How do you handle clear foil instead of a blind emboss?

Blind emboss on black uncoated is nearly invisible. There is no colour shift to read, only a shadow, and on a card this small under warm room light the shadow disappears. A clear gloss foil pass in the same shape. On matte black stock it reads as a wet shine that appears and vanishes as the card turns, which is the effect the emboss was reaching for and could not deliver on this substrate.

How do you handle matte gold, not bright?

Mirror gold on black is the default luxury move and it flattens under a single light source: one hard specular and the letterforms stop reading. Matte gold foil. It holds a dry sheen across the whole panel, so the wordmark stays legible from any angle and sits closer to the can's printed metal than a mirror finish would.

How do you handle pigment foil for the green?

Green ink on black uncoated goes muddy; the stock is dyed through, so there is no white base to print onto. Green pigment foil. It is opaque by construction, lays down flat with no metallic glint, and gives a true spot-colour read where ink would have gone grey-green.

How do you handle the die is the design?

A can-shaped die means a non-standard cut, tighter registration on four passes, and a shape that has to survive a wallet. Kept the silhouette simple, soft shoulders and no narrow waist, so nothing can snap. The shape does the work that a printed illustration of a can never would.

Case study · Business cards · BERO Brewing

A business card cut to the shape of the can

A custom die-cut business card in the silhouette of a BERO can, printed on black uncoated stock with matte gold foil, green pigment foil and a clear gloss foil pass where the original proof had specified a blind emboss.

Business-cards for BERO Brewing with matte gold, green pigment and clear gloss foil stamping, custom die cut to can silhouette and 32pt black uncoated, dyed through.

FoilsCHENHUI Matte Gold · 171M, CHENHUI Pigment Green, CHENHUI Pigment Clear Gloss TechniquesDie Cut, Hot Foil, Clear Gloss Foil, Gold Foil, Matte Gold Foil, Pigment Foil StocksBlack uncoated 32pt

The idea

BERO is a premium non-alcoholic beer brand co-founded by Tom Holland and John Herman, launched in October 2024. Holland has said the brand is personal: after two years on his sobriety journey he wanted to create something that reflected his lifestyle and values, for anyone who appreciates quality and craftsmanship, and that BERO "never asks you to settle for less."

Four rules

01Clear foil instead of a blind emboss. A clear gloss foil pass in the same shape. On matte black stock it reads as a wet shine that appears and vanishes as the card turns, which…
02Matte gold, not bright. Matte gold foil. It holds a dry sheen across the whole panel, so the wordmark stays legible from any angle and sits closer to the can's pri…
03Pigment foil for the green. Green pigment foil. It is opaque by construction, lays down flat with no metallic glint, and gives a true spot-colour read where ink would…
04The die is the design. Kept the silhouette simple, soft shoulders and no narrow waist, so nothing can snap. The shape does the work that a printed illustration of…

About BERO

The brand describes itself as born in London, crafted in America, and co-created for those who never settle. The beer is brewed with maltose-negative yeast, which keeps alcohol negligible without dealcoholization or stripping out flavour. It has since scaled into more than 4,000 locations including Target, Total Wine, Sprouts and Erewhon.

That context set the brief. A card for a brand whose whole argument is that the non-alcoholic option should not feel like a compromise cannot itself be a compromise. So the card is not a rectangle with a can printed on it.

What is on the card

The face carries the production proof exactly as it ships: KINGSTON GOLDEN PILS set across the can body, EST. 2024 beneath it, and the fish-and-foliage crest above. The panel splits gold over green, matte gold foil on the upper field, green pigment foil below, with the clear foil pass riding the shoulder where the proof had called for a blind emboss.