Boyall Graphics recently won an HP Print Excellence Award which was presented in a special ceremony during drupa 2012. The Northampton-based business was a winner in the 'Labels and Packaging – Speciality Printing' category. The digital print specialist’s entry comprised an unusual application for decorating corporate hard hats which had been produced on its HP Indigo digital press.
The HP Print Excellence Awards took place for the first time internationally this year, with 21 categories attracting 364 entries from 47 countries world-wide. Companies eligible to submit actual jobs were those who use HP Indigo, Inkjet Web Press, plus Scitex and Designjet machines.
Boyall Graphics was an easy winner of its section for Speciality Printing, producing an unusual application in a logical and cost-effective way using an ink formulation and material which didn’t compromise the material from which the hard hats were manufactured.
Conventionally, analogue processes such as pad printing are used to customise hard hats which are only cost-effective when higher volumes are being produced; there are also restrictions on the numbers of colours and the area which can be decorated. Using its HP Indigo S2000 digital press, Boyall Graphics was able to produce individual, personalised results with 100% coverage over the entire area. Customers can provide their own vector artwork or photographic images, and these can be integrated with advertising messages and the wearer’s name.
Boyall Graphics has a history steeped in innovate display production, having been formed in the late 1970s as a screen-printing specialist. During the years the company has added wide-format digital print to its range of services, and can produce outdoor durable applications direct to the rigid sheets and rolls up to a maximum width of 3.5m.
As demand became more complex, with the need for greater diversity, Boyall Graphics invested in an HP Indigo S2000 so that it could extend its production capabilities into smaller, decorative items ranging from plastic ID cards through to beer font and brewery dispense graphics. The company’s award-winning customised hard hats provide just one example of the versatility of the printed output which can be offered to clients.
“Our customers want input from us to help their advertising or marketing achieve its objectives,” states Paul Hickmott, sales and marketing director at Boyall Graphics. “Whether we will be printing onto wide-format point-of-sale material for cash and carry warehouses, corporate inflatable structures for blue chip companies, banners or even shop signage, it’s in our interests to make them look good.
“Being awarded the Hewlett Packard Global Print Award for Speciality Printer is extremely important to us,” Hickmott continues. “It assures potential customers in Northamptonshire and the surrounding area that they are dealing with a highly professional printer capable of making them stand out from the crowd.”
“We chose the Indigo s2000 digital solution due to its high quality finish and HP’s willingness to tailor the machines’ specification to our needs,” he concludes. “This sort of supplier approach helps a local printer like us stand out.”
Boyall Graphics specialises in a wide range of applications, including photographic images, exhibition displays, construction signs and hoardings, vending machine graphics and outdoor event structures. The company works from existing designs or can create initial concepts for its clients, with fast turn-round on all orders.
[Photo shows Paul Hickmott (left) with Alon Bar-Shany, Vice President and General Manager, HP Indigo Digital Press Division]
