Colour Your Worlde

Artisan Colour, Inc. announces the opening of an East Coast office in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Artisan Colour was founded in April 1998 with a mission to provide our color separation clients with industry-leading quality pre-press services.  Our state of the art production facility in Scottsdale, Arizona has been expanded twice in the last 10 years to include a Digital Photographic Studio and Large Format Display Graphic Division. Now, with the addition of an East Coast office our expert staff is poised to fulfill clients needs nationwide.

The East Coast office will be managed by Fred Chaboya, who has over twenty-five years of experience in the pre-press industry. Artisan's East Coast office will better connect clients with the Scottsdale, Arizona based company. "We are dedicated to providing exceptional service to our East Coast clients, and the opening of our new office confirms that commitment. Our goal at Artisan Colour has always been about providing customized solutions for discerning brands. With the addition of our East Coast office we will provide a strong touch-point between our clients to our production team in Scottsdale."

For more information, contact:

Fred Chaboya
Artisan Colour, Inc.
1271 Fawnwood Drive
Lancaster, PA   17601
480-861-2813
Fred@artisancolour.com

Joshua Tree National Park has been the backdrop for many album covers over the years. Think past U2's 1987 release. Joshua Tree was also the setting for the self titled first release of the Eagles. which was shot at the cholla gardens on the eastern edge of the park. The orchestrators behind that iconic Eagles cover were artist Gary Burden and photographer Henry Diltz -- the men widely credited with inventing the concept of album cover art. Gary was the go-to album designer for rock artists in the 1970s, and collaborated with Henry for many of his projects. A collection of Burden's album cover art debuted at the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center on August 10th as part of the park's 75th Birthday Celebration.

The exhibit features images of the music groups America and the Eagles taken during the early 1970s in the park. The exhibit features more than 30 prints, curated by Gary Burden in partnership with Joshua Tree National Park and the printing help of Artisan Colour. Some of the prints, like the Eagles album cover, were printed on at a grand 4'x4' size.

Here are some of Gary's thoughts on why the park is so special and remains a source of inspiration to him.

I loved going into nature and found the desert to be a place of refuge. A place of great power and mystery. A place where there is, in fact, an abundance of life and beauty. A safe place. A place where you are tested and when you pass the test and survive you can rejoice and feel truly alive.



Later I brought other people here to Joshua Tree and shared what I knew and felt. The right ones got it and cherished it. They came back on their own to enjoy what the desert offers, again and again.



We are very fortunate to live in an area that has and protects our desert and makes it available to everyone. There is much to learn. Much beauty. Great peace and tranquility that will always improve our lot here on earth.

Thanks to the keepers of the special wild places, our National Park Service.

The exhibit is free to the public, and will be on display for the rest of 2011. The visitor center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

It was a pleasure to work with Gary Burden and 75th Anniversary Coordinator and Park Ranger "Extraordinaire", George Land.

Tomorrow, October 1st, the monthly First Friday Artwalk will be held in downtown Phoenix. The 26 Blocks project, that we were privledged to print, has found a new home in the CityScape lobby as part of the show's 2010 tour. The opening night festivities will be held from 6-10 pm in the Main Tower Lobby. If you could not make the other showings of the 26 Blocks project this is a great opportunity to experience first hand the collaborative efforts of 26 local Phoenix photographers and writers, highlighting 26 city blocks of downtown Phoenix, and their resulting images and stories.

For more about the 26 Blocks project visit their website. CityScape is located on the SW corner of Washington an 1st Street. For directions to where the 26 Blocks show will be displayed take a look at this map. See you there!

For graphics that need to be swapped out or dismantled frequently magnets are a great option. Ideal for trade show booths that need to travel or retail displays that are changed to advertise sale or new seasonal items, magnets can be easily altered by staff not trained in professional installation. Magnets are also great for car graphics and corporate vehicle identification. They offer a high impact without the long term commitment required with a car wrap.

There a couple of options when it comes to magnetic displays. The first is direct to magnetic printing. This, as it sounds, is where the ink is printed directly on magnetic material. This method is most commonly used when it comes to vehicle magnets. Magnets cling and stay the best on a clean flat surface, like the side panel or vehicle door. However, because of the increased weight of magnetic material in bulk, this method is limited in size to a standard 24" width roll.

