Keeping it Simple with Kid of the Village Belly Band Packaging

Hayley Cunningham is a mum of two and the creator / illustrator behind Kid of the Village, a small but perfectly formed design studio based in the leafy Kent countryside. Launched in 2017, Kid of the Village prints and wall hangings combine unique hand-drawn elements, bold but sensitive colour palettes and playful graphic design to delight and inspire children during their most formative years. Today Hayley’s artwork hangs in children’s bedrooms and playrooms all over the world.

TPH works with customers from a wide range of backgrounds, from start-ups just beginning to explore packaging to professional print buyers. Hayley was already familiar with print layouts and design and was looking for a new printer to supply a cost effective, attractive belly band for her fabric nursery wall hangings.

“My current printer wasn’t being very responsive so I decided it was time to look for someone new. I did a bit of research on Google, sent off a few enquiries and The Printing House came back very quickly with a good price. I found them very friendly, easy to deal with and I’m very happy with the end product.”

A belly band, also known as a packaging sleeve or belly wrap, is simply a long piece of paper which wraps around your product, personalised with your choice of paper and design. Hayley chose a 250gsm kraft paper stock for the belly band. Pete Harrison, The Printing House Sales Manager, explained, “Looking at Hayley’s project we suggested a creaseless belly band specification as this would remove the need for additional machining and reduce costs. We wouldn’t normally recommend this approach as kraft paper does n’t lend itself to manual creasing. But as the band was wrapping around fabric rather than a hard edge, it didn’t need a defined, sharp crease”.

There’s some confusion surrounding kraft paper - packaging kraft paper is usually spelt with a K but occasionally gets mixed up with craft paper from the hobbying world. Kraft actually comes from the German word “strong”, and kraft paper is just that. Raw kraft paper is durable, tear resistant and brown in colour, thanks to the Kraft pulping process. Like all paper, it is made converting wood into wood pulp but the Kraft process strips away more lignin, leaving a higher proportion of cellulose which is stronger than lignin and results in stronger paper.

Kraft paper doesn’t involve extensive bleaching and unlike other papers, it can use resinous pine and bamboo, which aren't able to be used in traditional paper making. Additionally, because nearly all chemicals used in the process are recovered and reused, it is a self-sustaining manufacturing method. “We try to source environmentally friendly materials wherever we can,” explained Hayley, “our wall hangings are made from 100% unbleached, organic cotton, so it was important to stay green when choosing our packaging”.

However brown kraft paper is not an easy material for a colour print. This is because ink has a degree of transparency and the brown paper colour will always show through the overprinted colour, especially lighter tints. Printers can address this issue by printing the design in white on a first pass and then overprinting the white in colour for a vibrant finish. The challenge is lining the 2 prints up precisely to avoid a white “halo effect”. This method usually works out pretty expensive for shorter print runs. Another option is to create a graphic which incorporates a “mock” kraft paper background within the design, which is simply printed on plain white paper so you get the impression of kraft paper without the production issues.

Of course, the even simpler answer is to keep your design in black. When done well, this minimalist approach really works with the earthy aesthetic of the raw kraft paper, as beautifully illustrated by the Kid of the Village belly band.