Business - Applications

“Never will the quality of what we print be compromised,” says Paul Brierton, Managing Director of DP Imaging, “even if it takes an extra hour, so be it.” This is in the face of clients working to tighter and tighter deadlines. So, how does DP Imaging manage to run such a successful operation in the face of such demands?

The printing industry has changed considerably over the past twenty years and DP Imaging has kept a close eye on technological advances and adapted its business accordingly.

The company is now very focused on large format digital printing and DP Imaging has invested in several pieces of high-end equipment to ensure it delivers exactly what its customers require. With key customers in the event industry, a lot of the work involves detailed large graphics, requiring extremely high quality standards.

DP Imaging also partner with a lot of local sign companies who don’t have the equipment, capacity and expertise DP Imaging has. Paul comments, “It doesn’t make sense for these small companies to invest in such expensive equipment which will only be required occasionally. We have the capability to deliver this on their behalf.”

Paul believes one of the key strengths of DP Imaging is the staff. A small team, yes, but all 100% hands on. The directors don’t spend all day sat in the office sorting the paperwork, but are on the ground floor with the rest of team. Their skills and expertise hugely contribute to the success of the company, as they understand exactly what is going on in the market and recognise what customers want. Many competitors have it the opposite way round, where they have lots of staff but not so much equipment. Paul is confident that DP Imaging’s approach is fundamental to its success.

All the equipment DP Imaging uses has been purchased from the Reprocentre. Paul continued, “We’ve worked with the Reprocentre for over 20 years and feel both companies have successfully developed together. We hugely value their knowledge, experience and technical expertise. They keep abreast of everything that is going on in the market and provide us with sound advice as well as extremely reliable and high quality equipment. After all these years we’re still very appreciative of all their advice and support, and would never entertain the thought of speaking to anyone but Eoin Honan and the team of engineers at the Reprocentre. They install and service all our equipment too and their after sales service is just as impressive.”

One thing Paul isn’t keen on doing is overworking his equipment. Though some of the kit is printing during the night to meet tight deadlines, he doesn’t allow it to run over capacity. He will ensure they run to their absolute optimum in terms of quality and time, though the quality of a job will never be compromised. Paul believes this has resulted in a large number of loyal customers who know they will never be let down by DP Imaging.

The directors regularly take a step back to evaluate the whole operation, looking at the equipment, staffing and customer requirements. The plan is to invest in a more productive and efficient flatbed printer in the next 12 months. Guess who they’ll be speaking to for some advice?

For more information speak to Reprocentre Dublin +353 1 409 3100/Belfast 028 9083 9835 or email sales@reprocentre.ie or see the website at www.reprocentre.ie

Working with a tight deadline and a challenging assignment, USA-based Color Ink delivered its client realistic 1:1 scale models of Olympic bobsleds in time for the Olympics.

Established in 1984, Color Ink, Inc. employs over 120 people working in 100,000+ square feet of production space in Sussex, WI, USA.  Before the 2014 Winter Olympics, Century 21 Real Estate’s ad agency approached Color Ink and asked if they could produce a paperboard replica of a U.S. Winter Olympic bobsled. Century 21 is an official sponsor of the US bobsled team and their objective was to display a handful of the replica bobsleds at various locations during Winter Olympics that took place in February 2014.

The project had multiple challenges. Color Ink had to come up with a structural design that would be lightweight for shipping, and have as few parts as possible so that it would be relatively quick and easy to assemble the model. In addition, they had to make sure that the material was durable enough so it would not sustain any damage during the shipping process - but it had to look as authentic as possible. All of this was requested within a budget of approximately $1,300 for each finished bobsled.

“The agency provided us with the graphics that were used on the official bobsled,” remembers Todd Meissner, Color Ink President. “We had only 3 weeks from receipt of the files to deliver final product. We created a structural design of the bobsled that was compact for shipping, easy to assemble and lightweight.”