For larger applications magnetic receptive materials can be used. Magnetic receptive substrates have a metal layer that attract magnets to the front or back surface, and are available in wider width rolls. This innovative material can be used in two ways; magnets can be attached to the front making it ideal for message, instructional or planning boards; or a panel can be installed in to a display frame with just magnetic strip edging, perfect for menu boards, trade shows, or retail settings. Additional finishing, like dry erase laminates, can also be added making them even more versatile.


Consider magnets for displays that need to be flexible and convertible. Artisan Colour can work with you to bring your design to life.

Image resources: Magnum Magnetics for Wide Format Imaging Magazine & Drytac FerroJet Matt.

Our photography studio is often employed to aid in product shots that are used in catalog or online sales. The perfect image that highlights the product attributes and represents the product accurately is imperative, and part of our specialty at Artisan Colour. How the resulting images are ultimately used in print or website placement can be equally as important. A picture can literally be worth a thousand words. The way that photos are utilized to promote a product or brand can express much more than lines of copy when used properly.

This article by Smashing Magazine offers several suggestions on how to use photography effectively and in turn enhance the consumer experience driving more sales online. Concepts like promoting company brand through imagery, telling a story, evoking an emotional response, and good old fashion demonstrating the attributes of your product in a stylish way are discussed. One topic that maybe can not be stated enough, is to avoid using static stock photography. Investing in quality images that perfectly communicate your product or company image will be duly rewarded with larger sales. Although this article focuses on web commerce, the same concepts apply to traditional print campaigns as well.

How To Use Photos to Sell More Online - James Chudley for Smashing Magazine

As a photographer and UX designer, I pay particular attention to the effectiveness of photography when I’m testing with users. Regardless of the context, users rarely fail to comment on or be influenced by photography when shopping online.

This article pulls together principles from psychology, marketing, UX design and photographic theory. It provides a set of principles to follow when commissioning and editing photography and when planning and designing profitable e-commerce user experiences.

Show Off Product Benefits

The best way to sell products is to let them sell themselves. Consider the Gorilla Pod shown below. The photo demonstrates brilliantly the benefits of the product. The copy is supplementary; the image does the heavy lifting. Let photography do the selling for you as much as possible.

It seems like so long ago when Joey Robert Parks met with us to explain his idea for the 26 Blocks project. Time sure went by fast. Joey has worked tirelessly to make his concept a reality. The reward is just a day away. The opening reception for 26 Blocks is tomorrow night at the After Hours Gallery.

We were honored that many of the artists recommended our services to Joey, and that he approached us in to be a part of the project. Working with all of the artists enlisted to participate has been a great experience. Its been fun to get a sneak peek of all of the images and stories that we printed for the show. Although, it can't compare to seeing them assembled in the gallery space along with Rafael Navarro's sculptures.

Joey can be seen here setting up one of the prints for the exhibit. From the Arizona Republic article.

Opening night is Friday May 7th from 6-9 pm at the After Hours Gallery, 116 W. McDowell Road. We hope to see everyone there!

In June the show will move to Monorchid, 214 E. Roosevelt St., Phoenix. The tour is scheduled to end at the Burton Barr Public Library in Phoenix Dec. 26-Jan. 31, 2011.

Read some press about Friday's event - Arizona Republic & Phoenix New Times.

In just over a week the opening show for the 26 Blocks project will debut. The unveiling of the show will be May 7th at the After Hours Gallery downtown as part of the First Friday art walk. It has been a fun project to be a part of, and exciting to see it all come together. We hope to see you there!

In the January issue of The Big Picture magazine they ran a feature article discussing the companies that use machines with white ink. Their cover is reminiscent of the Beatles White Album. Like the Beatles were to music, machines with white ink are revolutionizing the market.

Our Océ Arizona 350GT is widely recognized by the industry as having a superior print quality, and has a white ink option. Big Picture approached us to participate in their article, we were happy to extol the virtues of our equipment and company. Here are some excepts from the article.

