I am David Lile, with David B Design, (www.davidbdesign.com) in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.  I created two each, custom designed, 25' X 12.5' montage murals, through Adobe Photoshop, for The Just Company, in Indianapolis, Indiana. One mural concept was based on Ellis island.  The other mural was based on the Signing of the Declaration of Independence.  The Just Company was nearing completion of their new 9,800 square foot financial planning building and we were ready to finally have the produced murals printed on vinyl wall covering.

I researched the Akron area first, because if possible, I wanted a local company to help fulfill my production needs, with my two montage murals.

I easily found DCI after doing a Google search on wide format printing and vinyl wall covering.

DCI Account Executive Mary Gelsomino, was extremely helpful and asked if I would like to come in and see DCI's facility before making a decision.  Upon entering, I was impressed by the order and beauty of the building; all the way from the front office to the cleanliness of the wide format printing room.  It was very impressive!

Mary worked with me in calculating the size and accompanying resolution needs of each mural.  Being the production person between the Indianapolis contractor and DCI, I had to call her several times, during the pre-production process before the wide format printing occurred.  Each time that I called, she answered every question.  Mary was always friendly, businesslike and knowledgeable.

During the production process, DCI printed a one-fifth size version, of the wall murals, so I could check the color and resolution.  The sample sizes were extremely helpful, in the final assessment of the two murals and allowed me to see just a few final needed corrections to fully finish the murals.  My client also had the opportunity to view the samples and he was very impressed with the texture, color and quality of the vinyl wall covering.

Printing was very timely and the product was immediately shipped via UPS to Indianapolis and received within two days, by my client.

Both murals now stand fifteen feet, above the foyer area of their brand new building, so clients who come in, first see the murals, above them, on either side when entering the main foyer.  Many clients have mentioned to their office staff, how moved they are, by viewing the murals.  It has been a very personal touch, that creates a memorable emotional tie for the client, to The Just Company, and DCI played a key role in the generation of those emotional ties.

I can't say enough about DCI, from their help and expertise, on a personal level to production of the final product to The Just Company. As I continue to grow my design services, any wall covering montage murals that I produce and design, in the future, will continue to be done only through DCI.  I deeply appreciate our business relationship.

This project was a total success, thanks to DCI.

Recently, Quaker Steak & Lube held a contest in conjunction with the Cleveland Cavaliers to "Win Dinner at The Lube® with Anderson Varejao". To promote the special event, a life-size figurine of Varejao (who stands 6’-11”) was created and displayed to generate customer response. QS&L provided photos of Varejao and DCI created an electronic path allowing the iCut Router to perform a razor-sharp, print-to-cut registration outline of the Cavalier. Printed on corrugated cardboard and propped with a floor easel-back, the display was tall and striking as customers entered the store.

As written by Bon Mentrek: Guests were able to register every time they enjoyed any wing or wing combo at the Valley View or Sheffield Quaker Steak & Lube. Two finalists were chosen over a live broadcast on ESPN 850 on January 29, 2010. Two finalists then competed in an on court competition at The "Q" on February 4th. The winner, Vincent Cicchi, enjoyed dinner with Anderson Varejao at the Quaker Steak & Lube® in Valley View on February 10th with nine of his friends.

Thanks Quaker Steak & Lube for allowing DCI to fill "tall" order.

By Michael Gorfido with permission by Bob Mentrek, Sr. VP, Marketing and Events, Quaker Steak & Lube

Founded in 1993, Digital Color Imaging (DCI, dcimage.com) in Akron, Ohio, started out as an electronic prepress company, CEO Dave Welner says. It has branched out into new areas over the years, and DCI now comprises three business units: commercial offset, short-run and variable-data digital printing, and wide-format printing. The company has about 50 employees.

"We got into wide-format printing a few years ago kind of as an aside'" Welner recalls. "We were printing a lot of juried art-show catalogs, and some of the artists began asking if we could do limited-edition prints for them. So we began producing giclee prints on two Roland Hi-Fi Jets."