When Color Ink created the initial, small-scale 12-inch blank prototype, Meissner flew to Philadelphia to review the job with the agency and make minor modifications. It took only a two-hour working meeting to get final instructions. “The blank replica was approved by the customer prior to the actual production run,” adds Meissner. “We then applied the graphics to fit the outer skin of the replica.” The final bobsled model was created from lightweight 40mm white styrene wrapped around a one-inch Ultraboard curvature frame and printed on an Inca Onset Q40i.

“Printing the job with our six-colour Inca Digital Onset Q40i was simple. In fact, from our point of view, it is usually the easiest task of any job,” says Meissner. “Just by virtue of the printhead and ink technology, the quality from the Inca Onset Q40i is exceptional. The solids were very easy to replicate, without any banding.”

“The fact that we were able to overcome all of the challenges and created a finished product that looked truly authentic at such a low cost per unit was amazing—and a big help to our client,” raves Meissner. “We were able to execute flawlessly on every aspect of the project: creativity, print production, assembly and shipping. The weight of the package was only 41 pounds, about the same size as an artificial Christmas tree box. We exceeded our client’s expectations by providing a finished product that was more realistic than their original requirements.”

For its efforts, Color Ink was honoured with a special award for creativity during Inca Digital’s 2014 IDEAs awards ceremony this past May in Munich. The judges praised the effort, saying, “This was a unique design, with complicated specs. It was impressive.”

“We are getting calls and requests we never thought we would receive from this job,” remarks Meissner. “A week ago, the US bobsled skeleton team noticed a blog I had posted about the bobsled, and expressed interest in a similar bobsled for their sponsors. We’re in the midst of negotiating with them for the job, now.”

blowUP media UK’s 166 sq.m. poster site in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens created a social media sensation last week as the Louis Van Gaal ‘Welcome to Vanchester’ poster from Betfair reached 2.9m Twitter users within two hours of its appearance on Monday August 11th.

It trended in sixth position on Twitter in the UK for five and a half hours while whizzing around the world via Twitter and other social media sites.

It also created headlines in the UK and Europe, being prominently featured in many newspapers including the MailOnline, Mirror Online and Sun+ in the UK and De Telegraaf in the Netherlands.

At least three of the tweets received more than 500 retweets with many others scoring over 200. Tweets were tracked from over 1500 locations with the most tweets coming from (in order) the UK, Indonesia, Spain, Netherlands, France, Germany, UAE and Thailand.

The Betfair PR activation played on the famous ‘Welcome to Manchester’ poster featuring footballer Carlos Tevez that Man United’s ‘noisy neighbours’ ran in 2009.

blowUP media UK’s sales director Aimee McKay says, “The extraordinary social media buzz around Betfair’s ‘Welcome to Vanchester’ sign shows how premium Giant Posters in key city centre locations get people talking - in this case all over the world.

“Through Twitter and other social media ‘Welcome to Vanchester’ may have become the most-viewed poster in history.”

Harry Phillips, consumer PR manager of Betfair, adds, "We are all about excitement at Betfair. Louis Van Gaal's arrival in the Premiership certainly brings that.  United struggled last season but Van Gaal has given them a real lift and we wanted to celebrate what he will bring to the Premier League. He's 5/2 to be manager of the month in August.  The question is, will he have the same effect as when Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho first took the league by storm?"

The BSGA (British Sign and Graphics Association) has issued new guidelines for sign makers and sign buyers covering two safety critical areas.

The first provides clarification on the legal obligations of both sign buyers and sign makers in terms of sign maintenance and inspection, and the second provides guidance on how new Eurocodes affect the sign industry – particularly where signs are structural and contain load-bearing components.

“The guideline about sign maintenance has been issued in light of a number of tragic incidents involving signs and make it clear what the sign buyer’s role is in terms of installation and maintenance of signs,” said David Catanach, Director of the BSGA.

“The second guide has been produced to provide an overview of what type of signs need to conform to the new Eurocodes,” he added.  “These regulations come under criminal rather than civil law, and will carry greater penalties for failure to comply.

“It is, therefore, vital that sign makers understand what is required of them.”

