Business

PaperlinX has opened the doors to its London office.  The new office on Mandela Way will provide a flexible space in which the Group’s customers can work more effectively and efficiently when in London.  The facility has been given a facelift; redecorated and kitted out with a dedicated hot-desking area which customers can use as an extension of their own offices.

Open to all of the merchants’ clients, Mandela Way provides use of a desk, access to a Wi-Fi-enabled broadband connection, printing facilities and meeting rooms - plus a brand new coffee machine!

“Many of our customers regularly find themselves in London visiting clients or attending sales appointments and need more than a cramped table in a coffee shop to answer emails or respond to customers’ requests for quotes etc,” says Andy Buxton, Managing Director Commercial Print.  “Our focus is firmly on meeting our customers’ needs, helping them to add value to their businesses, whatever their requirements and opening up this resource is a key part of that commitment.”

For bookings and further information, please contact PaperlinX.

Color-Logic has named Scodix as a technology partner.  Commenting on the cooperation, Color-Logic Director of Sales and Marketing Mark Geeves says, "Both Scodix and Color-Logic add dramatic special effects to digital and offset printing processes.  But together, the two special effects produce some of the most outstanding printed products ever seen.  Our evaluation of the Color-Logic and Scodix processes, used in conjunction on the same printed piece, confirm the compatibility of the processes."

He continues, "Color-Logic was founded to take advantage of developments in substrates, inks, and coatings.  The technological partnership of Color-Logic with Scodix and their digital press is a perfect example of what our mutually licensed printers can offer their customers."

Ziki Kuly, Scodix Vice-President of Marketing, adds, "Both Scodix and Color-Logic enable printers to enhance their traditional products on clients' behalf, adding dimension and special effects which enable print to compete more effectively in a market with many more advertising media than only a few years ago.  Scodix is pleased to partner with Color-Logic-a relationship which strengthens both our efforts in the marketplace."

Samples showing the Scodix and Color-Logic special effects will be available at PRINT 13 from Scodix in booth 1921 and from Color-Logic in booth 5049.

James MacDonald has been promoted to the position of Vice President of Marketing for Nazdar Ink Technologies.  Previously, he led the company's UK marketing team and advanced the marketing efforts for Nazdar's digital product lines.

With over 20 years’ experience in the industry, James' primary focus will be to develop and implement marketing strategies to expand Nazdar’s presence internationally.

“We recognise the need to integrate our geographic marketing resources into a global marketing organisation led by dedicated, focused executive leadership,” said Richard Bowles, President of Nazdar Ink Technologies. “James’ understanding of marketing, our product lines and market segments along with the experienced staff he will lead will create an effective marketing organisation.”

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.

The Royal Academy Schools recently held its annual exhibition of final year postgraduate students’ work profiling the work of 17 artists. Housed within the historic studio spaces of the Schools, several of the works on display included those produced using large-format Epson printers and projectors, accessible to the students in the on-site Epson Digital Media Suite. Epson provides the very latest in large-format printers and projectors to the RA Schools so students can experiment with different materials and designs and to produce their final artwork.

The Royal Academy Schools offer the UK’s only three-year, full-time, postgraduate course and is regarded as a Centre of Excellence in the art world. The graduation exhibition provides visitors with a rare opportunity to view the finished artwork across a range of media from painting to photography, sculpture, digital print and film.

The show is firmly established as the most exciting and creative of all the UK graduation shows and was a resounding success. Art Collectors, dealers and museum curators attended and the exhibiting students benefitted tremendously from record-breaking sales of works, gallery deals offering shows and representation, plus additional support through several prestigious prizes and travel awards. It is estimated the shows were viewed by around 10,000 visitors, many of whom are regular supporters of the wider Royal Academy.

All the students showing have worked with Epson’s large-format printers and/or projectors at some time during their course and artworks created through the Epson Digital Media Suite sponsored workshops were in evidence throughout.

