Prince Andrew speaks as guest of honour at Printing Charity event
The Duke spoke about key passions of his, education and skills, and the importance of SMEs to today’s economy. He entreated printers to recognise how crucial taking on apprenticeships could be to the strength of their businesses, and to consider export markets. He said: “I have concentrated to some extent on skills and apprenticeships and trying to encourage young people to recognise that going to university at 18 isn’t necessarily the answer to the question.” He said: “Many businesses look at apprenticeships as a financial risk. How many times have you written ‘three years experience required’? If I could rub that one sentence out we’d be in a much healthier place. You need to put at the bottom: ‘willing to learn.’ In many cases that’s all you need to say. People will look at that and think this is a business I want to be a part of.” On trading overseas, he said: “I have been looking at what makes the UK prosperous and that is that we are able to export and conduct business a long way from here. Trade in Europe is quite small but outside it’s flourishing. I would say think broad, think further than just the UK or Europe.” Welcoming over 181 guests to the event, chairman of The Printing Charity Jon Wright spoke of the organisation’s work in 2013 and its future aims. He highlighted a 14% growth in the number of people helped this year, a record number of applicants and winners in this year’s Print Futures Awards and the extension of the charity’s national reach, with 75% of those helped last year living outside of London and the South East. Wright said: “Last year was a fantastic year for the charity. But we do know a lot of people out there need our help. This is about asking you to help us find those people. It’s important to broadcast that we help people of all ages whether individuals or families.” He added that the charity’s aim is to have helped 2,000 people by 2017. The luncheon also saw previous president Bill Offer added to the list of Presidents Emeritus. On receiving the recognition Offer said: “This is a great charity. I have been so fortunate to be associated with it for 14 years. Yes it was pretty difficult and very hard at times, but a lot of people in the industry supported the charity very well and that’s why you’re here today.”...
read moreBrief Cases shows off future industry talent
Brief Cases, which is open to primarily second-year degree students studying any creative discipline to do with graphic arts or communication, aims to bring industry and education closer together. The scheme is an evolution of Brief Encounters, which ran for around 11 years, and is the brainchild of Veronica Heaven, managing director of The Heaven Company. It was sponsored this year by Virgin, whose consumer insight manager Thom Stebbings sat on the judging panel, together with Heaven and Brian Webb, managing director of design house Webb & Webb and a former president of the Chartered Society of Designers. Entrants to this year’s Brief Cases had to choose one of the following three briefs: Create three stories in a staff communication piece to explain the Virgin brand, taking into account the core values and its look and feel Create a high quality, creative calendar to raise the awareness of The Heaven Company, a consultancy in communicating Corporate Responsibility and sustainability issues Produce a visual identity to capture the spirit of the business-university collaboration that is Brief Cases The Gold award went to Amedeo Spagnolo, a student at the University of the Creative Arts in Epsom, who wowed the judges with his eye-catching, colourful work. Commenting on the entry, Webb said: “This is a very clear and immediately understood solution. The strapline gives excellent clarity and it is a logo that works across many applications, online and print, including letters, envelopes, digital formats, apps etc. It’s a really well thought through solution.” Two Silvers were awarded this year, one in the Virgin internal communication category to Steven Parry (University of the Creative Arts, Epsom) and Jenna Plumb (Norwich University of the Arts) for the calendar brief. Heaven told PrintWeek that the students are required as part of the brief to think about the production element of the brief, rather than just contributing an arbitrary design solution. “We encourage them to think about things like whether its a large or short run project, whether it’s going to have personalisation, and about responsible design and sustainable production methods – considering things like paper use and ink coverage,” she said. “An important part of the process is that they are also judged on their rationale – so they have to think through their processes and present a reasoned case for their chosen solution.” Heaven added: “I am delighted that the scheme has attracted Virgin which is a fantastic sponsor for this design initiative and I hope other companies will come on board to support this initiative in future. “It is a great way to get involved with higher education and helps to increase an individual’s employability potential. Brief Cases is a way that companies can demonstrate their Social Responsibility, creating a really effective bridge between business and education and giving something back to the community.”...