That business took off for DCI, and soon its commercial clients began asking for wide-format work as well. As a result, the company acquired additional printers to handle the work–a couple of ColorSpan printers, a Mutoh Falcon II, and, the latest, an EFI Vutek QS3200 126-inch flatbed.

DCI recently used the QS3200's white-printing capabilities on a job for the Cleveland Browns football team's new training facility in Berea, Ohio. "It's a really gorgeous facility with a lot of nice interior design," Welner says.

"The Browns called me and said they wanted something that would be an appealing finish on one wall of a long, curved corridor," Welner continues, "They were thinking of something like wall decals or vinyl wallpaper. But when I went up and looked at it, and saw this 30-foot curved wall, I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if we could put some Plexiglas panels on that?"

The Brown's organization already had a theme in mind, based around inspirational quotations from Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Welner took a team-supplied photo of a group of players, combined it with quotes, and did a mockup in Adobe Photoshop to show what the corridor could look like with a row of Plexiglas panels. The team quickly approved the concept.

Several reduced sample panels were created at first to test the amount of ghosting needed for the white background image. These were done in 10-percent increments for the Browns to approve.

Welner describes the final output: "Each panel measures 4-feet wide x 7-feet tall. We printed the photo as a ghosted silhouette at about 10 or15 percent. Then we added the Sun Tzu quotes in foot-high letters in solid white. The photo and text were printed together in the first pass, and then we printed a second pass on the letters to get a super opaque white."

According to Welner, the trick to getting white to print properly is all in the file preparation. "It has to be set as spot color and labeled as white ink so that the RIP understands that it is a white layer. In addition, the RIP'd file has to be set up as a multi-layer file. This step also enables you to determine the printing sequence, such as whether the white layer will print on the top or the bottom of the other colors."

DCI also executed the install (as it does for all its work). "There were eight holes per panel that had to be very precisely drilled; these were all done using our MGE/EskoArtwork iCut System," says Welner. "Each panel was intended to mount on eight machined-aluminum posts (stand-offs). Because the posts were mounted to the wall first, there was very little room for error with the line up of the panel's holes and the posts. One side of the post mounts to the wall with an aluminum anchor, and the other end has a treaded hole for an attachment bolt that holds the panel."

Welner cautions other shops that might be planning to move into white printing to pay close attention to their pricing. "When we first got this system, a lot of our sales guys thought you could just add the white in, like it's a four-color job," he says. "But it really adds a dimension of cost–there is more set up and prepress effort and, of course, it's actually a fifth color, so if you have some spoilage it's more difficult to absorb."

 

 

The city of Euclid, Ohio recently opened doors to a magnificent 215,000 square-foot convention center that will play host to this year's 67th Annual Cleveland Home & Garden Show, the 73rd Annual Cleveland Sport, Travel & Outdoor Show, the Cleveland Spring Home & Patio Show, Bridal Fairs, Mixed Martial ARts, Custom Car Cruise-Ins, and many more annual attractions.

Needing a solution, the new facility came to DCI to pose the problem: give us a sign on the front of our building made of synthetic mesh but cannot look like a banner.

After careful site inspection DCI went to work to resolve the problem.

DCI was then awarded the bid to create a solution for printing and installing a monster-size 120'-0" wide x 10'-0" high banner sign tightly fitted within a custom frame that high winds could not destroy.

Reveling in opportunities to create custom solutions, DCI printed and installed the building-front sign within the time-sensitive and frigid cold of northeast ohio.

Let the exhibit shows begin. Thanks Great Lakes Expo and the City of Euclid for your confidence in DCI! 

When safety is of absolute importance, Digital Color Imaging in Akron, Ohio is called upon.

To commemorate the history of two Cleveland Brown's Hall of Fame players and legends on the gridiron Bill Willis and Marion Motley, a unique graphic was designed to span the walking bridge inside the Brown's Stadium.

Knowing that thousands of fans would be walking 50 foot underneath and strong Lake Erie winds rustling through the open end of the Stadium, precise engineering and ingenuity would be of most importance.