In this year’s exhibition:

• Adham Faramawy exhibited works using a variety of media including video installation, digital inkjet print works, pixelated painted constructions inspired by internet imagery and visual bombardment and sound works.
• James Robertson utilised digital media to produce a small army of digitally-produced laser cut-outs printed onto Foamex depicting a young feminist campaigner, alongside appropriated and manipulated digital poster works and printed wet t-shirts that were repeatedly stuck to the gallery walls with water.
• In the works of Brad Grievson the use of printing was just as prevalent but not as instantly recognisable. Often deceptive in their simplicity his works use digital transfer printing, inkjet production and inkjet wrapping techniques on unlikely substrates and materials. His use of digital technologies often works against the intended function of the machines he uses.
• For his multi-media, four-screen video work Tim Pratt used projectors to create high-definition large-format filmed images of forensic close-ups of everyday objects - often unrecognisable at such massive scales - filling a whole gallery space of the RA Schools.
• Marie Von Heyl created an installation which explored new technologies using digital drawings, films, large-format inkjet prints and published texts.
• The digital print installation created by Amy Petra Woodward was made from a similar sense of curiosity regarding technology but with massively different results. Her show consisted of two large tables upon which she placed iridescent Lycra fabric sheets that had collections of digitally produced photographic imagery printed onto them.

Mark Hampson, Head of Material Processes, Royal Academy says, “The RA Schools graduation show demonstrates the wonderful creative outcomes of our collaborative relationship with Epson. All the students have worked in the Epson Digital Media Suite while researching, preparing and producing their artwork and their involvement with Epson technologies has influenced their final show tremendously.”

Nick White, business manager, ProGraphics at Epson UK adds, “As a leading supplier of technology to the fine art market, Epson is very keen to support young artists. Through our partnership with the Royal Academy Schools, we are able to offer the students the opportunity to test Epson’s equipment to its limit and experiment with their creative ideas.”

 

With over 35,000 visitors per day during Wimbledon, unmissable printed graphics were the latest wayfinding development to keep the fans and traffic safely on course at the event.

The unique Applied Media floor applied graphic system has been adopted as part of an experimental signage scheme designed to contribute towards continuous safety improvements. The scheme enhanced pedestrian, wheelchair and vehicle movements in and around the world famous venue in South West London.

The large format graphic panels were printed using an efficient digital flat-bed with flexible UV cure inks which proved ideal for the polymeric base media. The printed graphics were then protected with a propriety laminate and incorporated crystalline aggregate.

Championship manager Matt Crawcour said: “Providing the best possible visitor experience is hugely important to us. A big part of this is to provide information for everybody to move safely and efficiently with minimum queuing and delays.”

The answer at Wimbledon has been to utilise this innovative floor applied graphic system for their various temporary signage requirements. The system, which is more usually employed for high impact advertising campaigns, provided clearly visible route markings to help the large visitor numbers enjoy even more of the Championship experience.

The Applied Media full colour graphic system, which can be tessellated to any size, was not only instated within the Wimbledon campus but thanks to the product’s unique properties the London Borough of Merton also approved this system as temporary signage on the macadam footpaths around the perimeter of the complex. The signage safely guided the ‘Queue’ for tickets and the authority were impressed with results and performance and are assessing potential for future events in the borough.

Business development director for Applied Media, Larry Walsh said: “This is a great use of a home grown product and we are pleased to be involved in this prestigious British sporting event which is the oldest tennis tournament in the world.”

“This innovation has been specifically developed to facilitate branding, advertising and signing opportunities in new and sometimes difficult to access locations. Sports fans will be familiar with the Applied Media graphics which were also adopted to provide branding in the challenging tidal environment at this year’s BNY Mellon Boat Race in London. Last year our parent company also worked closely with Transport for London using similar technology to apply and remove 120 kilometres of temporary games lanes for the Olympic and Paralympics games.”

Ideally suited to sporting and events stadia the panels can be printed with any creative design, sign or message. They are designed for use in areas with heavy pedestrian activity and can be overrun with vehicular traffic. The panels are easily laid on any sound surface and then quickly lifted without damage to the substrate or leaving adhesive residue.

Early successes for the product came at the Sports Business and Marketing Conference and the North West Football Awards at Lancashire County Cricket Club in 2011. Both here and high profile branding for the Sports Merchandise and Marketing Exhibition at Wembley Stadium the power to revolutionise sports and events marketing was quickly recognised.

The highly durable, slip resistant graphic panels were also recently installed at London’s Oxford Circus tube station where they wowed commuters with a highly visual campaign for Warner Bros. Great Gatsby movie.

“Following the success of this year’s trials we may consider further opportunities to roll out Applied Media at Wimbledon next year,” added Matt Crawcour.

For more information, please visit www.appliedoutdoormedia.com

[Photo caption: Applied Media’s revolutionary graphics kept fans and traffic safely on course at Wimbledon.]