Business - Applications

RK Sweets - a well-established vegetarian Indian cuisine brand in the Northwest of England - recently moved to purpose-built premises in Preston. Extremely popular for its delicious Indian savoury and sweet snacks, the owners wanted to ensure RK Sweets remained a household name to the majority of local people, whilst extending its catchment area and customer base.

For several years, RK Sweets operated out of two separate premises, their retail shop and a separate kitchen area. The new premises, situated on a main thoroughfare through Preston, comprises a large takeaway area and dining facilities, combined with an extensive kitchen area allowing plenty of space to fulfil all their outside catering work.

The front of the new premises is 18m long and in the heart of the Plungington Road nightlife. It was originally 3 separate shops that have now (after nearly 12 months of renovating) been knocked into one huge area.

To help achieve RK Sweets’ objectives, stylish and modern signage needed to be produced for the new premises. Through personal recommendation, RK Sweets commissioned Paul Turner Displays (PTD) to deliver their signage solution. Paul Turner from PTD came up with recommendations which took into account the location, the lighting, passing trade and the desire to reach new customers whilst retaining the brand image with established customers.

The nature of the business means that customers visit RK Sweets during the day and well into the evening. As it is situated on a busy road, simple but clear signage was required so that passing motorists could quickly identify the new premises.

Paul Turner of PTD commented, “A 16 metre tray sign in 7 sections was constructed with LED push through backlit letters (50,000 hours lifetime) as well as stand off stainless steel letters that were carefully removed from the old premises, cleaned and re-sited. The backlit letters were produced in such a way that they are clearly visible during the day and at night they ‘glow’ making them instantly eye catching. The colour of the tray sign is an exact match to the door and window frames which had already been installed, ensuring the signage blends well into the ‘feel’ of the building.”

All the signage had to be manufactured and installed within a 2-week period, working in conjunction with the builders who were also using scaffolding that covered the front of the building right up to the day of installation.

Paul concluded, “Everything went to plan and the premises were open for business on time with the new signage received very favourably by the management. As an added bonus some passing businessmen liked the signage so much they have asked for similar signs for their 19 dental practices! We couldn’t have asked for more.”

Time Art Gallery’s Art on the Street team have been on their annual tour of the UK’s Summer festivals, including Glastonbury, T in the Park, Latitude, Womad, Bestival, Strawberry Fields, V, Reading and Leeds, where they promote and sell signed, collectable Limited Edition prints and original works of art.

Representing the works of a number of independent London-based artists such as Dan Avenell, Lewis Campbell, Steve Moss and Maria Luisa Azzini, Time Art Gallery produces the high-quality artworks using Epson large-format inkjet printers.

Time Art Gallery is an artist-run Fine Art publisher established over seven years ago by photographer Yannick Yanoff and artist Michael Kozlov. Originally set up to sell artworks from an outlet in London’s Camden Lock Market, the company expanded and opened further outlets in Greenwich Market and Portobello Road Market – all of which are still in operation. It also launched its first edition website www.timeart.co.uk which offers quality signed Limited Edition prints and original works of art to order online.

Recognising the consumer demand for high quality prints and artworks, Yannick and Michael opened, and continue to run, successful stores within four UK shopping centres: Bluewater, Kent; Bullring, Birmingham; Meadowhall, Sheffield; and Touchwood, Solihull.

The company currently owns six Epson printers: three 44-inch Stylus Pro 9800 models and three 24-inch Stylus Pro 7890s, all supplied by Epson distributor Colourbyte. Each of the four shopping centre stores has its own dedicated Epson printer which not only allows them to replenish stock levels but also enables them to print on-demand from their artwork collections in-store. They also offer a bespoke canvas print service so that customers can bring in their own digital images to be printed. The remaining two Epson printers are based at the company’s office in London and are used on a daily basis to produce canvasses and Limited Edition prints.

The artworks are printed onto a range of media including semi-matte proofing paper, glossy photo paper, and a range of synthetic canvasses which are hand stretched onto 4cm deep wooden frames and secured with transparent varnish. As artists Yannick and Michael are always pushing the boundaries and will often experiment with different media and finishes before placing the finished artworks in their stores or online.