read moreExhibition shows off the art of Xerography
Comprising over 125 works from 40 artists and artist groups, the exhibition encompasses photography, sculpture, video and works on paper and includes early examples of ‘copy art’ and ‘mail art’. Highlights include Mel Bochner’s ‘Working Drawings’ and ‘Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to be Viewed As Art’, as well as works by Barbara T Smith made using a hired Xerox 914. Xerox UK managing director Darren Cassidy said: “Xerography has always been about pushing the boundaries of innovation and this exhibition is a visual embodiment of that very idea. “It’s astounding to see the inspiration that has been born out of this invention. With 23 new patents awarded every week we’re certain that the next 75 years will lead to as many creative developments as the last 75.” The exhibition is open to the public until 10 November....
read moreLaser-cut cover forms typography tribute
Clormann Design played with letters in various typefaces to create a pattern that could be cut from the page. A paper with unusual strength was needed; the team selected Invercote G 240gsm paperboard from Iggesund for the cover. Christian Deppisch, a journalist at Novum, said the Invercote was laminated with the foil Brushprint Silver, and a copper shade was printed on to the foil. The designer wanted to play with the contrasts between shiny and matt. “The delicate pattern is really a challenge and with most other materials the pattern would risk being torn to pieces even before it reached its recipient,” he said. “But for this particular job the choice of material was perfect.” Kessler Druck+Medien did the printing and binding; a Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 74-5 LX was used for the cover while the magazine pages were printed on an eight-colour Speedmaster SM 102. Clormann Design worked with cutting and stamping specialists Stigler of Munich for the laser cutting. A Wohlenberg Champion was used for binding, which proved tricky and could have thrown up potential for the cover to catch on something in the binding machine due to all the holes, said Deppisch. “It was really, really difficult. So we made the binding machine three times slower and before that we did a lot of testing. We had to change the design of the cover so it would work better on the binding machine, and we closed all gaps in one direction.”...
read morePrint industry less likely to take on apprentices
Nearly half (46%) of respondents from the print industry cited lack of time to devote to trainees as a barrier, while 20% claimed costs were prohibitive and 5% said suitable candidates were lacking. “There are understandable reasons why many in the print industry are hesitant to invest their time and money into training an apprentice, as the benefits of apprenticeship schemes are not widely documented. “However, there is some evidence to suggest that they are worth the investment,” said Basil Bannayi, print division managing director at Close Brothers Asset Finance, which carried out the quarterly survey. Bannayi said that apprenticeships could help businesses by reducing the time and expense of recruiting, boosting productivity and developing a more diverse talent base. The latest Close Brothers Business Barometer, which surveys small- and medium-sized businesses across the UK, attracted 772 respondents of which 75 were from the print industry. Of those, around a third had turnovers between £250,000 and £750,000, a third were in the £750,000 to £1m bracket, 15% turned over £1m-£5m and a quarter turned over in excess of £5m. More than half (54%) said that recruiting skilled staff had proved challenging in the past, however of those that were actively running apprenticeships, only 13% said they planned to offer their trainees a permanent position on course completion. “Apprenticeships can go some way to addressing this problem by establishing a better fit between the skills possessed by the apprentice and those required by the company,” Bannayi said. He added that the standard of work produced by apprentices was often higher in order to meet assessment targets and that staff retention rates usually showed improvement because trainees felt a loyalty to the company....
