Our ethos

Blue Monday, can it be a better Monday?

9 January 2023 Stuart Nimmo

Blue Monday (16th January 2023) might be a grotty Monday in January but thinking about it beforehand might just get you feeling more zingy and ready to go. Stuart outlines his thinking on ways to beat blue Monday.

1. Physical activity.

Might be the hardest time of year to get out and do something, but I have a goal in April, which needs some attention to make it one to be proud of. It might only be the Blackpool 10k – but training now makes the result even more worth it in the end.

2. Set a realistic resolution.

I’ve had some goals for a while, personal to me. Some are business related and some are personal, yes, the above might be one of them. However, looking at the steps on the journey, and looking at the measures towards them is so important. You might not hit where you want to be, however, what progress have you made, how is quantifiable the small wins are also important.

3. Get creative.

Different people have different forms of creativity, do something which takes you away, zone out, and concentrate on something different, whether for business or pleasure. And share it with someone! The art of making someone else smile from something you’ve done is very rewarding.

4. Eat well.

You are what you eat. Yes, we’ve just had a season of self-indulgence. However, eating well doesn’t have to be a sacrifice. If you need top tips on this speak to Lisa Kempster – she always makes me smile, Lisa’s nuggets of wisdom when it comes to food are a real eye-opener.

5. Make the most of natural light.

For me, it’s time out walking the dog. Probably the best thing that I and my partner did, he brightens us up every day. Even the wet drizzly ones, yes, we all hate going out in the rain – even Finn our Cockerpoo – clearly doesn’t like getting wet!

6. Change your environment.

Small changes can make a big difference. The view from your desk or workplace. Our print studio looks out over the Hebble valley, and this made a big difference to us, looking at trees rather than Kirklees College where we were in Huddersfield. Watching the seasons is very magical.

7. Consider a SAD lamp.

As a trained photographer, I am well aware of natural light, it’s something many people take for granted. Light affects us in many different ways, moods, as we all feed differently off the light. I know I am more vibrant in the spring. So if you do suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder – consider a light source which has the right colour tones in it for you.

8. Spend time with others.

I know I am so lucky to have a small inner circle who really does make a difference for me. I hope I do for them.

Why do we not have published pricing on this website?

10 December 2022 Stuart Nimmo

Numerous reasons, firstly we focus on doing and producing work, not perpetually updating web content. We are a small boutique artisan print house; thus, we don’t have the administrative time to process all the updates we’d need to. However, these are the current significant factors why…

In a post-Covid world our supply chains are highly volatile and not fully settling down, including paper mills and merchants seeing external pressures placing challenges on the operation of their businesses.
We all know that the cost of power and fuel has rocketed, this doesn’t just affect us, but also all our suppliers and their supply chains – eg paper mentioned above. In the last 2 years, we have seen our power costs rise by about 65%.
The recent Ukraine war and other global issues have continued to place pressures on costs, yes like you, we feel the cost of living too.
We truly treat your print project as a bespoke project. It’s in the clue how we operate a “small boutique artisan print house” totally focussed on your needs, ensuring you get what you need out of your project. Thus bespoke.
Currently, we have over 100 different paper specifications in our racking, a multitude of large format materials and a wealth of garments we pull on to produce your physical marketing collateral. So, if you work out the permutations of the variables we offer, it’s pretty incredible. They don’t all work on the same costing formulas, hence why we work bespoke.

We always endeavour to be savvy wherever possible, and occasionally source materials through alternative channels to get better rates, like you we endeavour to be careful and responsible.

Above all, how we work is “traditional” being small, artisan, and boutique, however, you chose to describe us. Being traditional, we still use technology to our advantage, we don’t pipeline your job, we actually look at and work on your job. Unlike some of the online-only offerings that just process your print project and pop out the other end.

We’ve always described ourselves in our pricing policy as honest, if it incurs time, then it needs to be applied to the job alongside materials, machine time/costs and human resources. Equally said, if we can serve you effectively through small changes in how we operate, like doing a local drop-off, we will. We will assess the best routes for delivery, whether it is by courier or post.

Ultimately as a niche print service provider, we engage, to deliver our best to meet your needs.

Old fashioned values…

14 August 2022 Stuart Nimmo

There’s not a week that goes by, where we see an example of this. So hence I will try to sanitize this in the essence rather than give examples from seen and witnessed experiences to save blushes from the offenders.

Yes, print has been around for decades and centuries…. however, it is still a craft, which needs the understanding to get the best out of it, dared I say, this is getting forgotten, mislaid and ignored.