The very first picture Yannick sold was printed on an Epson printer and he’s been using them ever since. “Our aim is to produce high-quality professional photographs and fine art prints with high colour accuracy,” says Yannick. “We use Epson printers because we know we can rely on them to create true-to-original prints that our artists and customers will be happy with. Epson has the best reputation for quality and reliability and the printers are very easy to install and use.”

With print speeds up to 40 sqm per hour the Stylus Pro range of printers offer an ideal combination of accurate colour reproduction with unbeatable productivity and have been designed to help professional photographers and the fine art market create true-to-life prints at high speed.

Using Epson’s 8-colour UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta inkset in combination with the TFP print head for enhanced dot quality and crisp, clear images, the printers offer lab-quality prints. They achieve one of the highest colour gamuts on the market with consistently smooth gradations and also offer a superior range of natural looking grey tones. Three densities of black, comprising a standard photo or matte black (selected automatically depending on the media) plus a light black and light light black, create neutral black and white prints with no colour cast and perfect tonal range.

The company has recently invested in another Epson Stylus Pro 7890, to be installed in the Arndale Centre, Manchester, and plans to invest in three more Epson printers before the end of the year, as well as working on a project to bring Time Art Gallery to Westfield Stratford in London. Yannick has his artistic eye fixed firmly on the future: “I strongly believe that being visible on the high street and offering customers high-end quality printed products is the key to Time Art Gallery’s success. With Epson technology we are confident that we can continue to offer the highest quality artworks as well as introducing new products to our portfolio.”

Nick White, business manager, ProGraphics, at Epson UK says: "Time Art Gallery has tapped into a consumer market which wants quality artwork at affordable prices and the Epson Stylus Pro range of printers fits the bill perfectly. We look forward to working closely with Yannick and the team on their future projects."

[Picture shows Time Art Gallery’s Art on the Street stand at Glastonbury]

Large format printing specialist Clicks Digital Solutions says it has been able to increase both print consistency and overall business productivity significantly as a direct result of its recent investment in GMG ColorServer, SmartProfiler and EcoSave applications.

From its 10,000 sq.ft. location in Clerkenwell, central London, Clicks Digital Solutions has over 20 years’ experience as a specialist digital print services provider. Working with a range of Blue Chip advertising and retail clients, its 40 employees operate a 24 hour shift roster producing exterior hoardings, retail POS, exhibition graphics and display materials. Equipment ranges from large format machines from Inca Digital, HP and Fujifilm, as well as HP Indigo digital presses for general commercial print work.

“With such a diversity of output equipment, our previous colour management workflow was fragmented,” says Dave Spaul, Clicks Digital Solutions’ Managing Director. “We were relying on each machine’s RIP to handle both output and colour management, and found we were wasting time tweaking output to ensure consistency across devices. We realised that we needed a single, centralised colour management system that could control and co-ordinate colour output across all of our printers, as well as something that was more robust in terms of ripping jobs.”

Dave was already familiar with GMG, and their colour management reputation. “I know several companies that use GMG solutions and are very happy with both the results as well as the positive impact that it has brought to their business.”

GMG ColorServer standardises and simplifies colour management to deliver accurate and consistent results across disparate output devices; while GMG SmartProfiler is an easy-to-use, intelligent “wizard” application that enables even inexperienced users to create extremely accurate device colour profiles.

“We have just completed the creation of profiles for all our devices, and the business benefits are already becoming apparent,” continues Dave. “Depending on the particular job - or how busy we are - we can allocate elements of the same job across any of our devices and have the utmost confidence that the colour will match. We can load-balance and speed-up production to meet tight deadlines without the potential danger of compromising on quality.”

As well as ColorServer and SmartProfiler, Clicks has deployed GMG’s EcoSave option that allows a reduction in ink usage of up to 20%, depending on the job and device, while maintaining consistent and accurate colour output.

“Previously I had suspicions about the benefits of colour management,” continues Dave, “but hearing the strong positive feedback from companies that have implemented GMG solutions, together with our own initial experiences with the system, clearly show that GMG ColorServer, together with SmartProfiler and EcoSave, will have a significant impact on our business.”

Toby Burnett, GMG UK MD, says: “In common with many of today’s print services providers, Clicks needed fast, accurate, worry-free output across its wide variety of devices. Removing output inconsistencies and streamlining their production workflow brings significant colour management and productivity gains.”

