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Collaboration builds colossal resultsMichael Keene, President, The John Roberts Company
Collaboration builds colossal resultsThe Great Pyramid of Giza was built more than four thousand years ago by a work force of 20,000 people over the course of 30 years. Doesn’t that put the design project that’s sitting on your desk into a better perspective? Needless to say, a monumental (pun intended) amount of planning and coordination was necessary to build the pyramid. It took 10 years just to construct the ramp that led from the Nile Valley to the pyramid so millions of massive blocks could be carried up. It required precise knowledge of structural engineering, geometry and even astronomy – the sides and corners are in strict alignment with the stars. Limestone came from Tura, granite from Aswan, copper from Sinai and cedar from Lebanon. But, enough about the Great Pyramid. The point (ahem) is that when you collaborate with John Roberts at the ground level of your next project, you merge your creative talent with our technical resources and skilled personnel. In doing so, you can add greater precision to your design, ensure the right stock is selected and, ultimately, save time and money. Just think: If they hadn’t collaborated when building the Great Pyramid, the back of the dollar bill just wouldn’t be the same ... From concept to delivery 6 steps to smooth sailing on pressIt happened again: the deadline that once seemed light-years in the future is now breathing down your neck. How can you keep an already stressful project free from surprises and delays at the printer? We asked Chad Sanders, account coordinating manager, and Lynn Ketelsen, account coordinator,
To sum it all up, consider all the details – from bid to delivery – and communicate along the way to ensure your project will be on time and within budget. Design Camp 2005 lures students, designers and agency ownersGoing away to camp used to mean you’d come home with a potholder and a case of poison ivy. But attendees at the 25th annual Design Camp, held Oct. 7-9 in Nisswa, MN, took away ideas that covered more territory than a gallon of calamine lotion. John Roberts was the title sponsor of this year’s Design Camp and, as such, held the pre-Camp workshop. The workshop addressed the changes in the design industry over the past 25 years, and the ever-growing list of the designer’s responsibilities throughout the production process. As a result, designers need to make the most of available time- and cost-saving solutions. “In a matter of 25 years, the number of expectations placed on designers has grown tremendously,” says Tony Hoholik, director of sales and marketing. “Designers are now faced with providing not only the concept and storyboard, but also layout, typesetting, photography, color correction and file preparation. They’ve taken on the roles of three or four craftspersons. What’s more, they need to keep abreast of the latest technology – and do all this in a compressed time frame.” Rely on the buddy systemDesigners don’t need to go it alone. There are a number of resources that can be accessed to make a good concept a great one – one that translates well into the chosen medium and generates the desired response.
At John Roberts, we encourage designers to collaborate with us – early and often. That means contacting the printer at the beginning stage of a project, then communicating regularly as the project progresses. And we encourage designers to make use of our resources to help save time and money. Two of these are our CAD (computer-aided design) drafting services and The Designer’s Café. Read on for more details … Thank You Tony –“Thank you for being this year’s title sponsor of AIGA Minnesota’s Design Camp and contributing greatly to a very successful year. With record attendance and everyone sharing how great your booth was at the Friday night Business Expo, I know John Roberts and you had a lot to do with our success.” – Kate Kjellberg, Director of External Relations, AIGA Minnesota Introducing The Designer’s Café
Log on today and check it out! Take a moment to view photos of Design Camp, too. If you were there, you may see yourself – furry cap and all! Designers are mad … about CAD!
“I can import the design from a file – or even a sketch on a napkin.” - Michael Olson, letterpress advisor and CAD operator. CAD’s three-dimensional capabilities have been used widely for packaging for a number of years, but generally not for more conventional design applications – such as self-mailers – until now. CAD allows designers to pull out the bells and whistles of a concept without getting bogged down in the details of production. By contacting a JR sales rep when a design is in its infancy, the designer paves the way for the CAD process to begin working its magic. “I can import the design from a file – or even a sketch on a napkin,” explains Michael Olson, letterpress advisor and CAD operator. “I can then develop a dieline, transfer it to a plotter, trace it, score it, cut it out and create a mock-up.” With the mock-up in hand, the designer can then determine if it works or if adjustments must be made – well before a die is cut. And when the designer is happy with the results, it gets even more fun. By taking the files of the CAD design, the designer merely drops the type into a layout, confident in knowing the layout will be a guaranteed fit. 10-unit sheetfed press makes its debut at JR
Although we’re not exactly handing out cigars, the purchase of the press is a welcome addition that helps round out our capabilities, gives us greater scheduling flexibility and adds to our efficiency. The 10-unit sheetfed press is different from other sheetfeds, because it accepts paper stock in both sheets and rolls. “Roll paper is generally less expensive than sheets, but ordinarily a roll is used only on web presses, which run larger quantities of 20,000 to 25,000 and up,” explains Michael Keene, president. “By accepting rolls, the new 10-unit fills the gap of that mid-quantity, giving us more options in scheduling while streamlining our workflow.” And as the name indicates, the press is capable of printing 10 colors – or perhaps, nine colors plus an aqueous coating – on one side. As an alternative, it can print four colors plus an aqueous on both sides in one pass. “Other printers in town could achieve the same results, but in two passes,” adds Keene. “This is a much more efficient way to do it.” The press is networked to the CPC 24 spectrophotometer for in-line color control. While its versatility allows for many types of projects, the new press is well-suited for high-end promotional pieces where color is critical. Uff-da! Our nifty Pocket Guide is a diecut above the rest
Mav Engelhart of Maverick Design Group worked closely with CAD operator Mike Olson to develop “The John Roberts Company Pocket Guide: Production/Fishing Tips.” This one-of-a-kind, 13-panel tabbed guide included perforated scores for greater durability and spot UV varnish to make certain elements pop off the matte stock. Plus, it was designed to get the best economy out of the sheet length to keep paper usage down. “When I showed Mike my idea at the very beginning, he created a dieline and put together mock-ups,” Engelhart says. “He was able to come back early on and say, ‘It’s not working the greatest because of this and that,’ so we made adjustments – like dropping one of the panels to eliminate extra handwork. That saved us time and money.” Engelhart began with a rough concept and provided a PhotoShop file to Olson. Once the final mock-up was approved, Engelhart dropped in the type and graphics. “It was fully automated,” he says. “I prefer engaging the printer from the beginning – it prevents me from getting too caught up in an idea, then backtracking and straying from my budget and schedule.” |
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From the designer’s hands to the printer was once just a “drop-off” relationship, but not any more. Today’s complex world of design development, layout and print production requires multiple interfaces and ongoing communication throughout a project’s process. This collaborative, symbiotic relationship allows the designer to be more creative but with greater efficiency. In this issue of JR Notes, we discuss how John Roberts can help designers save time and money by communicating with us early and often. Just give your JR sales rep a call at the concept stage. Together, you can determine the resources, materials and cost-saving strategies that can turn your next piece into a real showstopper.
Attribute it to the clear northern skies of Nisswa displaying a perfect alignment of the stars, but the October Design Camp weekend coincided with the rollout of John Roberts’ The Designer’s Café. The workshop gave us an opportunity to discuss how, by logging on to
A great design can come to a screeching halt if it requires too much preparation in too little time. But, by using John Roberts’ CAD services from the get-go, designers can enjoy greater design flexibility, increase efficiency and reduce their workload.
John Roberts is proud to announce a new arrival – a 10-unit sheetfed press.
Last summer, with Design Camp looming, we set out to prepare a company capabilities brochure that was informative, would have a long shelf life, demonstrated our CAD capabilities and was distinctive enough to truly stand out. It figures that the designer we chose is named Maverick.