Fully Custom Cases: Putting the Brand Into the Product
The same logo applied three ways has three different lifespans, and the difference is not in the artwork. Surface printing is cheap, fast to set up and fades wherever a hand lands. An in-mould label costs more, slows the tool, and outlives the shell it sits in. What separates the three is the operation the mark has to survive — the press, the fixture, the cavity — plus the tolerances a caliper and a spectrophotometer can settle and a purchase order can carry. Choose the process before the logo, and the rest of the specification follows.
01Three Routes: On the Surface, On a Fixture, In the Mould
Screen and pad printing are downstream operations. The case is moulded, trimmed and assembled before ink touches it, a change means a new screen or a new cliché, and samples arrive in 7 to 12 days. In-mould labelling runs on the other track: the label goes into the cavity before resin fills it, the polymer welds to the backing, and the mark becomes part of the wall itself.
Durability sorts cleanly: in-mould first, pad second, screen last. Screen ink builds the heaviest layer and relies on surface energy for adhesion, and after 500 abrasion cycles it is visibly thinning. Pad printing lays a thinner film but reaches curves and recesses. An in-mould label sits under resin, so abrasion never touches the artwork, and it holds at 80–100 °C.
02Screen Printing: 0.3 mm Is the Line Width Floor
Mesh count and ink deposit set the limit. With 300 to 420 mesh and a dry film of 8 to 15 microns, strokes thinner than 0.3 mm start bridging between openings, and edges go ragged. Below that width the process still prints; the yield simply falls, and batches arrive with characters missing strokes, which is a warranty problem rather than a printing problem.
Position tolerance is held at ±0.5 mm. That number belongs to the moulding, not the press: shrinkage after demoulding, face mismatch after assembly and the flatness of the fixture all eat into it. Datum from the moulded locating posts, never from a trimmed free edge, and keep the mark 3 mm clear of any radius or the screen cannot seat.
03Pad Printing: Curves, Recesses, Dark Substrates
A silicone pad lifts ink from an etched steel plate and transfers it to the part, which is how marks reach shallow lid recesses and handle sides. Plate depth runs 20 to 30 microns. Pad hardness follows curvature: too hard and contact is partial, too soft and the image distorts. Each extra colour adds another pass and another chance to drift off register.
Light artwork on a dark shell needs a white base coat first, and that base needs time to dry before the colour pass or the second hit lifts it. The economics land in the middle volumes, 300 to 1000 pieces. Above that, in-mould labels win on unit price, because pad printing scales with labour and colour count while a label is paid for once.
04In-Mould Labels: Same Lifespan, Tooling Up Front
The label is placed in the cavity before filling, and resin welds to its back as it cools. From then on the artwork sits below the surface: abrasion and solvents do nothing to it, and 80–100 °C leaves it intact. The cost shows up elsewhere — locating features and vacuum hold-downs in the tool, pre-cut labels, and trial shots chasing position because flow pushes the label off-centre.
Drift is the hard part. On a flat face the mark still holds ±0.5 mm, but on a curved surface or near the end of flow it can move by a millimetre. Design the mark onto a large flat area and keep it away from the gate. Colour difference is held at a delta E of 2.0 or less; beyond that, label and shell read as two materials and the joint shows first.
05Foil Stamping Foam: 0.3–0.5 mm Deep
Brand marks on foam are stamped, not printed. Depth runs 0.3–0.5 mm on EVA. Shallow and the impression looks washed out with no crisp shoulder; deep and the foam crushes and stops rebounding, leaving a ring of collapse around the mark. Temperature, pressure and dwell form a narrow window, and a 5% spread in density across a batch shows up as uneven depth.
Three checks close the job: position within ±0.5 mm, minimum stroke 0.3 mm, colour difference at or under delta E 2.0. All three are measured on the first article with a caliper, a loupe and a spectrophotometer, not judged by eye. Sampling takes 7 to 12 days and production starts at 300 to 1000 pieces; colour changes belong to a separate operation.
| Mark position tolerance | ±0.5 mm |
|---|---|
| Minimum stroke width | 0.3 mm |
| Screen print abrasion | 500 cycles |
| In-mould label heat limit | 80–100 °C |
| Foam stamp depth | 0.3–0.5 mm |
| Colour difference | ΔE ≤2.0 |
| Sampling lead time | 7–12 days |
| Minimum order | 300–1000 pcs |
FAQ
Which route do you check first?
Service life and abrasion. Two or three years with occasional wiping suits screen printing; daily handling and solvents call for pad printing; a mark that must outlast the shell needs an in-mould label. All three print well. They differ in year five.
What does the 0.5 mm tolerance actually cover?
The moulding, not the press. Shrinkage, assembly face mismatch and fixture flatness all add up. Datum from the moulded locating posts, never a trimmed edge, and keep 3 mm clear of radii so the screen can seat properly.
Why are in-mould labels expensive?
Tooling and trials. The cavity needs locating features and vacuum, labels must be pre-cut, and position has to be chased during sampling because flow pushes the label, by as much as a millimetre on a curve. Paid once, the unit price falls with volume.
How deep should foam stamping go?
0.3–0.5 mm on EVA. Shallower gives a washed-out edge with no shoulder; deeper crushes the foam so it stops rebounding and leaves a ring of collapse. A 5% density spread across a batch shows as uneven depth, so measure the first article.