01
Full-colour graphics
Logos, artwork, photographs, labels and legends in full colour, with fine detail held. What you send is what lands on the surface.
- Artwork
- Colour pass
- Cured in place
- Finished graphic
On any tone of material
Capability / 06 UV Printing & Finishing
Colour. Texture. Finish.
Full-colour graphics, white ink on dark materials, raised and textured effects and varnish finishes, printed directly onto the product, the panel or the component. One piece, or a short run.
Print. Build. Varnish. Brand. Personalise.
02 The four outcomes
Printed directly. Layer by layer.
UV printing puts artwork straight onto a surface and cures it as it lands, so it works on flat panels, shaped products and materials that ordinary print cannot touch. Four outcomes cover most of what people ask for.
02
White ink on dark materials
A white underbase lets colour read on black acrylic, dark timber, anodised metal and coloured plastics, or stands on its own as crisp white lettering.
- Dark surface
- White underbase
- Colour or white only
- Legible result
Where engraving would not show
03
Textured & raised effects
Ink built up in layers gives a graphic height you can feel: raised lettering, tactile logos, simulated grain and stipple, braille-style detail.
- Artwork
- Repeated passes
- Built height
- Tactile detail
Above the surface
04
Varnish finishes
A clear finish over the whole surface or only where it is wanted: gloss, matt, spot highlights over a logo, or a protective layer on a piece that will be handled.
- Printed surface
- Clear pass
- Gloss, matt or spot
- Finished piece
The last layer
Whether a surface takes ink well depends on the material, its finish and its shape, and some surfaces need preparation first. That is assessed per item, on the actual material where possible, before a run is committed.
03 Branded products & short runs
Your brand, on things people keep.
Drinkware, staff items, nameplates, awards, gift boxes, promotional runs. Tell us the outcome, for example “100 thermal flasks with our logo”, and the process is worked out from there.
- Staff itemsName badges, lanyard tags, desk plates, welcome kits.
- DrinkwareFlasks, bottles, mugs and tumblers with a logo or a name.
- Promo runsShort runs of branded items for a launch, an event or a campaign.
- Nameplates & signsDoor plates, room signs, machine and asset plates.
- AwardsPlaques and trophies with full-colour or white-on-dark detail.
- Personal piecesOne gift, one keepsake, one photograph on one panel.
Way 01
You supply the product
Send or bring the items you already have. Each one is checked for how it takes ink, one is proved first, and the run follows once you have seen the result.
Way 02
We source the base product
Tell us what you need and roughly how many. Suitable blank items are sourced for the job, so you deal with one studio and one finished batch.
Not every branded item wants ink. A steel flask may read better laser-marked; a dark acrylic award may want white print. You describe the outcome and upload your logo; which process produces it is Studio Variant’s decision, made per item.
04 How it is built
White, colour, texture, finish. In that order.
Every UV print is a stack. Knowing the order is what makes white on black legible, texture hold its edge and varnish sit where it should.
Proved on the actual material
Colour shifts with the surface under it, texture depends on how many passes the piece will take, and a varnish behaves differently on timber than on acrylic. So the first item is printed and checked before the rest are run.
- Underbase white only where colour needs it
- Colour full colour in one pass, held to the artwork
- Texture layer on layer until the height is right
- Finish gloss, matt or spot varnish, or none
- Acrylic
- Timber
- Coated metals
- Plastics
- Glass
- Leather
- Board & card
- Printed 3D parts
Surfaces listed are typical, not guaranteed. Suitability, adhesion and the need for preparation are confirmed against your item.
05 With the other capabilities
Print is rarely the whole job.
Most printed pieces were cut, machined or built first. Because every process sits in one studio, the sequence is planned as one job.
- Laser cut → printed A panel or sign cut to its outline, then printed in full colour with a white base on dark stock.
- Machined → printed A machined nameplate, housing or award blank, then printed with legend, colour or varnish.
- 3D printed → printed An additively built part with a printed face, badge or colour detail where a paint finish would not hold.
- Printed → engraved Colour laid first, then laser-engraved detail through it for contrast and permanence.
- Scanned → printed An existing object captured so artwork can be placed accurately on a curved or shaped surface.
- Printed → varnished A protective or decorative clear layer over the whole print or over a chosen area only.
06 How far you take it
Your project. Your route.
Both of these are complete pieces of work. Neither is the consolation prize.
Route 01 — complete service
Printing and finishing only
Already have the items and the artwork and simply need them printed? Send them across, and the surface and artwork are reviewed before anything is run.
- Review of your artwork against the surface and the size.
- One item proved and shown to you before the run.
- The finished pieces, printed and finished as agreed.
- No obligation to continue with Studio Variant.
Route 02 — complete service
Full project
Starting from an outcome rather than a finished object? Continue through the Studio Variant workflow, with one studio responsible at every stage.
- 01 Outcome
- 02 Design & artwork
- 03 Cut, machine or build
- 04 Print & finish
- 05 Finished product
One panel. One flask. One award. One hundred badges. One idea in colour.
There is no minimum size of project here. A single printed gift is treated with the same care as a run of branded items, because both are somebody’s project.
07 Project records
Reserved for real work.
These slots are held for genuine Studio Variant printing projects, recorded outcome through process to result. Nothing illustrative will be presented here as completed client work.
Project record — reserved
Imagery to be added
Outcome → Surface → Artwork → Print & finish → Result
Project record — reserved
Imagery to be added
Outcome → Surface → Artwork → Print & finish → Result
Colour. Texture. Finish. One piece. A short run. A brand on a hundred things. Or something completely personal.
Back to the first capability