Hazen Scores Another Slam Dunk

For more than 10 years, Holyoke, Massachusetts-based Hazen Paper has worked on the Enshrinement yearbook cover for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In this, the 11th Enshrinement yearbook, Hazen uses their HoloJet® paper to project an amplified refractive three-dimensional image of a basketball symbolizing the Hall of Fame dome.

Basketball’s ‘enshrinement ceremony’ is a chance for the sport’s playing community to honour players of the game by induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

For 2023, the cover includes Fresnel lens technology and a holographic element called ‘Metal-Morphosis™’, which Hazen’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Claudia Kipp, explained during her presentation at last year’s Holography Conference Online (THCO). The technology uses a new deep- groove system for sharper images and greater dimensionality. Appearing to move and change with the angle of light, the holographic treatment creates engagement and interaction with the book.

Hazen originated the holographic imagery completely within its vertically integrated Holyoke facility. The custom holograms were created in Hazen’s holographic laser lab, then micro-embossed and transfer-metallized onto smooth, 12-point WestRock Tango C2S using Hazen’s environmentally friendly Envirofoil® and HoloJet processes.

The holography is created with an optical structure that is imprinted on the surface of the paper (underneath the printed graphics) with an ultra-thin polymer layer that is less than 2 microns in thickness. Envirofoil is a non-plastic paper that is as recyclable as regular paper and to further establish its environmental credentials, Hazen’s primary source of energy is hydroelectricity derived from the Connecticut River driving their on-site turbines.

Front view (© Hazen, Naismith Memorial).

 

Back view (© Hazen, Naismith Memorial).