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Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Technology & Products
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Squid Self-Adhesive Textile Now Available for Latex

You’ve heard about Squid and the unique way it dresses up windows, and now it’s available for latex ink technology, exclusively in the U.S. through LexJet.

Squid gives windows in offices, healthcare facilities, restaurants, hotels and homes an elegant finish that’s easy to install after printing. It can also be cut into odd shapes for partial coverage.

Squid has many design and eco-friendly benefits, such as:

  • Prints easily using wide-format technology, including solvent, eco-solvent, UV-curable and latex
  • Crisp output is ideal for branding or advertising messaging
  • Reduces glare and reflects heat from the sun
  • Creates privacy
  • Resists humidity and has antibacterial properties
  • Can be used printed or unprinted
  • Fire retardant and PVC-free
  • Alternative to plastic film products typically used for window graphics

Squid is available in six base colors (latex is only available in Chalk) to provide a variety of warm, contemporary and minimalistic finished looks. Because the adhesive is only placed on the fibers of the textile, Squid still provides a bit of transparency while still blocking about 1/3 of the sun’s energy.

If you have used Squid with other technologies and want to switch to latex, please note that the liner has changed and the rolls are wound with the printable Squid fabric on the outside of the media roll, versus on the inside for the other printer technologies. If Squid for latex needs to be trimmed on a cutting machine, we recommend testing it advance with your preferred cutting equipment.

To learn more about Squid, visit our product page and call a LexJet printer expert at 800-453-9538.

Art Works! Office Space Is a Big Opportunity for Printable Canvas
Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Tips & Tricks
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Art Works! Office Space Is a Big Opportunity for Printable Canvas

More corporations are realizing that the benefits of art in the workplace go beyond aesthetics. Corporate art for office walls can display a company’s culture and brand values. Since innovation and creativity does not easily spring from behind the gray fabric walls of an office cubicle, Corporate America is creating open, collaborative work space filled with art and inspiration.

Studies have found that art in the workplace can boost productivity, reduce stress and enhance communication. A survey conducted by the Business Committee for the Arts and the International Association for Professional Art Advisors showed that 78% of respondents thought that art in the workplace reduced stress, 67% agreed it increased creativity and productivity and 67% thought it enhanced employee morale. Companies are following the example of Google and Deutsch Bank and canvasing their walls with stimulating, creative art work.

Canvas Triptych Print by Broadstreet Fine Art“The workplace art collection is often an underutilized, sometimes overlooked, business asset,” said Judith A. Jedlicka, President, BCA. “The results of this survey point to the fact that art in the work environment fosters creativity, boosts employee morale and sparks dialogues – all of which are essential to a company’s success.”

Look to commercial art services, corporations, retail and hospitality fields for opportunities in canvas print reproduction. Fredrix Canvas, available exclusively in the U.S. through LexJet, offers superior printable canvas that has proudly hung on the walls of corporations for decades.

Canvas media for office spaces:

Latex & Solvent: Fredrix 901SGSJ Artisan Semi-Gloss Canvas is a heavier canvas with a toothier texture that gives a more authentic look for fine art reproductions. Because it has a nice semi-gloss sheen and is compatible with latex, solvent and UV curable inks, this canvas doesn’t need a coating, saving on finishing time. It delivers a uniform, consistent look, especially when paired with the sheen of latex inks. Try Fredrix 901SJ Select Matte Canvas for artists who prefer a more matte finish, or Fredrix 901 GSJ Encore Gloss Canvas for photographic prints that pop with a more glossy finish.

Aqueous: Deliver high-end photography prints on Fredrix 777VWR Vivid Matte Canvas, with a smooth finish of this canvas and the same quality as Fredrix’s other options. For aqueous printers reproducing artwork, Fredrix 901VWR Crystal Matte Canvas will provide a more heavily textured base that works great for authentic-looking artistic prints.

Fredrix canvas is made in the USA, with 150 years of experience and offers a range of canvases for printing. Check out our line of Fredrix products at LexJet.com.

How to Start Marketing Your Décor Print Services
Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Tips & Tricks
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How to Start Marketing Your Décor Print Services

Deciding to add services like custom-printed wallcoverings and canvas wraps to your business is the easy part. Getting the word out and bringing in potential customers is where the challenge lies. Here are 5 tips to help you get started with marketing décor print services:

