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Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Video: Berea Printing Reviews Sunset Canvas

In the video above, Berea Printing’s production manager, Phil Crawford is “returning the favor,” something he does on a regular basis through his YouTube channel, The Promo Video.

Berea Printing Sunset Canvas“I’ve done several product reviews; it helps with our YouTube rankings and they’re informative. I spend a lot of time looking on YouTube looking for products and services. YouTube is a great resource. This is a way to give back and help someone else figure out something. It’s a way of returning the favor,” says Crawford.

Berea Printing, based in Berea, Ohio, just south of Cleveland, has been in business since 1967. Crawford joined the company in 1997 and has seen it transition from analog offset to a fully digital shop, both on the commercial side with three Konica 8000s, and the wide format side with the HP Latex 25500 Printer.

In addition to traditional commercial printing applications like catalogs and brochures, the company specializes in specialty printing for marketing and promotions. Wide format printing is an integral part of that specialty mix.

“We create a lot of marketing products. Wide format printing has come in handy for us to create specialty items and interesting products because our customers want something unique and eye-catching,” says Crawford. “Our dominant wide-format product is LexJet Simple Adhesive Vinyl SUV, which we use as a poster material on foam board. It’s the most consistent vinyl we’ve tried… hands-down.”

Regarding this review of Sunset Production Gloss Canvas SUV, Crawford says: “We’ve tried a lot of canvas materials, and the canvas Erin Krcmar [Crawford’s LexJet rep] sent me was clearly the best material. Most of the canvas material we’ve tried, if you rubbed it or looked at it wrong, the ink would fall off of it, and when you stapled the canvas, it would tear, which was a big problem. This stuff is great, and it’s inexpensive.”

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Printing the American Flag in all its Glory

Printing an exhibit for a museum

“It looks like the American flag exploded in this room,” says Molly Engquist, curator of exhibits for the Siouxland Heritage Museums in Sioux Falls, S.D. But that’s the point of the exhibit now on display at the Old Courthouse Museum, which is one of two museums the Siouxland Heritage Museums operates (the other is the Pettigrew Home & Museum).

Museum exhibit signs and graphicsThe backbone of the display, which is a visually-intensive fact-filled exploration of the history of the American flag, are two pop-up display booths printed on LexJet 10 Mil Opaque Display Film and finished with a 10 mil textured matte laminate.

Our department tries to make history pretty so that it’s more fun to learn. The display was so crisp and clear, even though we used a matte laminate because of the gallery lights. Everyone who’s seen it so far has been very pleased with it,” says Engquist. “We found LexJet when we were looking for the right print material to use on the pop-up booth. Erin Krcmar [Engquist’s customer specialist] has been very helpful.”

The prints were applied to the display booths with magnets in five vertical panels, three in the middle and two end caps. Lamination was done by Express Copy and Printing in Sioux Falls since Engquist doesn’t have a laminator. The fact that both the printable material and the laminate are 10 mils each helps guard against de-lamination for a more durable display.

Creating graphics for museumsThe two main pop-up booth displays are flanked by a combination of retractable banner stand graphics and framed information panels.

Durability and portability were two of the most important qualities Engquist was looking for in the print materials and hardware used for the exhibit. When the exhibit has run its course at the Old Courthouse Museum it will be sent to county libraries and smaller museums that don’t have the budget or resources to create their own exhibits.

The exhibit opened on Flag Day, appropriately enough, and is called Symbol of Freedom: The American Flag. The museum received a grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution to create the exhibit, which will make a lasting impression at the Old Courthouse Museum and throughout Minnehaha County.