How we do it

How we get there….

12 June 2022 Stuart Nimmo

Stuart reflects on a few things recently, working on some projects have made me realise that everyone expects the result, however, the route we achieve to gain the result has shifted somewhat.

First observation, the net product of the inputs gives the result. In the rush to get to whatever you’re trying to achieve, it’s so apparent that cutting corners doesn’t cut it. Being brought up in a proper print repro environment, with good design and carefully crafted materials to work with provided exceptional results. With clients expecting the results with smartphone photographs and “canva” generated artwork doesn’t hit the gold star result, yet the expectation rises to think this will work. It’s like building houses without foundations. What’s created at the beginning of the process matters. We’re the first to champion vector artwork and studio-grade photography, all with processes in place for managing colour, ensuring reproduction supreme.

Second observation, think, and devise the process in which you need your campaign to work within. It is truly scary when clients openly admit to not having their ducks in a row. The culture of digital communications almost makes them spray and pray and disposable. Print is a different beast. Its power lies within the capability to accelerate conversion through timely nudge. Digital creates a lot of noise, and how much is remembered? Can anyone truly define or answer this I’ll be impressed if they can? Print builds trust, creates longevity, and acts as a valuable point of reference when other touchpoints have long been forgotten. However, I will admit print is not a cheap tool in the marketing tool chest, with rising costs the physical element of marketing has also been hit along with everything else. So wise deployment is now even more essential. We’ve talked clients through cost reduction methods for brochures at exhibitions, which surprised them with the leverage they could harness in the process – just as one example.

Third observation, “baby out with the bath water”. The future is truly omnichannel. Not multi-channel, but smartly using CRM data to steer customer journey progression. Multi-channel is like Arnold Schwarzenegger firing his oozy nine-millimetre rapidly in the hope of conversion. Omni channel is a well-constructed domino track with each ready to knock on the next. With so few marketers using the “mix” of physical and digital, connected and using specific landing pages from print media with the right offering.

Importantly, the above takes planning. Firing rapid bullets as previously illustrated, purely costs in wasted effort. Which indirectly is wasted money. We’ve been rightly scuppered when one project curve balled us totally off schedule. The juggling to manage expectations certainly provided one heck of a challenge.

Do we learn? Do we apply what we’ve learnt? Has the “plan, act, review” cycle now become something of history like the other traditional skills? Or needs speed overtaken, quality, fit for purpose and good design now is something of the past.

Here at HAD-Print, it’s not just about the product, the journey is essential too. We’ve said before looking at the pedigree of your print service provider can tell you a lot. It is a craft trade, fewer people are now brought up proper with education and time served experience. You can have cheap and fast, however, the remaining element in the unattainable triangle will elude you, quality and getting it to the expectation and performance you expect. Being able to combine good print knowledge with marketing understanding is now part of the essential means of integrating physical calls to action into your customer journey.

Ethics…

24 May 2022 Stuart Nimmo

Authenticity and knowing what is real and what is less so is a real challenge in a world which is extremely fast and evolving. When it comes to ethics, authenticity is something you dismiss, as ethics shouldn’t be fluffed.

We’ve always been open about the where’s and wherefores about what we do, equally our offering in product and our culture. We’ll try here to unpack a few of the attributes around what we do.

Paper, is sourced from credible sources, through mainstream paper merchants, with products whose supply chain we can identify back to the source (paper mill) and then through to the content pulp for the product. Much has changed in the last 5 years, traceability is now even more critical. We advocate certain producers, whose carbon footprint mileage on to us is as low as it can be. (However understand that sometimes, other factors influence purchasing decisions) Equally, we will source paper through channels which means we enable reuse, where it might be unsuitable for other production processes, where we can purposefully bring it into production.

The toner (ink) in our digital presses, is 94% plus compostable. Our presses whilst well used, are still within service tolerances, we chose to ensure we maximize the use, and lifespan of any physical resource as the manufacture of machines does incur a carbon footprint, which we aim to minimize through extended working life. We run a policy of not running machines on standby, reducing our electric consumption. We still have Riso type machines, which are also low power consumption along with running soy-based inks, which are an environmentally friendly option. Interestingly our digital presses print already reaches benchmarks that Royal Mail has specified for sustainable mail pieces.

Large format print is latex and dye-based inks, both are non-solvent based inks, which are environmentally friendly. We are in the throws of exploring and product beta testing non PVC materials for banners, further demonstrating our commitment to moving our operations in the right direction.

