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.

Shortly 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.”

Thus 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.”

Tomkins 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.

“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.”