Print exists at a point of delivery in the marketing and communications processes. It is a technical art, which requires knowledge to maximize its performance, and technical efficiencies to create stunning pieces which deliver spot on. What doesn’t help is the race to the bottom, the rising cost of materials in the current economic climate and the lack of understanding of how it works.

True story one… we have seen a set of brand guidelines from a client, rather sparse on meaningful print-related bits, or with minimal print-related colour information. The client on starting the first job mentioned minor issues with colour. We ran the job, needless to say, in different lights, eg morning, and late afternoon the colour shifted and other issues around metamerism, subject to the profile of the light hitting the page. The job returned for a reprint a few months later, picking up on the feedback, we endeavoured to work around and correct the issue. Please note, that the first printing was to their supplied artwork and colour specification breakdowns. We did get it better, however, in rectifying one issue it identified a subsequent issue, with a secondary colour when it sat alongside the key/ predominate colour. So the job returned for a third printing, this time, we ended up requesting agreed satisfactory materials (samples) with the correct colour to the client’s perspective. On cracking open the brand guideline documentation, we then realised the colour under the technical mix (CMYK) breakdowns was different than the specification labelled on it. Shock horror, fully knowing that the client wasn’t going to either care or understand, we needed a way to resolve this. So using the sample, we matched, in neutrally balanced daylight, to a Pantone colour reference guide. This determined the best colour close, which was printable. It was a colour close to the edge of the colour gamut (within the match of reliably printable within a CMYK process). Establishing this allowed us to define how we would tackle the printing of this job.

The moral of the story, is if you are having branding created, and more of it is going to be in physical form than online form, engage a designer that has proven specialisms with print, paint, and signage (all of which are within additive value colour spaces). As the online world uses subtractive colour models or RGB colour spaces. Getting colour right is so essential, understanding colour and how it works is essential to a great delivery of a brand.

True story two: Material specification. Print is wonderful for using many different materials, which provide different stimuli and receptive feelings and emotions for the end user.

However, understanding how these materials perform in a production environment is key. All because it is right for the aesthetics don’t mean it will be right for the budget of the client. The design has and always will be about how something is created for end users and what the end use achieves. Understanding the how is essential, you would not find a cast metal specialist trying to create something out of timber.

A great illustration of this is when a graphic designer specifies a laminate on a disposable giveaway item like a leaflet, equally when the leaflet is also printed on the heaviest weight board going as well. In both instances, it isn’t environmentally friendly, as the resource used for the item is purely for aesthetics only. Design is also about functionality and budget.

Another illustration is a bound job, where a non-folio stock is used as text pages within a bound job. So what is a folio stock? It is best described as a paper weight which works within a binding process. So, using a 170gsm or 200gsm stock as brochure or book leaves on a saddle stitched job, will require every section to be creased, and folded separately to prevent cracking. What is cracking? When using heavier weight stock, an indentation is made in the form of creasing or scoring the substrate to compress or control the fibres of the board in the sheet. When loosely folded, these fibres are still uncontrolled, thus they break the edge of the sheet when folded. So if you have a 20 or 28-page saddle stitched book, every 4-page section will need creasing before folding, gathering and stitching. Point to note different print methods also behave differently when it comes to print finishing. The implications generally are budgetary, as the number of processes often increases the budget. It isn’t common for bindery lines which gather stitch and trim to inline crease printed sections prior to binding. This results in hand collation before stitching, which is removing automation.

Raising on the point above, materials are at the heart of what we do as printers, we work with different substrates every day, and we understand what they will do in production. Being savvy with specifying means being savvy with your budget.

As print professionals, yes we design artwork pieces for print. However we understand you need creative input on occasions to shift the thinking and presentation, and we applaud you for it, however, bring us on your journey with you. As champagne on lemonade budgets doesn’t help if you cannot afford to properly implement the scheme.

So who am I to make these comments, with over 30 years in the trade, I’ve handled a vast range of print and moved it through to successful completion. Not only experienced but educated in print (possibly last generation with such a broad experience) so ND in graphic design, with hands-on with different processes and allied work experience whilst in education. Followed by HND in design print management, where my scope, understanding of processes, materials and working practices was homed even further. Subsequent education in the form of a C&G level 3 in photography. Also BPIF Young Manager in Print runner up in 2003.

In summary, Good design with an understanding of the process is so essential, however, coupled with relevant experience to deliver is challengingly missing from so many. Ask the right questions, see portfolios, and ask for learning points from every example, if they are purely creative, then do you want to engage that designer on your job?