In addition to the guidelines, the BSGA has released copies of three International Sign Association (ISA) “white papers” on wayfinding, typography and signs, and a wide format print and media mix survey.

“These papers offer relatable facts, together with case studies, that will give sign makers  some excellent information and guidance,” said David.

The guidelines and the white papers can be downloaded from the BSGA website at www.bsga.co.uk

Fast growing signmaker Leading Edge Creative, based in West Yorkshire, has become widely recognised for the quality of its design and signage across a wide range of applications. Key to the company’s success is the ability to provide optimum solutions to meet customer requirements and budgets.

“Rather than providing a prescriptive service, we offer our customers the best possible option in terms of creativity, whilst working within any budgetary constraints they may have,” says Leading Edge Creative’s managing director Matthew Evans.

To ensure that this balance between quality and cost is maintained Leading Edge regularly uses 3M materials.

“For example, for vehicle wraps, we find that 3M 1080 colour change wrapping film and 3M 50 Series frequently offers a particularly effective combination that gives us a flexible range of options,” continues Mr. Evans. “And all our fitters are 3M Authorised Vehicle Wrappers.”

Recent vehicle wrap work includes colour change and graphics for a Mercedes Sprinter for a company supplying electrical services to the exhibition industry, where eye-catching design was the key criteria. The vehicle was wrapped in 3M 1080 gloss anthracite with text created in 3M 50 Series orange and white gloss, using a vector based design.

“We were asked to use our client’s existing logo and to create a design that was in keeping with their website. At the same time they wanted something that would stand out; and that is why the metallic material was selected,” Mr. Evans explains.

Another example is the ten vehicles that were wrapped for a fire company’s re-branding, where Leading Edge designed to budget in order to give the customer best value and good design. Here, a partial wrap was created with 3M 1080 and 3M 50 Series, again using a vector based design.

“Within the 3M range we find 1080 Series and 50 Series most suitable for vehicle wraps and the best products for purpose. They are easy to handle and give a superior finish,” adds Mr. Evans.

“We use a range of 3M materials across all of our work, for their quality, reliability and durability. And we have developed a good reciprocal relationship with William Smith as our supplier. From the very beginning, when we started up, their service, advice and assistance has always been extremely helpful,” he concludes.

3M 1080 colour change film and 3M 50 Series are available from William Smith, ex-stock,  as full, part or custom slit rolls and same day despatch is provided on full or part roll orders received up to 6.00pm.

3M 1080 Series is a long term, removable dual cast film that has been designed with sufficient rigidity to allow easy handling without the need for application tape. Featuring 3M’s Controltac Comply pressure-activated adhesive, 1080 Series is easy to reposition and ready to use straight from the box. With up to six years durability, these films offer excellent opacity and are highly weather resistant. 1080 Series is suitable for flat surfaces and simple curves.

3M 50 Series is a polymeric opaque film that offers an affordable solution for a wide range of internal and external applications, including non-illuminated signs, fascias, windows, vehicles and banners. It is suitable for application to flat and simple curves on painted, aluminium, acrylic, glass and painted steel surfaces and comes with up to seven years durability and up to five years warranty.

Jack Daniel's latest OOH campaign is specifically targeting key drinking areas for its core consumer audience.

The campaign booked by Kinetic for Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey will appear on blowUP media’s 102sqm Giant Poster on Brick Lane which forms part of the company’s East London Domination collective.

The site’s location in trendy Shoreditch is surrounded by a host of popular East-End bars, music and indie venues which regularly attract highly sociable, late developing-to-29 year old adults.

In a bid to drive awareness in proximity to consumption, the positioning of the ad on the biggest and most visible OOH platform in the area is a guaranteed way to ensure the poster will not go unmissed.

blowUP media sales director Aimee McKay says: “OOH has a pivotal role to play for drinks sector advertising and we’re currently seeing more brands than ever choosing our Giant Poster sites as part of their plans. Our popular locations in East London are ideally positioned to target an abundance of bars and also a high proportion of socially connected tech savvy professionals.”