DCI was given the challenge to create this memorable and permanent artifact that must be secured to an i-beam/concrete structure spanning a width of 67 feet. An additional problem to address was the issue of a vertical center i-beam in the middle of the walkway. DCI provided accurate drawings with dimensions, and provided an aesthetic and safe solution.

Today, multitudes of Browns fans across the country have already enjoyed this colorful and historical display in person and on national television. Special thanks to the entire Cleveland Brown's staff for your confidence and commitment in DCI!

DCI has been a long time supporter of non-profit organizations and in tough economic times, nothing has changed. DCI continues to provide excellent support.

On Sunday, November 1, the Akron Beacon Journal will run an article in the Sunday Premiere Section featuring the winner’s profiles as noted in the October issue of Akron Life & Leisure magazine.

On November 15, DCI will be honored as the recipient of the 2009 Arts Alive Business Support Award. Congratulations DCI! Below is a feature article from the October issue of Akron Life & Leisure:

 

10.06.09

There’s an old adage in the printing business: “You can have it fast, good or cheap. Pick two.” Surprisingly, DCI seems to have found a way to beat the odds.

Here’s a sampling of what four different clients had to say in letters nominating the printer for the Arts Alive! Business Support Award:

“DCI provides consistency and quality to every project they handle… They are eager to go the extra distance…” – Summit MRDD.

“When they say they will deliver, you can count on it being delivered! Whether you have been doing business for years or are a new nonprofit, DCI will treat you the same.” – METRO RTA

“DCI unfailingly comes to the rescue… Their finished product and customer service is outstanding!” – Tuesday Musical Association

“In tough economic times, support for charities by small companies often get postponed or eliminated. DCI has demonstrated outstanding support… Their in-kind donation (saved the equivalent of) 21,000 meals for the hungry.” – Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank

Enough said.

(Reprinted from Akron Life & Leisure, October 2009)

To commemorate 35 years of business excellence is a milestone that Quaker Steak & Lube Franchising Corporation celebrated recently at their 7th Annual Conference. Due to a long-standing relationship, DCI was invited to attend and meet franchise owners in person.

During the three day conference, franchise representatives visited the brand new Vendor Tradeshow. DCI provided each franchise with their own personalized pocket folders, notepads, calendars, and a variety of fun and interesting new concepts including the Pick-Up Wingo Drive-Thru featuring Gizzard Coop! Visiting the DCI trade booth, many wonderful compliments and kudos were given including the personalized letter written below from Marla Pieton. Thanks Marla, we had a blast being there and love working with all of you to provide an on-going pleasant eating experience for all of your customers!

10.06.09

Dear Mary & Dave,

Thank you so much for DCI’s sponsorship and participation in our Quaker Steak & Lube Franchise Conference 2009 that was recently held in Erie, PA. Your generosity helped to enable our entire Lube Community to come together.

Thank you too for the printing and doing a great job with your booth – it was awesome!

We look forward to your ongoing support and our continued relationship.

With sincere appreciation,

Marla Pieton & The Lube Family
Senior Director of Marketing
Quaker Steak & Lube

2009 marked the first year that Digital Color Imaging (DCI) participated in being one of the sponsors for  InterAction, which is a marketing conference held once a year in Akron, OH by the Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing. In the past, mailers were sent out to marketers of Ohio and beyond in an attempt to inform them about the conference so that they might attend. Due to the wide array of InterAction 2009 sponsors, the conference was supplied with more tools and resources than ever before. Teaming up together, the sponsors began developing a strategy to not only increase conference attendance, but to demonstrate the effectiveness of a direct marketing campaign that would be seen firsthand.

All direct marketing campaigns begin with a solid foundation of targeted data. The databases and spreadsheets from each sponsor were cleansed and combined to create our master database.

