Sustainability in a printed world

What does the word sustainability mean to a printer in 2010?

I have been thinking about the word “sustainability” that has been tossed around in the “green” world and how it fits what we have been doing as a business. This is what I have come up with – I would love your feedback, suggestions and to hear how you have defined this for your work place.

Our definition

Sustainability at Classic Graphx means the best possible use of available resources, minimizing waste, and producing excellent results for customers at reasonable prices.  It also includes a strong positive connection to our community and staff.

First – some things we’ve done over the last several years to make our impact on the earth a lighter one

1. Replaced lighting with more efficient and better fixtures and bulbs throughout our facility.
2. Integrated a 100% PCW recycled paper for print work when possible, and continued to update our customers on what recycled papers are available for their projects.
3. Purchased a color digital printer (Lola –Canon C7000) capable of producing short run, high fidelity color output, allowing us to print exactly the number you need with minimized set up costs, and the potential to reprint on demand from original digital files.
4. Computerized quote and order processing to facilitate re-orders and reduce paper waste.
5. Use paper-free digital process for managing proofs.
6. Ordered biodegradable plastic bags for packaging.

Second – how we make decisions about sustainability

1. Keep the process simple and pleasant.
2. Use the raw materials that make your project successful, while minimizing the impact on the earth. Get your message out in print and web based mediums.
3. Utilize equipment we have in-house and whenever possible work with local vendors to minimize transportation costs (economic and environmental) to manage the overall cost. Utilize offset, letterpress and digital printing (or combine all three) to create the product that meets our customers’ needs.
4. Provide a safe and decent livelihood for our staff members.
5. Work with and support local businesses.
6. Work with and support community non-profits by in-kind donations and volunteerism.
7. Make the experience of Classic Graphx one that adds us to your “most favored” vendor list, someone you can depend on for excellent work and advice. That just makes us feel good!

How to Make Flyers Fly

The One Page Flyer – How to Make it Fly!

These days, with everyone having the attention span of a flea, the one page flyer is one of the best ways to advertise or inform your audience. Too much visual and informational material, and the brain will quickly blur over and/or tune out.  The worst result is that your piece ends up in the trash. So how do you get people to focus on your message? What is the best way to create something to grab and maintain the attention of your audience? Here are some key considerations to consider when creating any printed material. Read more »

Making a Good Request for Quote (Part 1)

As one of the people who does estimating in our shop, I get to see a myriad of ways that people ask for pricing for their print projects. This is due to people’s various experience levels with everything that goes into making a print project work.

Even in print shops, not everyone can understand everything there is to know about print, so don’t feel bad. If your print shop is truly customer service oriented, they’ll take the time to walk you through the necessary items (color vs. black and white; single/double sided, etc.) so that they get all the information they need to give you an accurate price.

What is one of the common things we see?

The Pages vs. Sheets Dilemma

This is one of the most common miss-communication issues between printers and their clients. The reason for this is that the definition of what is a PAGE and what is a SHEET often differs from the way these terms are used in common conversation. Even printers use the terms casually in normal conversations. Read more »

Eco Friendly Printing

Eco-Friendly Printing at Classic Graphx

At a time when growing acceptance of electronic media offers a more environmentally friendly alternative, the printing industry has received criticism from various environmental agencies for its continued use of manufactured paper products. As printers we do use paper, but we also understand its effect on the environment and work to reduce our overall impact. We do this by purchasing and printing on recycled papers, which are significantly more eco-friendly than their virgin pulp (non-recycled) cousins and paper making plants making energy savings efforts.

Recycled Papers

You probably have recycling bins in your office and in your home. Well that discarded paper can be used to create recycled papers. This Post-Consumer Waste or PCW can be processed as part of a pulp that is bleached, then pressed to remove excess water and finally cut into rolls and sheets of recycled paper. If you look at a ream of average office paper, you may find a little recycle logo that Read more »

Why business cards are like hamburgers

Just as every restaurant has their take on the traditional hamburger, every business has their own preference for the card that represents them. Some people like their burger with just a patty and a bun, and others like it “loaded” with all the fixings. At the same time, some businesses want their card to be a simple statement about their information on plain paper, and some want it “loaded” with all sorts of die-cuts, metallic inks, and 24 point thick paper. No matter what you’re eating, or who you’re meeting, there are many similarities between business cards and burgers.

In the world of business cards, there is no standard style — although, the default paper used for business cards has traditionally been eighty pound (80 lb.) cover and has been trending towards heavier and stiffer card stocks in the past few years. I guess the same can be said for hamburgers. The standard has been one meat patty roughly 1/8-1/4 of a pound of beef, which has now migrated into items like the Triple Whopper™, and Hardy’s Double Thick Burger™. It seems that as we get used to a standard and someone introduces something bigger and better, all of a sudden the bigger and better starts to become the norm. I always wonder how long it will be before we are all printing our cards on thick pieces of wood.

Read more »