That's amazing
Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Katherine O'Brien
Lithographix's promotion piece is a keeper. The 100-page book features a stunning array of UV special effects that showcase the printer's skills as well as the work of world-class designers, photographers and illustrators.
“It was a labor of love,” says Randy Parkes, Lithograhix' vice president of marketing. “It says more than any simple brochure could.”
Printers' self-promo pieces typically are done in partnership with a single paper company or mill. For this project, Lithographix teamed with eight companies: Appleton Coated, Mohawk, Neenah Paper, NewPage, Sappi, Stora Enso and Wausau. “That's unprecedented,” says Parkes. “In the past, we might have collaborated with one mill. But we wanted to [work with a wide range of stocks] as well as establish real partnerships. We wanted our paper suppliers to be a part of the whole thing.”
Parkes credits Robert Louey of Robert Louey Design | Pagenova with developing the book's design and concept. Louey recruited the artistic talents of Dana Berry, Jeff Corwin, David Emmite, Joel Nakamura, Trevor Pearson and Patrick Messina.
From conception to execution, the project was about two years in the making. The Los Angeles-area printer could only work on the brochure during infrequent lulls — customers' jobs obviously take top priority. The complex prepress work required some extra effort as did the raised UV and reticulated varnish pages featured in the first section.
Lithographix invited its collaborators and customers to a book publication party. “The response has been amazing,” says Parkes. “All of the mills are sharing it with their customers, too. It's an invaluable piece we can show people and say: ‘This is Lithographix.’”
Contact O'Brien at KOB@americanprinter.com
About Lithographix
Herb Zebrack bought Lithographix in 1980. Founded in 1953, the company has transformed itself over the past decade from a $27 million printer serving Los Angeles to a $120 million, 380-employee operation with a national client base.
In addition to its new KBA Rapida 205 81-inch press, Lithographix has a fleet of grand-format VUTEk digital inkjet printers used for banners, posters, outdoor billboards and bus wraps.
Its offset capabilities also include eight Mitsubishi presses: five eight-color, 40-inch sheetfed presses with aqueous and UV coating; one six-unit, 38-inch web; two eight-unit, single-web 38-inch sleeved webs with inline UV coating, sheeters, pinless double former folding, pre-folding and combination folding with ribbon decks; and one six-color half-web.
See www.lithographix.com.