read morePrint sales fall as Grafenia transitions
In its interim results, the renamed parent company of Printing.com posted a 3.4% drop in sales to £10.08m in the six months to 30 September, and an 11.4% fall in pre-tax profits to £305,000. However, EBITDA increased by 8.4% to £1.29m. Print sales overall were down £500,000 at £9.4m, and sales at its Printing.com franchise network slumped by £1.2m, or 21%, to £4.4m. Sales of its W3P online ordering and web-to-print system increased by almost 24% to £566,000, while Template Cloud sales grew to £77,000 (2012: £24,000). Chief executive Tony Rafferty said: “The business is in a transition. It’s probably taking longer than we thought, but we are seeing momentum. “Our SaaS developments are eating up all the profit at the moment, but the reality is you can’t start something new without investing in it, and that’s what we’re doing. I’m one of the largest shareholders in Grafenia and I’m very excited about it,” he added. The group signed up 19 new agreements for its W3P online ordering and web-to-print solution during the period, and Rafferty said adoption was increasing. “We granted the highest number of W3P deals in October, after the period end,” he said. “Many SME litho and digital printers have been around the houses and looked at all the web-to-print offerings, and they have found that W3P is easier to use.” The new W3P web shop facility came out of beta testing last month. “It’s early days and it’s just starting to gain momentum,” Rafferty added. “My agenda is to have 1,000 printers who get rid of their website that loses them money and replace it with a web shop that makes money.” He said the business remained cash-generative, and the reduction in net cash, from £1.14m to £530,000, was the result of a strategic move: “We are simply paying suppliers quicker than a year ago in order to take advantage of settlement discounts.” The firm cut its interim dividend to 0.33p (2012: 1.05p). Grafenia’s share price fell from 21.5p to 19.25p on the news. Rafferty will shortly publish a book ‘Web-to-Print MD-to-MD’, that will challenge conventions about the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets....
read morePrint sales fall as Grafenia transitions
In its interim results, the renamed parent company of Printing.com posted a 3.4% drop in sales to £10.08m in the six months to 30 September, and an 11.4% fall in pre-tax profits to £305,000. However, EBITDA increased by 8.4% to £1.29m. Print sales overall were down £500,000 at £9.4m, and sales at its Printing.com franchise network slumped by £1.2m, or 21%, to £4.4m. Sales of its W3P online ordering and web-to-print system increased by almost 24% to £566,000, while Template Cloud sales grew to £77,000 (2012: £24,000). Chief executive Tony Rafferty said: “The business is in a transition. It’s probably taking longer than we thought, but we are seeing momentum. “Our SaaS developments are eating up all the profit at the moment, but the reality is you can’t start something new without investing in it, and that’s what we’re doing. I’m one of the largest shareholders in Grafenia and I’m very excited about it,” he added. The group signed up 19 new agreements for its W3P online ordering and web-to-print solution during the period, and Rafferty said adoption was increasing. “We granted the highest number of W3P deals in October, after the period end,” he said. “Many SME litho and digital printers have been around the houses and looked at all the web-to-print offerings, and they have found that W3P is easier to use.” The new W3P web shop facility came out of beta testing last month. “It’s early days and it’s just starting to gain momentum,” Rafferty added. “My agenda is to have 1,000 printers who get rid of their website that loses them money and replace it with a web shop that makes money.” He said the business remained cash-generative, and the reduction in net cash, from £1.14m to £530,000, was the result of a strategic move: “We are simply paying suppliers quicker than a year ago in order to take advantage of settlement discounts.” The firm cut its interim dividend to 0.33p (2012: 1.05p). Grafenia’s share price fell from 21.5p to 19.25p on the news. Rafferty will shortly publish a book ‘Web-to-Print MD-to-MD’, that will challenge conventions about the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets....
read morePrint industry less likely to take on apprentices
Nearly half (46%) of respondents from the print industry cited lack of time to devote to trainees as a barrier, while 20% claimed costs were prohibitive and 5% said suitable candidates were lacking. “There are understandable reasons why many in the print industry are hesitant to invest their time and money into training an apprentice, as the benefits of apprenticeship schemes are not widely documented. “However, there is some evidence to suggest that they are worth the investment,” said Basil Bannayi, print division managing director at Close Brothers Asset Finance, which carried out the quarterly survey. Bannayi said that apprenticeships could help businesses by reducing the time and expense of recruiting, boosting productivity and developing a more diverse talent base. The latest Close Brothers Business Barometer, which surveys small- and medium-sized businesses across the UK, attracted 772 respondents of which 75 were from the print industry. Of those, around a third had turnovers between £250,000 and £750,000, a third were in the £750,000 to £1m bracket, 15% turned over £1m-£5m and a quarter turned over in excess of £5m. More than half (54%) said that recruiting skilled staff had proved challenging in the past, however of those that were actively running apprenticeships, only 13% said they planned to offer their trainees a permanent position on course completion. “Apprenticeships can go some way to addressing this problem by establishing a better fit between the skills possessed by the apprentice and those required by the company,” Bannayi said. He added that the standard of work produced by apprentices was often higher in order to meet assessment targets and that staff retention rates usually showed improvement because trainees felt a loyalty to the company....
