Colour Your Worlde

In November of 2012, the Wee Gallery in Scottsdale will host "Scottsdale Biennale". The theme of this year's show is Venture. They are currently accepting artist submissions. The competition is open to all artists, and they are accepting paintings, drawings, and photography up to an approximate size of 20"x40". They are awarding a Grand Prize of $5,000, and a Best of Show of $1,000. Submissions are due by September 1st.



Finalists will be revealed on September 30th. For more information on how to submit your work in to the competition, please visit their website.

At the 2010 Photoshop World Conference and Expo our own Paul Bartell was the recipient of one of their Guru awards for Excellence in Photo Retouching. Paul took the photo on the left of street photographer Louis Mendes outside of B&H Photo in New York. He swapped out the background with another image he had taken in the city, and added brown mono tone color treatment to give it some added interest. The final image is on the right. Everyone here at Artisan knew Paul did excellent work, we are happy that he was also recognized for his work on the national level. Congratulations Paul!

It may seem like a long way off, but it will be here before you know it. The Arizona State Fair will open this year on October 15. However, if you want to submit your photography to be considered for an award, the deadline is Septemeber 22nd. So now is the time to get out and start shooting, or review your portfolio to pick out the perfect set of pictures to print. Of course, you also have to give yourself enough time to get the images printed and matted according to the submission guidelines.

For photography there are five sections that you can enter - Large B&W prints, Small B&W prints, Large Color prints, Small Color prints, and Arizona Landscapes. The print size for the 'Small' category is 8x10 mounted on a 10x12 mat board. The 'Large' category can be between a 11x17 and 16x20 print mounted on a 16x20 mat board. The Arizona Landscapes competition is a special category sponsored by Arizona Highways. The print size for this category is the same as the Large print specifications. You can submit up to four entries per section for consideration.

If you think you have the next blue ribbon winning shot, we can help you get it printed, mounted and ready for submission. For complete details on how to enter the Arizona State Fair Photography competition check out their official rules.

The successful promotion of a company’s product line depends on effective marketing and presentation. It is vital for a product to be advertised in such a way that grabs the audience’s attention and also creates brand recall among customers. Most companies are looking for an approach that will give them the best return on their investment.

While there are many methods of advertising, Point of Purchase (or POP) displays are an effective and low cost method that can be used as one component of an overall marketing strategy. POP displays can be found at many different retail applications. They have been in utilized in a basic way ever since man started selling their wears. Used in the simplest form, merchants would hang samples of their product in shop windows to inform potential buyers of what they sold. Nowadays, with technological advancements, samples have been replaced with picturesque depictions of the products.

Point of purchase displays come in variety of forms. They may be backlit signboards, an entire showcase, or a counter top display right at the cash register. An effective piece will have the brand name predominately mentioned. POP fixtures and displays should be colorful and attractive to consumers. The goal is to draw the customer’s attention to the display to entice them to buy your product. They need to be targeted to the demographic you are trying to reach. They should also make a statement about your company and be consistent with your brand image, as it may be the only impression the customer gets of your company.

The machine we recently purchased to create the Artisan Colour Display Graphics Division is ideal to produce this type of marketing. It was recently recognized for its superior print quality at the Euro-Reklama Outdoor Expo. The Océ Arizona® 350 GT won the 2009 Poznan International Fair (PIF) Gold Medal. The first generation of this machine (the 250 GT) was awarded the PIF Gold Medal in 2008.

Océ Wins Double Gold at Euro-Reklama Outdoor Expo 2009

The PIF Gold Medal is awarded to a product that meets a number of criteria, including quality and innovation, and that has been produced using the best technology available. A panel of specialists in each industry judges the entries. The PIF Gold Medal competition jury has a 30-year tradition of recognizing outstanding products in various fields.

The Océ Arizona 350 GT UV curable flatbed printer uses Océ VariaDot™ imaging technology to deliver near-photographic image quality for nearly any application. Designed as a true flatbed system, it can print on a wide variety of rigid substrates and features a Roll Media Option for printing onto flexible media. A White Ink Option is available to enable under-printing on colored media or objects, over-printing for backlit applications on transparent media, and printing white as a spot color. The Océ Arizona 350 GT printer is ideal for producing a wide variety of applications such as event graphics, point-of-purchase displays, limited-term signage, banners, backlit and reflective rigid displays, transit advertising, and directional signage.