The colors they are a'changing—again. From the dramatic color-shifting layers on plastic film described in last month's First Impression to the new subtle color-changing coating detailed below, suppliers are offering a wider range of materials to give packaging that little extra sales push.

Phantavision UV-gloss coating from Oak Creek, WI-based Northwest Coatings Corp. (www.northwestcoatings.com) lets you see a variety of colors at different viewing angles. It is said to provide high-contrast color shifts with irregular angles and changes smoothly on gradual curves. The idea is to have a a very slight color shift to make the package color "pop" at the viewer. Designed for use with many substrates, Phantavision works with any base coating such as stampables, flexibles, scratch-, water- or chemical-resistant, Northwest says.

The sample cartons below, converted by Cartondruck USA (Fairview, NJ), are offset-printed with Sun Chemical (Parsippany, NJ) four-color process plus Pearlwhite inks and a matte varnish (www.sunchemical.com). The Phantavision was UV spot-coated onto select areas of the boxes for eye-catching effects.

How's this for a new coating opportunity for converters? Color electronic paper may soon be ready for mass production.

E Ink Corp., a Cambridge, MA-based producer of electronic paper display (EPD) technology (www.eink.com), and Japan's Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., a supplier of color filters for flat panel displays, built a prototype (above right) that can be mass produced and achieves 12-bit color in a 400 × 300-pixel format with resolution of 83 pixels per inch. A color filter offers a high-brightness layout (RGBW) that preserves the paper-like whiteness of the background page, while enabling deep blacks for text and a range of colors and tones for images. A smart algorithm uses color sub-pixels to smooth black and white text for enhanced legibility equivalent to a printer. The display diagonal is 6 in., similar to a paperback book in size.

E Ink says its electronic ink technology creates an image that looks like printed pages from all angles and maintains the same contrast ratio under all lighting conditions, including direct sunlight. The company says mass production of color EPDs is expected to start at the end of 2006.

For more on the market potential of printable electronics, see Market Trends, page 4.

An unusual, suede-textured label for a tanning-product squeeze tube has won the Most Innovative Award in substrate provider FLEXCon's 2005 competition (www.FLEXcon.com).

Converted by Plano, TX-based McDowell Label & Screen Printing (www.mcdowelllabel.com), it uses FLEXcon's PLUSHprint™ white-flocked vinyl film to provide a suede-like feel as well as a strong visual appearance. The pressure-sensitive labels (below right) for cosmetics maker Fiesta Sun were printed via UV-flexo and rotary-screen methods and are automatically applied to the tubes.

Other packaging winners in FLEXcon's competition include (Consumable Products) York Label for its resealable label (above left) designed to bolster sales to the non-woven moist-wipes market; (Durable Products) Esselte DYMO for its wire label that can be printed, laminated and adhered in the field; and (Promotional) Albert Basse Associates for its economical retail-store display that uses a polyester label rather than an aluminum plate.