When met with a hard business decision, the safe route is to stick with what we know. With years of previous evidence suggesting your current path leads to financial stability, why would you need to change your plans now? Safety does equal security after all—or does it? Take Kodak, for example. According to Jeffrey Hayzlett, primetime television and radio host, former Fortune 100 CMO, and 2016 President’s Conference keynote speaker, when Kodak tried to play it safe in 1975 by dismissing digital camera inventor Steven Sasson, they made the worst business decision of their history. “They had the only product that people would run into a burning house to save,” said Hayzlett in a 2015 Media and Entertainment Services Alliance article. “[But Kodak] just did not adapt. In business, if you don’t change or adapt, you end up dying” (CMS Wire, “Ex-Kodak CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett Warns: Adapt, Change or Die”). After years of running small and big companies, Hayzlett’s experience taught him that the scale of the business doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a difference in problems they face. Essentially, businesses must continue to look at their marketplace conditions and make adjustments to their business strategies or risk failure. “When you start to think that ‘we only do this’ instead of ‘we could be doing that,’—that is the day that you start to die,” said Faye Oney in his article “Jeffrey Hayzlett to Media Companies: Adapt, Change or Die.” Hayzlett will talk more about his experiences at the 2016 President’s Conference in his keynote presentation, Think Big, Act Bigger. Based on his newest book by the same name, the program is a take-no-prisoners, no BS, attitude adjustment for those who call themselves entrepreneurs. Learn more about Hayzeltt’s session and the 2016 President’s Conference when you visit...

The following post was submitted by Color 2015 sponsor, GTI Graphic Technology, Inc. What do a photographer, commercial printer, and sign printer have in common? They all have a need to accurately communicate color. When they carry out this objective consistently and accurately, they are providing a high level of value to their clients and increasing the efficiency of their business. Reproducing color accurately is a complicated process, especially when different substrates, technologies, and production facilities are involved. To help ensure that accuracy is achieved, viewing comparisons across the supply chain should be made in viewing conditions that comply with the ISO 3664:2009 standard. ISO 3664:2009 is the international color viewing standard for the graphic technology and photography industries. It is a set of specifications that enables lighting engineers and manufacturers to design, test, and certify their color viewing systems to the industry standards and challenges them to enhance the performance of their products. There are five specific conditions to meet when designing an ISO 3664:2009-compliant viewing booth. Color Quality D50 light, which represents natural daylight, is used to view prints, photographs, and other graphic arts applications. It should be noted that not all 5,000K lamps are equal. To maintain compliance with the standard, use only ISO 3664:2009-compliant lamps in your viewing booth. Light Intensity Consistent light intensity is critical to consistent image rendition. The standard provides a target intensity designed to allow full tonal visibility of shadow detail without washing out highlights. Color decisions should be under light that is between 1,750 and 2,250 lux, with 2,000 lux being optimum. Evenness Even light intensity across an image assures correct interpretation of print/reproduction quality. Evenness is ensured by measuring illuminance at several evenly distributed points on the viewing surface. Illumination should be at least 1,200 lux (60% of 2,000) intensity at all points on the viewing surface. Surround Surround color and reflectance affect color appearance. ISO 3664:2009 specifies that the surround and backing shall be neutral and matte. Munsell N8/ neutral gray paint is used by GTI Graphic Technology, Inc., the leading manufacturer of color viewing systems to meet this condition. Geometry The presence of excessive glare is distracting and can hide reproduction detail. Therefore, the light source, image, and the observer’s eyes need to be positioned to minimize glare. The standard does not explicitly specify lighting geometry but states it should be minimized.   Selecting a viewing booth to meet your requirements is easy. Determine what size viewing area you need; it is recommend that your viewing area be large enough to allow side-by-side comparison of prints and proofs. You should also consider the number of people who will be involved in the viewing process when selecting your...