  1. Fix your identity. If your operation has always been called a “sign shop,” consider adjusting your business name or adding a new business unit specifically for décor services. Target which services you want to offer (start with one or two) and determine which products you want to print to. Once these are nailed down, the business name and focus will start to fall into place.
  2. Practice and promote. If you’ve decided to add customized digitally printed wallcoverings as your new offering, find a project you can work on as a beta site. Perhaps a restaurant that a friend owns or a business you regularly frequent that could use an update. Offer to print wallcovering for a room for free so you can get real-world experience in terms of the work flow, installation and product performance. When you’ve successfully completed a project, use before, during and after photos on social media and email campaigns to show off your new expertise.
  3. Connect with others. Get to know local interior designers who could capitalize on your new services. Attend networking events and learn about community projects that could allow you an opportunity to show off your work and get free publicity. Focus on collaborating with other professionals who may need the talents of your graphics team to create artwork for canvas wraps or customized patterns for wallcovering — and charge them reasonably for this niche service.
  4. Upsell to current customers. Opportunities are everywhere. If you’ve been creating backlit displays for a retail outlet, ask them if they’re interested in a wall mural to liven up their store. Same goes for restaurants, hotels or corporate accounts that you print signage for. Could they use a fresh accent wall or canvas wraps to add ambiance or elegance to their spaces?
  5. Get your content together. Create a sample book (or web page) of the types of work you can do. Photos with finished applications will go a long way in helping your customers to visualize what you can customize for them.

If you have questions about marketing décor services or success stories to share, tell us about it in the comments below.

How One Corporate Office Got Super Cool
Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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How One Corporate Office Got Super Cool

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Rackspace’s “Hacky sack” room has a playful, modern feel. The mural was printed on dreamScape matte, available through LexJet.

 

Technology companies are often known for their whimsical office spaces, relaxed atmospheres and shake-your-fist-at-convention attitudes. Think: hammocks and giant slides at Google or picnic tables and video games at Zappos.

Rackspace, a global web-hosting and cloud managing firm headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is not one to be outdone. The company purchased the deteriorating Winsdor Park Mall in 2007 and has steadily revamped its corporate offices into spaces with themes like breakfast cereals, toys and movies. The former mall is now known as “The Castle.”

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The “Toy Soldier” room is just one of the toy-related themes found in the “Toy Shop” section of Rackspace’s corporate offices.

Rackspace’s workplace experience team tapped the creative brand imaging and signs experts at Cold Fire to bring their playful vision for The Castle to life.

“We’ve done about 100 rooms so far,” says Chris Jackson, Cold Fire’s founder and president. “They’re trying to create an environment where you don’t feel like you’re in a corporate work environment … to spur creativity and employee engagement.”

The workplace experience team typically comes up with the ideas for each of the sections, Jackson says, and his team then finds the best media to print the wall murals on. He often chooses dreamScape wallcoverings, thanks to the wide variety of finishes that are compatible with his HP Latex 360 printer. The latex capabilities, he says, allows him to print durable, scratch resistant wall murals that do not need to be laminated.

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The Dollhouse conference room.

 

Two of the more recent rooms that Cold Fire has completed are The Dollhouse and The Lodge. The Dollhouse is actually a conference room with wooden furniture centered in a room with murals that look like the rooms of a child’s dollhouse, giving it a nostalgic feel.

The Dollhouse's exterior is visible from the office's cubicles.
The Dollhouse’s exterior is visible from the office’s cubicles.

The exterior of the room is framed by a white fence and a wooden deck that holds a handful of rocking chairs. “The idea is to increase employee morale,” Jackson says. “So you’re not going to the same old mundane work environment every day.”

The Lodge is a smaller meeting room, complete with brick fireplace, tree stump side tables and the mounted head of a wildebeest. The room’s overstuffed, dark brown leather furniture gives it the ambiance of a true lodge — a dramatic departure from some of the other more whimsical rooms.

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The Lodge meeting room.

“They give me the room dimensions and create the graphics from scratch,” Jackson says. “What I do is suggest the media. In The Lodge, the log cabin-like walls were printed on the dreamScape wallcovering with the wood grain texture on it, which is applied with wallpaper paste.”

Jackson says the rooms in the renovated mall are nearly all completely reimagined by the Rackspace team.  But this creative duo’s work isn’t done yet. Cold Fire is currently working on Rackspace’s New York City sales office, with urban wall murals of graffiti and maps.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Technology & Products
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Popular LexJet WallPro SUV Wallcoverings Updated

LexJet WallPro SUV by York
Change an environment to anything your customer wants with high-quality wall decor printed on LexJet WallPro SUV by York. Photo courtesy Fostergraphs, Decorah, Iowa

LexJet has partnered with York Wallcoverings to update its line of inkjet-printable wallpaper compatible with solvent, low-solvent, latex and UV-curable inks. LexJet Velvet WallPro SUV by York, LexJet Pebble WallPro SUV by York and LexJet Canvas WallPro SUV by York are now available in both 15 oz. and 20 oz. weights.

