Industry Trends

Your Packaging & Print Questions Answered: From Bemis to Memorial Flyers

Your Packaging & Print Questions Answered: From Bemis to Memorial Flyers

I'm a brand compliance manager at a consumer goods company. I review every piece of printed material and packaging before it reaches customers—roughly 200+ unique items annually. I've rejected about 12% of first deliveries in 2024 due to spec mismatches, color inconsistencies, or structural failures.

These are questions I actually get from colleagues, vendors, and folks trying to figure out packaging and print projects. Some are straightforward. Others, honestly, took me years to understand properly.

What happened with Bemis and Amcor?

Amcor completed its acquisition of Bemis Company in June 2019. The deal was valued at approximately $6.8 billion, creating one of the largest flexible packaging companies globally.

Here's what this means practically: if you were a Bemis customer before the acquisition, your contracts likely transferred to Amcor. The Bemis brand still exists in certain product lines, but corporate operations merged. I've worked with both pre- and post-acquisition, and honestly, the transition was smoother than I expected—took about 18 months for vendor codes and contact systems to fully integrate on our end.

If you're sourcing flexible packaging today: go through Amcor's portal. Bemis healthcare packaging expertise is still there, just under the Amcor umbrella. Their barrier film technology didn't disappear—it got folded into Amcor's broader portfolio.

What was Bemis Company, Inc.'s stock ticker?

Bemis Company, Inc. traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BMS until the Amcor acquisition closed in June 2019. Post-acquisition, Bemis shares were delisted and converted to Amcor shares.

Amcor currently trades as AMCR on the NYSE. As of January 2025, that's where you'd track the combined entity's performance. If you're doing historical analysis on Bemis stock, you'll need to look at pre-June 2019 data under BMS.

How do I create a memorial service flyer that doesn't look cheap?

It took me 3 years and about 150 print orders to understand that paper weight matters more than design complexity for perceived quality.

For memorial service flyers specifically:

Paper stock: Go with 80-100 lb text weight minimum. I ran a blind test with our team once: same design printed on 60 lb vs 100 lb paper. 78% identified the heavier stock as "more professional" without knowing the difference. The cost increase was about $0.08 per piece. On a 200-piece run, that's $16 for measurably better perception.

Finish: Matte or soft-touch coating reads as more dignified than glossy for memorial materials. This was accurate as of Q4 2024—print finishing options and pricing change, so verify current rates.

Layout basics:

• Photo resolution: 300 DPI minimum (I've rejected dozens of memorial flyers for pixelated images)
• Margins: at least 0.5" on all sides
• Font size for body text: 11-12pt minimum for readability

Honestly, the biggest mistake I see is cramming too much text. Leave white space. It reads as intentional, not empty.

What makes a good movie poster for 2025 releases?

I'm somewhat skeptical when people ask about "top movie posters"—poster quality and movie quality aren't the same thing. But from a print production standpoint, here's what I've learned reviewing promotional materials:

Standard theatrical poster size in the US is 27" × 40" (one-sheet). If you're printing these yourself for personal use or small events, you'll typically scale down to 11" × 17" or 18" × 24".

What actually looks good printed:

• High-contrast images reproduce better than subtle gradients
• Sans-serif title fonts at display sizes (think Impact, Bebas Neue styles)
• Dark backgrounds hide registration issues in cheaper printing

The way I see it, most fan-printed movie posters fail because they're working from compressed JPEG sources. If you can't find a 300 DPI source file, don't print larger than 11" × 17".

How do I make a letter envelope by hand?

This is one of those questions where the answer is simpler than people expect.

Basic DIY envelope from letter-size paper:

1. Start with 8.5" × 11" paper (standard letter size)
2. Fold the bottom edge up about 4 inches
3. Fold both sides in about 1 inch each
4. Crease firmly
5. Tape or glue the side flaps
6. Fold top flap down to close

This gives you roughly a 6" × 4" envelope—fits a folded letter or card.

Important caveat: According to USPS standards (usps.com, as of January 2025), letter-size mail must be between 3.5" × 5" minimum and 6.125" × 11.5" maximum, with thickness under 0.25". Handmade envelopes work fine if they meet these specs, but irregular shapes may incur additional postage or get rejected by automated sorting.

Current First-Class Mail stamp rate for letters (1 oz): $0.73 as of January 2025. Verify at usps.com/stamps before mailing—rates typically adjust in January and July.

Should I worry about envelope size for mailing?

Yes, actually. USPS defines three categories that affect pricing:

• Letter: 3.5" × 5" minimum to 6.125" × 11.5" maximum, 0.25" max thickness
• Large envelope (flat): 6.125" × 11.5" to 12" × 15", 0.75" max thickness
• Package: anything exceeding large envelope dimensions

The pricing jump matters. As of January 2025, a 1 oz letter costs $0.73, but a 1 oz large envelope costs $1.50. That's more than double. Source: USPS Business Mail 101.

In our Q1 2024 quality audit, we caught a vendor using oversized envelopes for a direct mail campaign—would have cost us an extra $0.77 per piece on 15,000 units. That's $11,550 in unnecessary postage. Now every mailing spec includes envelope dimensions.

What question should I be asking that I'm not?

After 4 years of managing procurement and reviewing deliverables, I've come to believe the question most people skip is: "What does 'industry standard' actually mean for this specific item?"

The "always get three quotes" advice ignores the transaction cost of vendor evaluation and the value of established relationships. But more than that, it ignores that "standard" is meaningless without context.

In 2022, we received a batch of 8,000 packaging units where the seal strength was visibly off—2.1 lbs/in against our 2.5 lbs/in spec. Normal tolerance is ±10%. The vendor claimed it was "within industry standard." We rejected the batch, and they redid it at their cost. Now every contract includes specific seal strength requirements with testing methodology.

I'd rather spend 10 minutes explaining options than deal with mismatched expectations later. An informed customer asks better questions and makes faster decisions. That's not just good for you—it's good for everyone involved in the project.