The following post was submitted by Color 2015 sponsor, GTI Graphic Technology, Inc. What do a photographer, commercial printer, and sign printer have in common? They all have a need to accurately communicate color. When they carry out this objective consistently and accurately, they are providing a high level of value to their clients and increasing the efficiency of their business. Reproducing color accurately is a complicated process, especially when different substrates, technologies, and production facilities are involved. To help ensure that accuracy is achieved, viewing comparisons across the supply chain should be made in viewing conditions that comply with the ISO 3664:2009 standard. ISO 3664:2009 is the international color viewing standard for the graphic technology and photography industries. It is a set of specifications that enables lighting engineers and manufacturers to design, test, and certify their color viewing systems to the industry standards and challenges them to enhance the performance of their products. There are five specific conditions to meet when designing an ISO 3664:2009-compliant viewing booth. Color Quality D50 light, which represents natural daylight, is used to view prints, photographs, and other graphic arts applications. It should be noted that not all 5,000K lamps are equal. To maintain compliance with the standard, use only ISO 3664:2009-compliant lamps in your viewing booth. Light Intensity Consistent light intensity is critical to consistent image rendition. The standard provides a target intensity designed to allow full tonal visibility of shadow detail without washing out highlights. Color decisions should be under light that is between 1,750 and 2,250 lux, with 2,000 lux being optimum. Evenness Even light intensity across an image assures correct interpretation of print/reproduction quality. Evenness is ensured by measuring illuminance at several evenly distributed points on the viewing surface. Illumination should be at least 1,200 lux (60% of 2,000) intensity at all points on the viewing surface. Surround Surround color and reflectance affect color appearance. ISO 3664:2009 specifies that the surround and backing shall be neutral and matte. Munsell N8/ neutral gray paint is used by GTI Graphic Technology, Inc., the leading manufacturer of color viewing systems to meet this condition. Geometry The presence of excessive glare is distracting and can hide reproduction detail. Therefore, the light source, image, and the observer’s eyes need to be positioned to minimize glare. The standard does not explicitly specify lighting geometry but states it should be minimized.   Selecting a viewing booth to meet your requirements is easy. Determine what size viewing area you need; it is recommend that your viewing area be large enough to allow side-by-side comparison of prints and proofs. You should also consider the number of people who will be involved in the viewing process when selecting your...

Are you ready for International Print Day? Started for the first time last year, this International Print Day aims to create a global 24-hour phenomenon in which social media highlights the creativity, importance, and power of print and paper. During the inaugural celebration last year, 8,683 Tweets were delivered to 23,023,968 timelines with 1,271 contributors. That’s a lot of print related information shared around the world! Deborah Corn, Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse at PrintMediaCentr.com, is the driving force behind International Print Day. We chatted about this year’s efforts and what we hope printers will gain from participating in the movement.   PIA: We love this year’s theme for International Print Day. How did #PrintNow come about, and how do you think this idea relates to the current state of the industry? Deborah: Our 2015 theme was crowd sourced during our weekly #PrintChat and Jonathan McGrew (@JEMcGrew) submitted #PrintNOW. To me, #PrintNOW embodies the current state of the industry and all of the amazing advances to marketing and communication we are creating and implementing. Equally, #PrintNOW can be used as a call to action. Luckily the chatters agreed and, voilà, our theme was born! PIA: A strong call to action is definitely important in a movement such as this. International Print Day intertwines a lot with social media. How important is it for printers to embrace social media marketing in their business plans? Deborah: Communication professionals must understand how to communicate with customers and prospects how and where they want to communicate. I am Gen-X, so maybe I will have some tolerance when I visit a printer’s site that doesn’t use social, but I am thinking “old;” I am thinking “not up on technology;” and I am thinking “how can they help me with my marketing when they don’t embrace some major channels on the multi-channel highway?” PIA: Definitely. Anyone in any industry should always be thinking about where their audience is and how they can best reach them. Besides getting involved in an awesome social media campaign, what are some other advantages for those who get in on the #PrintNow fun? Deborah: Creating Connection. #IPD15 is an opportunity for everyone to tell the world what they do, connect and engage with the community on a global scale, grow their audience and create thought leadership on subjects that are relevant to customers, prospects and #PrintNOW. There are long-term benefits of reach and awareness for a few hours of effort (and fun!) helping print trend the planet on October 14th. PIA: It sounds like there are lots of great benefits to joining the International Print Day movement. So, what’s your favorite part? Deborah: Creating Community. We all live in bubbles. Sometimes...