read moreDscoop premieres university initiative at EMEA event with live streaming
“This is one of our most exciting initiatives,” said Dscoop global chairman Chris Petro. The university is headed up by former Dscoop member John Tenwinkel as director. Tenwinkel began his career as an Indigo 3050 operator, working his way up to head up production at a number of US print businesses and holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in graphic communications management. Over the course of Dscoop EMEA2 this week Tenwinkel will be canvassing members on what sort of resources they would like the university to prioritise. Initially the university will focus on pulling together an online repository of information from a variety of sources – not just Dscoop – such as webinars, research analysis and white papers, grouped by disciplines such as management, production and sales. However, Tenwinkel hinted that in the future the university had grander ambitions and could ultimately offer qualifications and structured training delivered via webinars, face-to-face events, online resources and exams that could result in formal qualifications. Tenwinkel is in very early discussions with a number of educational institutions on their involvement with the university. He stressed that it was very early days and the focus at this stage was simply delivering valuable content to members globally. “We’re looking at qualifications, but we have to understand where the demand is first. When we talk about certifications we have to look at the whole industry and identify where there are overarching gaps. But at this stage it’s too early to talk about formal qualifications, this is just the start of the university’s incredibly exciting journey,” said Tenwinkel. The university is currently pulling together an advisory board to help identify the content needed and also advise on potential content partners from within print and also outside, as well as being ambassadors for the university. The university, which is sponsored by HP, plans to launch its online delivery platform around March 2014, in time for Dscoop9 in Orlando, Florida. As part of the soft launch at Dscoop EMEA2, the university will live stream seven sessions today and tomorrow (7 and 8 November), accessible to Dscoop members and colleagues within their organisations. The service will also include exclusive interviews with speakers and delegates and the streamed sessions will be archived post-event. The sessions featured will include keynotes from high-profile speaker Barrie Bramley on leaving the past behind and focussing on the future and Karim Rashid, a leading industrial designer, on how the future of design is digital. Other streamed conference content will include sessions on customer relationship management, taking personalisation to the next level, transitioning from offset to digital to cross media, building your business in the new economy, imaging trends and financial performance. “Nothing can replace actually coming to the conference, but this will give our EMEA members the opportunity to engage with the conference and the great education on offer here. It will also benefit members from outside the EMEA,” said Tenwinkel....
read moreEFI claims IP ‘victory’ over Durst after German court invalidates patent
The latest development in EFI and Durst’s patent feud, which dates back to 2007, follows a ruling in Durst’s favour earlier this year by the Düsseldorf District Court in relation to Durst’s German patent no. 10 2005 006 092. Durst chief executive Richard Piock told PrintWeek at the time that this ruling gave Durst the right to stop the sale of Vutek printers with white ink in Germany and claim a royalty from customers that purchased Vutek printers with white ink in the past four years. However, EFI filed a nullify action in the Federal Patent Court of Germany asking the court to invalidate the portions of the patent asserted against EFI on the grounds that what Durst claimed had actually been disclosed years before. EFI succeeded in an earlier legal dispute with Durst covering a “utility model” – a less rigorous form of intellectual property protection – for similar reasons after German courts in Mannheim and Karlsruhe held the “invention” to be invalid. On 23 October the Federal Patent Court agreed with EFI and invalidated substantial parts of Durst’s patent. Durst, which was unavailable for comment at the time of writing, has the right to appeal....
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