[Image shows Dave Spaul, MD, Clicks Digital Solutions]

The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, famously known as The Red Arrows, has installed a 17-inch Epson Stylus Pro 3880 digital inkjet printer, supplied by Color Confidence. The printer is used to produce high quality A3 and A4 lustre, matte and gloss photographs, taken by The Red Arrows’ RAF photographers, primarily for public relations and corporate events. With its small footprint, the printer is ideally suited to go on tour with the team.

The Red Arrows is the public face of the Royal Air Force and renowned across the globe as one of the world’s premier aerobatic teams – most easily recognised by the bright red Hawk aircraft used which gives the team its name. Based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, The Red Arrows, which comprises nine display pilots and about 100 engineers and support staff, tour in the UK and internationally during the summer and train at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, during the winter.

Color Confidence has supplied the Ministry of Defence for several years and installed an Epson Stylus Pro 4880 printer at The Red Arrows’ base in 2009. Based in Birmingham, Color Confidence has developed into one of Europe's leading distributors of colour management solutions, photographic accessories and consumables and large format printing equipment. “We’ve built up a good relationship with The Red Arrows over the years”, says Pete Holland, Business Manager Imaging and Printing Division, Color Confidence.  “They value our experience and know they can rely on our expert advice and technical support.”

When The Red Arrows were looking to replace their old printer, Color Confidence was happy to recommend the Stylus Pro 3880.  “We receive exceptional support from Epson which makes our job a lot easier as we know we can rely on their specialised knowledge and back-up if needed,” says Pete.

“The Stylus Pro 4880 had set the standard for colour output for The Red Arrows’ photographs and the Stylus Pro 3880 was perfect for their needs. It offered the high quality prints that they wanted with accurate colour reproduction – of utmost importance when printing bright reds – and is flexible and easily transportable for when they need to take it on tour.”

Offering flexibility across a broad range of media, the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 can be used by professional and aspiring photographers alike. Using Epson’s advanced, fourth generation UltraChrome K3 Vivid Magenta pigment inks to deliver long lasting, high quality large format A2+ prints in both black and white and full colour – one of its great strengths is the very wide colour gamut and exceptional light fastness – the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 offers fast, flexible printing. Larger 80ml individual ink cartridges offer greater ink savings and increased productivity, whilst Epson’s patented Micro PiezoTM print head ensures accurate ink placement. With excellent colour stability, light fastness and colour gradation users can be assured that each print will be the same as the first, even if printed months apart.

Neil Mackenzie, Pro Graphics Account Manager at Epson UK, says, “It’s great to hear that such a prestigious team as The Red Arrows are using Epson technology. The combination of Epson’s latest hardware innovations, industry-leading ink technology and exceptionally small footprint makes the Stylus Pro 3880 a perfect match for printing photographs. The printer’s accuracy makes it ideal for creating long-lasting prints to sell and exhibit.”

For further information on The Red Arrows, please visit www.raf.mod.uk/reds/

For more information on Color Confidence, please visit www.colourconfidence.com

AJD Group, of Bournemouth, UK, has become an exclusive HP branded large format digital print service provider in order to offer its customers a high level of print and product quality through the use of HP inks, media and printers that it could not otherwise deliver.

AJD Group, comprising A J Print, BPE Signs and JUST, serves a wide range of customers, from councils to the police force, and offers varying applications including POP/POS displays, posters, roller banners and vehicle wraps. The company which currently owns two HP Latex 260 Printers and two HP Designjet Z6200 Photo Printers has found that using only HP printers and HP inks and media is the most effective way to deliver reliable quality on a wide range of substrates for diverse indoor and outdoor applications.

“We at AJD Group have been in the printing business for many years, and know that to be competitive you need to continuously evolve and move forward,” said Andrew Ballington-James, group chairman, AJD Group. “Our decision to exclusively own HP products followed extensive research and testing of different print solutions to help our company expand. We found HP products, along with HP Inks from our HP reseller Perfect Colours, to be the most reliable and efficient with the best finish we had seen.”

