Just so the big printer doesn’t feel left out…

Here it is printing three rolls of media at once. Clever printer!

What’s in the box part two…

You might have guessed – it’s a printer.  You can read more about our new Vutek GS3250LX here: http://www.printweek.com/print-week/news/1140618/rmc-digital-goes-greener-leaner-vutek-investment

It’s working well and we’re really impressed with the quality of the print.  We’ll get photos of some projects uploaded soon to show you what we’ve been up to.

 

What’s in the box?!

Our new arrival – more pictures to follow…

Paying it forward and creating a workforce of the future…

After seeing numerous articles discussing whether or not print is a dying market and having found it difficult to recruit people with print experience RMC Digital Print decided to try and encourage young people to move into the print industry. What better way of doing this than to give them a really positive experience of the industry while they are children?

We teamed up with Hull Children’s University and St Stephen’s Shopping Centre to offer local children the opportunity to have their Christmas themed artwork displayed in the centre and to win a £50 prize as well as a few prints to take home and display in their school. Eve Clark at Hull Children’s University was instrumental in setting up the competition and getting children involved.

Once the deadline passed we set up a crack team judging panel of Nicole Spencer of RMC Digital Print, Eve Clark of Hull Children’s University and special guest Stuart Weir of 3M Graphics. After a gruelling afternoon of judging the entries we settled on our winners; Libby Laycock – Thanet Primary (under 6 category); Isobel Daubney – Victoria Dock Primary, (6 – 8 years category) and Lauren Wheelwright – St. Nicholas Primary School, (8 – 11 years category).

The winners were all invited with their parents to see their prints being produced. The children watched in awe as the 3M Clearview Vinyl went through RMC’s Vutek GS5000r printer and laid down three layers of ink in order to create a double sided print. We used a middle layer of white ink with the graphic either side for most of the print to create depth of colour but left some areas as a single layer of ink to create more of a stained glass window effect. Other areas were made clear so that both the vinyl and glass were transparent.

After the installation had taken place the children excitedly gathered to see their prints on display and be presented with their prizes. They stood by their artwork as proud parents took photos and chatted with one another about the project. All of the children that won the competition said they really enjoyed their visit to the factory and who knows we may make printers or graphic designers out of them yet…

March/ April Update

We’ve been very quiet on the blog of late as we’ve been so busy…

We were lucky enough to be shortlisted for the Sign & Digital UK awards last month where we lost out on Wide Format Printer of the year to very worthy winners Hollywood Monster.  It was great to be up against such strong competition and we hope to be there again next year.  We’ve a few exciting projects in the pipeline so hopefully they will help to strengthen our 2012 entry.  We enjoyed the Sign & Digital exhibition prior to the awards where we viewed some finishing equipment which will help to strengthen our in-house capabilities.

We’re currently working on an exciting project for a set design company and a large roll-out for a signage organisation but unfortunately can’t say any more about either project.  I can tell you about some wallpaper we’ve printed for a short film that is being filmed later this month.   We have printed some retro wallpaper with nursery rhyme characters designed by artist Nat Gausden which give the set a creepy/ dark feel.  The film director Richard Turley was kind enough to send some photographs of the set once the paper was up.  You can read more about the film at www.darklightfilm.com or follow them on Twitter @darklightfilm

April will be a busy month for us with an upgrade being installed on the Vutek GS5000r as we speak!  More news on that to follow…

New technology, new premises, new job…

Since joining RMC Digital Print a month ago I have had a lot of new opportunities to learn and a lot to organise. I’m not from a print background so the methods and techniques are all new to me but having an experienced team who have worked in the industry for most of their lives has helped me to grasp the fundamentals. Although, as we’ve just bought a super-wide Vutek and a Zund cutting machine, the experienced team members have been learning a few new things themselves. One of the team has been in print for at least twenty years but told me she learns something new every day and relishes the opportunity to work with ever changing technologies. I can see this from the pride she takes in operating the Zund and trying out new techniques. With the investment in new technology we have decided to give our website a much needed overhaul in order to let it better reflect our organisation and to make it more interactive for clients. As we enter a period of expansion and development it seems right that our on-line presence does so too. This is why I’m writing this blog and participating in the wonder world of Twitter. It’s an exciting opportunity to interact with others, gaining and sharing knowledge and building relationships whilst doing so.

That brings me to our re-launch… We want to celebrate how far we have come in the past eighteen months from first opening our doors in a small
sub-let unit to moving into a purpose built and designed premises where we are now. We want to demonstrate the new print and cutting capabilities that we have, as well as introducing everyone to an industry first within Europe. If you want to know what that is you’ll either have to come and visit us on the 2nd of December or follow our blog or Twitter account!

All in all this has been a hectic first month in the business for me with busier and more exciting times on the horizon. I’ve quickly become a print geek and firmly believe the future is bright for us in the fascinating world of wideformat digital print. I’ve got the FESPA summit to look forward to next week and will share my thoughts on my first print event with you when I’m back…

Contribution by Nicole – Account Manager @ RMC Digital Print