I was out at a movie theater installing a standee this week, a large flat-card (an approximately 5-feet by 8-feet image on an easel structure) promoting an upcoming film. On my way out of the theater, I noticed a table with stacks of small posters, presumably for moviegoers to take home. I thought this was a novel idea. I found one that appealed to me and brought a part of the “moviegoing experience” back to my home as well.
A print brokering client of mine is producing a book. It will be 5.5” x 8.5” and perfect bound with French flaps. This client runs a small publishing house. Therefore, to make this print book consistent with others in my client's series, I have specified Sebago IV 55# Antique finish, blue-white for the main text of the book.
Writing the last PIE Blog article about print brokering work got me thinking. Since them I've come up with a few more benefits of working with a custom printing broker: the kinds of services I bring to my own commercial printing brokerage work and what I have seen in the work of other brokers.
An active print brokering client of mine recently contacted the printer directly regarding a new job. This was a printer we had been using for a number of recent jobs. The printer contacted me immediately. He said he had made it clear that my client needed to present all new jobs directly through me, her commercial printing broker.
I just bought a CD at a thrift store, and I was struck by the beautiful artwork printed on the face of the disk. So I wondered how it had been printed. Then I pulled out a number of my CDs and noticed that some were printed differently from others. Unsure of what the options were, I went online and did some research. This is what I found.
Have you ever picked up a mug or a golf ball with a particularly interesting graphic and wondered how the manufacturer could possibly have printed it? After all, if most presses print flat images on flat substrates, just how can a graphic be printed on an irregular surface?