Pizzazz on pack: Fathom Optics revolutionizes F&B labels with light field technology

(All image credits: Fathom Optics)

22 Jan 2021 --- Packaging designed with Fathom Optics’ light field technology is providing the pizzazz to allow ordinary household or F&B labels stand out on shelf.

In this pandemic-stricken world, buying a food product in flashy packaging might be the highlight of your day.

The Boston-based company’s latest commission comes from US brewing company Confluence.

Its new beer can design features a wizard holding an orbed staff in their hand. When you turn the can from left to right, so do the background motion graphics.

The Fathom system is seamlessly integrated into already existing pre-press processes. Its design tools also provide full artistic independence in designing the visual elements on pack.

Fathom Optics co-founders Tom Baran and Matt Hirsch reveal how their light field technology brings brands and designers together to create eye-catching product differentiation on shelf.

“You can think of our prints as tiny 3D displays that can go on all kinds of different materials that don’t require special lenses to see them,” Baran explains to PackagingInsights.

“That opens up a lot of creative possibilities from a technical perspective in print to put new designs in new places.”

Confluence Brewing Company was Fathom Optic’s latest project.The print revolution made easy
To produce a light field print image, the Fathom technology encodes an object’s 3D volume on a 2D surface, similar to a hologram.

The Fathom system employs a complex computational approach that eliminates the need for 3D glasses, for example. It processes hundreds of billions of light rays to create a large 3D virtual image affixed on an extremely thin physical display.

Fathom’s new approach to embellishments requires no new equipment, special processes or additional materials to converters and printing houses.

“We [help] people put new types of imagery in places where they couldn’t before because of cost constraints, waste issues or sustainability requirements,” Baran highlights. “We’re providing the data that enables them to do their job better.”

Its services consider the environment, circumventing foil waste and not affecting material recyclability. “It’s just ink on the film,” says Baran.

“If you were to print on biodegradable or cellulose-based plastic film, it would still biodegrade,” adds Hirsch.

“Our process doesn’t fundamentally change the equation for any normal printing,” he notes, pointing to the “exciting” potential for mono-materials.

Graphic designers gone wild
Distancing themselves from “opinionated technology,” Baran and Hirsch’s goal is to accentuate existing design intents.

“We’re giving people creative tools so that they can better express the intent they already have.”

“We give our customers files not foils,” Baran muses. After preparing their packaging designs with standard design software, clients can upload their PDFs or AI files to the design website called Fathom Project Manager.

Here, clients collaborate with the in-house design team to create custom effects. Spot colors, for example, can be manually placed to determine where the visual motion effects should show up on-pack.

Fathom’s technology is easily implemented on existing printers, avoiding expensive foils, films and specialty inks. Clients can also tinker with light field affects to place on designs, a range of various geometric shapes and sizes.

In the case of Confluence Brewery, it was important to enhance the design’s most characteristic features: the wizard, staff and orb.

The night sky provided a natural basis for the print, as “a good effect” comes from black or white ink.

Inspiration from the 20th century
Fathom Optics, previously named Lumii, was founded in 2015, but the research that went into it came many years before.

“Matt and I were both getting our PhDs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The idea there was to layer up to liquid crystal display panels on top of one another to build a 3D display,” Baran recalls.

“This goes back to early 2008. We founded the company because we wanted to bring the idea of making 3D images with algorithms, not with optics, to the world.”

Six years ago, the duo began experimenting with digital displays. “We quickly realized that if you can make this work with print, there’s this really wonderful opportunity to create 3D graphics,” says Baran.

He notes the history of creating and working with lenticulars is deep and fascinating. “Some of the first lenticulars are from 1908,” adds Hirsch.

Early French photographers experimented with the technology by placing a sheet over a piece of film, exposing it through the lens sheet and developing it without removing the lenses. “You’d see a light field image, like a 3D image. It’s got a long history.”

Clients can determine where the motion graphics should be placed, controlling flow and motion.The 2021 push
Switching all operations to a remote-based system was a major challenge of 2020. “We spent a lot of time confronted with optically varying package design and onboarding converter sites remotely,” Baran explains.

“In a pre-COVID-19 world, we probably would have gotten to meet more of these folks person to person, which we always prefer to do.”

The constraints of the pandemic ended up being an opportunity for Baran and Hirsch to improve their operations and “hone what we’re doing to make what we do better.”

In addition to getting more converters onboard, the number one push for 2021 will be educating brands about how they can best use Fathom Optics’ technology to maximize design aesthetic.

“Everything we do has a very pronounced visual impact. The planning needs to begin as early as possible in the process and that’s just a lot of education.”

Overall, the company hopes the new year holds more of its technology in store – literally. “It’s rewarding when you can walk into a shop and see some of your technology on the shelves.”

Reminiscing on his first light field printed beer can, Baran admits there was some reluctance to dispose of the can. “I couldn’t get rid of it,” he concludes. “It’s art.”

By Anni Schleicher

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