Jul 15
The highly regarded and popular clothing label, FLY53 have been busy working on their Autumn/Winter catalogue ready for the new season and, of course, they needed the best around to handle the print management – us!
The catalogue is half menswear and half womenswear, with the direction in which you hold it determining which you are looking at, making it both interesting and compact in its design.
We handled the print management of this big project, making sure that the paper was the correct quality and finish and of course making sure that the colours in the catalogue match up to the product colours. As you will appreciate, colour consistency between advertising and product is crucial!
To browse the new collection online, please visit their website to see what they have to offer.
Tagged with: Clothing • Fashion • FLY53
Jun 01
The Finished Cover
Mulberry Square was recently asked to print manage a wedding photography booklet, “A Guide To Posing”. We were supplied with the digital artwork and the copy for the booklet and were tasked to find the right printer, paper, finishing and binding to perfectly complement the images contained within.
With such important images; those of a bride and groom on their wedding day, it was essential that the colour management of this booklet was perfect. The effects of the lighting on people’s faces can make or break an image and so our pre-flighting expertise was key to ensuring the look of this booklet lived up to its potential. Happily, as we at Mulberry Square always employ cutting edge digital proofing – to FOGRA standards – you can rest assured that your printing will always be picture perfect.
Tagged with: Colour Management • Epson • FOGRA 39L • ISO12647-2 • Pre-flighting • Proofing • Wedding
Mar 17
Printing companies are facing the prospect of double-digit rises in paper prices following announcements of up to 12% increases by UK paper merchants. Printers have been warned that most merchants will make their increases from 6th April, although not all of the increases have been confirmed.
Depending on the grade, Antalis and its sister company James McNaughton Group have announced it would raise its prices by 8-10%, saying it would affect coated and uncoated graphic papers for sheets, reels and cut-size grades.
Howard Smith Paper have made it known that the full extent of the proposed price rises on its pricing strategy was not yet clear, but it is likely to raise prices between 8-12% for coated and uncoated grades for stock and direct mill deliveries.
The increase is expected to be in the region of 8-10% at Robert Horne.
Blaming rises in the cost of raw material and production, most of the paper merchants increased their prices last month and now they are back again, profiteering beyond the price rises introduced by the paper mills.
It would appear that the rationalisation of UK paper merchants over the last decade has resulted in a situation where there is little competition. Maybe it is time for the big boys to be broken up?
Tagged with: Antalis • Howard Smith Papers • James McNaughton • Paper • Paper Merchants • Print • Printing • Robert Horne
Feb 19
The major European paper manufacturers have today announced that paper prices are set to increase at some point in late March / early April. They say that this latest increase is due to pulp prices increasing by a third over the past 12 months and haulage and fuel prices going up. Some would think that with demand dropping the prices should be going the other way?
What is a certainty is that there is still over capacity in the UK print market and this price increase will not be passed on by all printers which will result in an increased rate at which UK printing companies go under over the next 6 months.
Tagged with: Paper • Print
Nov 15
I refer to the latest round of paper price increases introduced by all of the UK paper merchants on Monday 2nd November 2009.
These increases of between 5-8% affect both coated and uncoated papers and boards and come despite significant restructuring and cost reduction programmes implemented by the paper mills and merchants. The merchants claim that the impact of the Sterling’s continued weak value against the Euro has resulted in paper prices that are currently the lowest in Europe. Mainly for this reason, coupled with the escalating cost of pulp, returns from the UK market have fallen to the point where they are unsustainable for the paper mills.
Printers who ultimately attempt to pass on the increase to their clients face the nightmare task of trying to make the increase stick when British Printing Industry Federation (BPIF) survey statistics* show that only 31% of UK printers are working at over 80% capacity during the period 1 – 11 September 2009.
To the business owner or marketeer looking to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the downturn, doubts could be raised as to the sense in utilising print collateral as part of their marketing strategy. Our advice still remains the same; that a well conceived, well planned, multi-channel strategy using a combination of online and offline media, delivered to a well researched, targeted audience will more often than not win out on the day.
By working in partnership with experienced professionals, such as the guys within the print management division of Mulberry Square, the impact of these increases can be managed and solutions can be found to overcome these obstacles created by the adverse economic conditions we are experiencing at this time.
*The Printing Outlook report is based on an online survey carried out during the period 1-11 September 2009. The survey consisted of 114 companies employing 10,958 people with a turnover in excess of £1.1bn.
Tagged with: Marketing • Paper • Print
