trailers. They want to be sure they’re still getting advertising on their trailers, so they made a little square dome to put on every trailer they sell. Pricewise, it’s like adding cents to a decal.”

It seemed to me that a typical run length would have to be really long. “They’re all over,” said Doug. “We have one now for a client who runs 600,000 domes every three months, but we do small orders all the time.”

Offset printing may be in decline, but Empire has see consistent growth in doming for the past four years.

I’m sure I’ll start spotting domes all over, now that I’ve been introduced to them. Visit Empire’s site (though it’s being redesigned as we speak) at www.empirescreen.com. Contact Doug Billings at .