AJD Group has reported a reduction in printed waste now its end-to-end print components are all HP. The company was also attracted by the fact that both the HP Latex 260 and the HP Designjet Z6200 printers use water based inks as it increased its appeal to environmentally aware customers.

AJD Group uses the two HP Latex 260s for a wide range of applications. An important selling point of the printer for AJD Group was the versatility of the media that can be used, enabling the company to offer new and different applications to its customers.

“We use the HP Latex 260 for virtually any application, but the main reason we bought this machine was for self-adhesive banner vinyl, canvas and flag material,” said Ballington-James. “The head technology of the latex printer is the same as the Z series that we own, which enables us to control colour and branding. The technology and the printing methods used by the HP Latex 260 are far superior to any solvent printer we have ever used and the prints are ready to finish and dispatch straight from the printer.”

The company mainly uses its HP Designjet Z6200 to create exhibition products and displays for promotional events. AJD Group is able to meet all its customers’ requirements, from roller banners to pop up systems and posters, with the capability of the HP Designjet Z6200.

“The HP Designjet Z6200 was a cost-effective purchase for us as it is more economical on ink than our previous printer, as well as quicker, allowing us to complete more projects with a faster turnaround,” said Ballington-James. “Our customers have been very impressed with the quality and the speed that we turn around our work since installing both the HP Latex 260s and the HP Designjet Z6200s. Following this response, we are exploring adding an HP large-format flatbed press in the future.”

[Photo caption: The versatility of the media that can be used with the HP Latex 260s enables AJD Group to offer new and different applications to its customers]

HP's Designjet Z6200 Photo Printer was used to create 95 inspirational art posters designed by a wide variety of international artists for a new exhibition, honouring Nelson Mandela on his 95th birthday.

Two celebrated South African designers conceived the project, the outflow of which was the production of high quality artwork for exhibition purposes, initially revealed in Pretoria. The project began with a global request for artists to submit their designs that attracted well over 700 entries from artists in 70 countries, including several from world-renowned artists.

HP is the Official Print Partner for the Mandela Poster Project. South African print service provider Printville is producing the posters working with support and consultancy from HP, while local sales organisation Nashua supplied the printing hardware for testing and production.

The HP Designjet Z6200 Photo Printer was chosen to produce the exhibition artwork because it excels at producing high quality photo images at high speed. The printer is one of the fastest printers in its class and excels on print-to-print colour accuracy.

All 95 pieces of artwork were printed on HP Professional Satin media using HP pigment inks, ensuring exceptional and consistent output. The posters will resist fading indoors in gallery conditions for up to 200 years, ensuring industry leading archivability throughout its lifespan.

Printville managing director Delarey Ferreira consistently chooses HP Designjet printers for the production of high quality photographic and fine-art work for his clients. “HP Designjet printers provide spot-on print-to-print colour accuracy,” Ferreira explained. “I’m also amazed at the HP Chromatic Red Ink used on the HP Designjet Z6200 Photo Printer – it has helped to create stunning artwork. We used this printer, together with an HP DreamColor display monitor, on the Mandela Poster Project to ensure the colours we saw on screen would be reproduced precisely in print, saving time and money. I’m looking forward to visiting the exhibition to see these amazing prints celebrating the life of such an important and inspirational South African on display.”

Thomas Valjak, EMEA vice president and general manager, Large-Format Design Printing Solutions, HP, adds, “Fine art exhibitions such as The Mandela Project demand a high quality print with colours that will still look true to the artist’s design years after the artwork has been printed. We are delighted that the HP Designjet Z6200 Photo Printer has achieved stunning prints that honour the artist’s creativity – and all produced in a short turnaround time as demanded by the client. The combination of HP pigment inks and HP Professional Satin Media means these creations will last for generations to enjoy.” 

The 95 posters represented in the Mandela Poster Project will be exhibited at the University of Pretoria in South Africa from 18th July 2013 to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s contribution to humanity. Invitations for the Mandela Poster Project to exhibit in other countries has already been received from organisations in Brazil, Mexico, the U.S. and China, so the artwork will soon be seen by a global audience.

The project is not-for-profit and coordinated by a team of volunteers. The poster collection and all proceeds that may arise from exhibitions will be donated to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust to support the establishment of a dedicated children’s hospital in Johannesburg.