Applied with wallpaper paste, LexJet WallPro SUV by York is a high-quality, permanent wall mural solution for a range of environments, including homes, corporate offices, healthcare facilities, schools, retail stores, museums, restaurants, hotels and resorts, sports and entertainment venues and more.

“LexJet WallPro printed great; it looked like it did on the monitor to the printer,” says Chris Knight, owner of Deck the Walls, Joplin, Mo., regarding a project the company did for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition using LexJet Velvet WallPro SUV.

LexJet Velvet WallPro SUV by York comes in three subtle textures: Velvet, Canvas and Pebble. Velvet has a smooth, lightly textured surface perfect for high-resolution images and photos. Pebble is best for those who desire a more visible texture behind the image. Canvas has the texture of finely woven canvas for a more fine-art look.

“As the oldest and largest wallcovering manufacturer in North America, York understands substrates from a printer’s perspective. And more importantly, we know what works best on walls,” said Tim Quinn, York Wallcoverings Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “York is proud to partner with LexJet in offering six superior-quality LexJet WallPro items.”

LexJet WallPro SUV by York wallcovering substrates also meet Class A fire-rating standards and EPA requirements for low-VOC emitting products.

The 15 oz. and 20 oz. versions of each are available in 54″ x 20′, 54″ x 75′ and 54″ x 150′ rolls from LexJet’s Nationwide Distribution Center Network.

For more information about LexJet WallPro SUV by York, call a LexJet printing specialist at 800-453-9538.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Printing Creative Interiors for a Growing Market

Creative Interior Imagery
Creative Interior Imagery brings all kinds of environments to life with a full suite of services, from design to wide format printing and framing.

 

Several years ago, Keith Tomkins started a small printing company in his basement called Zeopix. Business soon blossomed and it didn’t take long for Zeopix to move to a commercial space to better handle the additional work that was flowing in.

Creative Interior ImageryShortly thereafter, Zeopix partnered with Marsico Art & Framing to create a new company focused on the decoration of commercial interior spaces, Creative Interior Imagery, based in West Pittson, Pa. The new company specializes in transforming restaurant, medical, hotel and resort, and corporate environments.

The Zeopix side of the business continues to serve a more consumer, retail group of clientele while business continues to build at Creative Interior Imagery. The road to success was paved by Tomkins’ diverse background as a Navy airplane mechanic, photographer, and hardware and software designer.

“After the Navy, I spent 17 years in Silicon Valley designing hardware and software for companies. This was back in the days when Adobe was a font foundry, and we were working on the first systems that would do some of the things Photoshop does today,” says Tomkins. “One day I went to a local shop that did photo printing. I had some great scans I wanted blown up, so I took them over and got some real crappy prints back. I told him I wasn’t happy with the work, and he told me to take it somewhere else. That’s when I found there was nowhere else.”

Creative Interior ImageryThus a need for quality print work was identified and Tomkins purchased his first wide-format printer, an Epson Stylus Pro 7600 from LexJet. Tomkins says he started printing to support his photography hobby, but word soon got around and printing was dominating his time.

Tomkins soon added a Stylus Pro 4880 and 9900 to keep up with demand. As the opportunity to provide more interior décor printing emerged, Tomkins decided to add an Epson SureColor S30670 to the mix.

“A lot of companies will bid a project and go to one person for art, one for window graphics, one for walls and so forth. We can offer a one-stop solution, and having the solvent printer has allowed us to offer new products and lower our costs on some of our current products, like large canvas prints. For a four-color printer and one in that price range, I’m blown away by the print quality.” says Tomkins. “The solvent printer is being used mostly for vinyl and large canvas items that are more production-oriented. If I’m doing a custom reproduction for an artist or photographer, they want the colors spot-on, so that’s where I use the aqueous printers.”

Creative Interior ImageryTomkins adds that he had been working with Marsico Art & Framing on commercial project over the past few years, but officially began the partnership, and Creative Interior Imagery, in the past year to meet the expanding needs of his customer base.

Marsico Art & Framing brings its expertise in custom framing, art selection, placement and installation to ensure a seamless, consistent, high-quality experience for each of its clients. The list of services at Creative Interior Imagery touches every point of the process, from art consultation to installation, as well as a print treatment for virtually any surface, from floor to ceiling.

Hospital Graphics“LexJet has been a big help in building our business. One of the things I can always count on with LexJet is tech support. I’m a tech guy myself, but there are times that I need to consult with my LexJet sales rep, Michael Clementi, and he can usually get me an answer himself right away. If he doesn’t know the answer he finds someone at LexJet who does and gets right back to me,” says Tomkins. “I also use a lot of LexJet products because they’re reasonably priced and I’ve had very good luck with them. The quality and value is there, and I’m not waiting around for products I need right away; having multiple warehouses is a big thing.”