Making White Noise - by Jake Widman

The company's latest acquisition: an Océ 350GT Arizona flatbed printer, which is versatile, Cook adds. "We have the roll-to-roll option and can print up to 86-inches wide, and we can print on the flat substrate up to two-inches thick. With the white-ink option, it opens up new markets. We do a lot of work on supplied materials, and artists bring in ceramic coaster or tiles and we output images onto those."

Cook recently called on the 350GT's white-ink capabilities in a job for an auction house dedicated to classic and high-end automobiles. When a car is sold, the auction house has a photographer take pictures of it from multiple angles. "For years, they just archived those photos and never did anything with them," Cook says. "They wanted to expand, and we were asked to come up with ideas high-lighting our capabilities for their marketing group"

One result: a 24x30-inch print of three views of a 1940s Buick station wagon. The image was provided by the auction house, archived by Artisan, and then printed on 3mm brushed silver Alcan Dibond aluminum composite. "The photos have white elements that would not work without white ink, such as the whitewall tiers and the chrome highlights," Cook says. "In addition to printing white in those areas, we put white spot channel behind the whole image to ensure it would be opaque and the colors would pop."

Our thanks to the folks at The Big Picture magazine!

Posted via email from Artisan Colour

Looking for alternate signage ideas for your product? The floor is often the perfect place to add to your message and literally stop consumers in their tracks. Every retail space has a floor, and each floor is a potential advertising canvas.

By utilizing floor space, these graphics can be used as a directional tool to guide customers to the desired location in an interactive way. Strategically placed in point of purchase locations through the store they can increase sales of your product up to 30%. With a low cost per square foot to produce, and a durability to withstand high foot traffic for several months, they offer a high return making them one of the most inexpensive advertising mediums.

Floor graphics are made up using a base vinyl and a specially formulated over-laminate for the floor. This over-laminate has a rough texture to prevent slipping and protects the print from foot traffic. The vinyl is easily removable and leaves no residue on the floor. Making it also easy to change out for future campaigns.

Most commonly seen in grocery stores, floor graphics can be used in many ways beyond the frozen food section. They are perfect for trade shows and special events. A logo placed at the entrance of your lobby can promote company pride and help build your corporate brand. Or create three dimensional illusions like this image of a 'hole' in the ground that Publicis, an advertising agency in Brazil, created for an anti-drug campaign at Mackenzie University.

Contact an Artisan Colour representative to learn how to create your own floor graphics.

Posted via email from Artisan Colour

Through Each Other's Eyes (TEOE) continues their tradition of cultural exchange and enrichment through photography with their latest show featuring work by local Arizona photographers Karen Shell and David Schmidt along with Chinese photographers Yu Xin Li and Ying Hui Bao. The photographers from China visited Arizona in April of last year, while the American photographers traveled to China in September of '08. The resulting images are nothing short of fantastic. We have come to expect nothing less from this amazing group of artists. It is always interesting to see our country, and the country they travel to, through different perspectives. We were privileged that TEOE selected us to print the images for their exhibit.

The show opens tonight, Thursday September 10th, at the ArtSpace on Sixth Gallery in Scottsdale. There will be a Grand Opening and artist reception on September 17th from 6-9 pm. Each of the four artists will each be displaying 20 prints. Please join us in the celebration of the 2nd TEOE exchange with China. The show will run until September 29th.

Posted via email from Artisan Colour

After several months of fine tuning, we are proud to announce the launch of the newest version of the Artisan Colour website.

Artisan has gone through many changes since the last version of their website. Maybe one of the biggest is the recent addition of the Display Graphics Division with the merger with Mighty Imaging and the purchase of two new pieces of equipment; The Oce Arizona 350 GT U/V curable roll to roll and rigid hybrid printer and Zund router cutter. These machines can do amazing things! The U/V inks on the 350 GT are environmentally friendly (no VOC emissions) that can print a truly Green and sustainable product. The Zund cutter can create custom shapes and packaging to complete a corporate identity or make displays with distinction.

We're not done yet. We do have plans to further expand the site and add more features. Check back soon for the latest additions.

Our thanks to Don Giannatti of SteelID, who designed the site.