We are well aware of the issues around laminates used both in sheetfed print and large format. The evolution of products in this area to counter the need for plastic for protection is evolving, we actively watch this. Equally, we do question the need to specify and equally, if we can substitute other products like direct printing onto polyester, a good example is hospitality menus which have been previously Matt laminated, printing them on a nevertear polyester product. This is great as it can be recycled and also kept hygienic by being able to be clean with alcohol-based cleaners.

Like many other businesses, we ensure our office products are sustainable too, recycled plastic in our biro’s, our office waste paper gets combined with our production waste paper for recycling. Our paper recycling also has a tangible minimal carbon footprint, it’s recycled less than 10 miles away by Sonoco, turning into cardboard tubes.

For garments we use for apparel, we use credible brands, with traceable certifications, coupled with organic and sustainable recycled polyester products. Responsibility for specifying will see garments shift considerably in the next few years, we actively spend time expanding our knowledge to deliver the best solutions we can. Print technologies are shifting as well, and we expect to see progression in what we offer soon.

That’s a lot about the tangible items in the business, intangibles still are a substantial part of what we do. A significant group of staff in the business are Scout leaders and have interests in other community-focused groups, this does make “how” we do things slightly different, values are a big part of the way we do things. You can see from many of the blogs on this website about thinking.

We as a business also see our responsibility to encourage and develop other local businesses too. Through business networking, building connections to enable the best local. Encouraging startups, taking care of neighbours and doing our bit to ensure our immediate environment is pleasant and welcoming.

We do aim for a holistic approach around our ethics in the business. We’re not box shifters, we proudly describe ourselves by offering an honest service. It’s a rounded encompassing, personal service, aimed with respect for what we do for you.

Every tale starts with a beginning…

2 April 2022 Stuart Nimmo

I’m a pendant for getting the best. I think we all like “the best”. However, race to the bottom and “I want it now” culture, drives a very different mantra of “will do”. It amazes me how some people talk the talk and say one thing and what they actually want is miles off from my benchmark.

My background in repro, better described as the bit before it hits a press in print, was all about, maximising the end result and the quality of what we were going to print. So, what does this actually mean, and why does it make a difference.

Images, best resolution, sharp throughout, in focus and properly taken. I have a background in professional high-end grade scanning, not just looking at the colour balance, but tonal curves and a lot more. Yes, I use pro digital Nikon DSLRs these days for photographs, but also use exceptional scanners to capture art pieces, drawings and historical materials which need digitising with the utmost care and attention. We’ve retouched historical photographs for magazine covers. The supplier/owner of the image has been amazed at the results. With a bit of careful attention, referencing, considering composition, lens characteristics and a lot more whilst re-constructing and enhancing the image to create a sharp, well-balanced end result. We know when we have scanned medium format transparencies and had a reference image of the same location, taken on a good DSLR, the traditional colour transparency held more detail than it’s a digital counterpart. A great example was being able to pick out blades of grass, with some definition.

Logos and technical drawings, scalable artwork is everything. Ensuring the artwork is sharp and the detail is defined is essential. We will re-draw up artwork in a vector format to ensure it meets the needs of reproduction regardless of end size. I started my career artworking in a vector environment every day. It delivered quick results in a fast-moving environment of promotional print. It’s stood me in good grounds for everything I’ve done since.

Typography, in my early years in the trade, whilst I was at College, I was lucky enough to have a placement at Warwickshire Illustrations in Cheylesmore in Coventry. They were a high-end design agency working with clients like Jaguar and Rank among many names. The senior staff in the studio there were meticulous, for the kerning (spacing of characters), ligatures, typeface elements for characters, and fine-tuning of all typography to be effortless for the reader to read with ease. Hence why now, I do like, love and ooze pride when I see proper typography, well-executed on a page.

That work experience placement also taught me a lot about, concept creation, the scamps, visuals and idea development, even before you start to layout the item in any technical format, to artwork the job.

With over 3 decades in print, specifying is so important, getting it right for the job, thinking through what the end-user is going to think as they handle or engage with your piece of print. Materials, the where and how are so important when thinking about the brief, and yes every job should have a brief. Recently I’ve kicked a job back to the client, so we can have a brief that will get the results, he is expecting.

We are so different than other providers, well the online ones anyhow, as we care, want to support you in your project. To get to my position in this trade is through experience, education, and graft. It’s why I proudly describe what I do as artisan, boutique, craft-based print, with the culmination of the aforementioned. Yes, you can have cheap print, when you pay a little bit more, for #properprint with real engagement. No job is ticket number running through our studio, it is all about the customer, the joys of being small and paying attention to detail is at the heart of what we do.