Are you ready for International Print Day? Started for the first time last year, this International Print Day aims to create a global 24-hour phenomenon in which social media highlights the creativity, importance, and power of print and paper. During the inaugural celebration last year, 8,683 Tweets were delivered to 23,023,968 timelines with 1,271 contributors. That’s a lot of print related information shared around the world! Deborah Corn, Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse at PrintMediaCentr.com, is the driving force behind International Print Day. We chatted about this year’s efforts and what we hope printers will gain from participating in the movement.   PIA: We love this year’s theme for International Print Day. How did #PrintNow come about, and how do you think this idea relates to the current state of the industry? Deborah: Our 2015 theme was crowd sourced during our weekly #PrintChat and Jonathan McGrew (@JEMcGrew) submitted #PrintNOW. To me, #PrintNOW embodies the current state of the industry and all of the amazing advances to marketing and communication we are creating and implementing. Equally, #PrintNOW can be used as a call to action. Luckily the chatters agreed and, voilà, our theme was born! PIA: A strong call to action is definitely important in a movement such as this. International Print Day intertwines a lot with social media. How important is it for printers to embrace social media marketing in their business plans? Deborah: Communication professionals must understand how to communicate with customers and prospects how and where they want to communicate. I am Gen-X, so maybe I will have some tolerance when I visit a printer’s site that doesn’t use social, but I am thinking “old;” I am thinking “not up on technology;” and I am thinking “how can they help me with my marketing when they don’t embrace some major channels on the multi-channel highway?” PIA: Definitely. Anyone in any industry should always be thinking about where their audience is and how they can best reach them. Besides getting involved in an awesome social media campaign, what are some other advantages for those who get in on the #PrintNow fun? Deborah: Creating Connection. #IPD15 is an opportunity for everyone to tell the world what they do, connect and engage with the community on a global scale, grow their audience and create thought leadership on subjects that are relevant to customers, prospects and #PrintNOW. There are long-term benefits of reach and awareness for a few hours of effort (and fun!) helping print trend the planet on October 14th. PIA: It sounds like there are lots of great benefits to joining the International Print Day movement. So, what’s your favorite part? Deborah: Creating Community. We all live in bubbles. Sometimes...

From the Super Bowl to the super market, bluemedia and its president, Jared Smith, cover it all. And we also mean that literally—they also produce and install wraps on buildings, race cars, and fleet vehicles The next project Jared will cover is Color 2015, December 5–8 in Phoenix, AZ. We caught up with him to talk about his session and find out just how bluemedia has earned its place as one of the top printers for Super Bowl L. (Any chance you can score us some tickets, Jared?)   PIA: You work with some big-name clients, like the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, Coke, ESPN, NASCAR and NHRA to name a few… What are the top challenges you’ve faced in delivering their products? JS: We’ve learned that our job can have no plan B. We must be proactively prepared—ridiculously prepared—to get the job right the first time. When we are working on a building wrap, the scene might include police, road closures, rented lights, swing stages, and harnesses. When it takes 30 minutes to raise the swing stage platform up to the top of the building, this is not the time to find out you have a missing tile, a bad print, or a color issue. We have a purpose-built QC center at bluemedia that must take steps similar to when NASA heads up to the moon. We can’t forget anything—the cost for all would just be way too high. Our customers don’t come to buy bluemedia to buy signs and printing. They engage bluemedia to execute projects and events that make use of our massive in-house capabilities. For those clients with those types of needs, bluemedia is a great source. PIA: Working with a variety of markets, including sports, big box retail, and agencies, how does your company ensure brand accuracy from end to end? Brand accuracy for us starts by taking steps to ensure we understand the brand first. This means we ask for style guides, branding guidelines, messaging rules, and Pantone colors very early in the process. We go a step further to research the brand and look at specific examples of how the brand is positioned currently. This gives us a great jump start on increasing the probability that our proposed solutions align with the brand right away. The next main focus in brand accuracy after design is color. We don’t tweak color per job. We tweak the entire color environment from monitors, to color space on design computers, to proofing devices, to lighting, to measuring equipment to the final press and the media profiles used. Our strategy is to have a neutral environment that always produces an accurate output of any digital file. PIA: What...