Our master database lacked some recipients’ email addresses which inspired us to use traditional mailers as our first mode of communication. The mailer stirred curiosity, offered essential information regarding the conference, and ended with a call to action that directed recipients to a webpage personalized for them. In order to keep all of our marketing efforts in sync and consistent, we developed a conference theme that spanned across all of our marketing efforts, including this mailer.

Using XMPie’s variable data personalization suite and a Xerox iGen 3, we were able to easily include unique content throughout every mailer that we printed as well as every webpage that we created. The personalized URLs (PURLs) that facilitated the conference registration process allowed us to update our master database with ease.

As visitors arrived to their PURL they were immediately presented with dynamic content directed specifically at them. “Hi Joseph, You are only 4.2 miles from InterAction 2009 where the focus on Direct Marketing is May 19, 2009.” Along with the name of the recipient, we dynamically pulled the distance from each recipient’s location and the address to InterAction 2009 held at The University of Akron.

 

 

 

Being that our theme revolved around zodiac signs, we decided to have a little fun with it and ask each visitor for their birth date. This data allowed us to determine what zodiac sign they fell under so that we could provide them with typical traits that correspond with their sign. Next, after providing visitors with a famous person that shared their sign, they were given a quick and easy online method of signing up for the conference.

Visitors who went through the registration process had an opportunity to update their mailing address, select their conference workshop track, and were required to submit an email address. All of this information was retained in our database; some records were updated and others were newly added. All of the collected information was retained, even the registrants’ birth dates. While the PURLs seemed like a short entertaining web experience, they served a much larger purpose in helping us cleanse and add to our database, allowing us even more opportunities for future campaigns.

From our database we were able to determine which recipients never went to their PURL, which ones had visited their PURLs, and which ones had both visited their PURL as well as registered for the conference. Everyone in our database, that had an email address associated with their contact information, received an email not long after the initial mailer was sent out. We dynamically generated two different types of emails that were populated with variable data content. The first email blast went out to those who had not registered for the conference and gave them notice that they still had time to sign up, directing them again to their personalized URL. The second email blast went out to those who had registered; thanked them; provided registration confirmation and a map link in real time.

In the end, the combined energy and resources put into the conference by all of the sponsors proved to pay off as conference attendance dramatically increased nearly three times from previous years. One to one marketing that put an extra focus on being personal and fun with our audience proved a success. The incredible power of creating dynamic media for marketing easily allowed us to personalize content such as text, images, personal URLs, and interactive flash. Our registration process not only provided us with the functionality of registration, but allowed us to cleanse and update our audience’s information.

To experience InterAction 2009’s PURL, please visit http://interaction2009.com/JoeLookabaugh. Note that this page will not be personalized for you but is an example targeted at a different recipient.

Digital Color Imaging (DCI) of Akron, Ohio has expanded its work as a communications services provider to include that of an environmental advocate. The company, which provides print and Web-based marketing communications, knows that its business can have an environmental impact not only in its own backyard, but the world at large, and has incorporated a wide variety of technologies, products and practices to ensure its clients’ communications are impactful, but its ecological footprint is not.

One way DCI has helped its clients go green is be leveraging XMPie software to create personalized, multi-channel communications spanning Web, e-mail and print. Since cutting out paper all together may not be an option for many organizations, the company advises its clients on how to incorporate highly-targeted online methods of communication, along with the strategic use of chemical-free, forest-friendly print. This personalized cross-media approach had proven beneficial to both Mother Nature and DCI’s clients’ bottom lines.

"We have started to see the cross-media light bulb go off with many of our clients," said Dave Welner, president, DCI. "They are thrilled with the idea that we can help them take a greener approach to business, while increasing their campaign response rates and profit margins."

In addition to using PersonalEffect for cross-media, DCI has also implemented XMPie’s uStore Web-to-print solution. By leveraging uStore, DCI has helped its customers eliminate unnecessary printing, while making their printed marketing materials even more targeted and relevant, in addition to far less wasteful.

Long-standing DCI client Norandex, a division of building material leader Saint-Gobain, has nearly 200 dealer locations across the country and is a firm believer in using local seminars to educate contractors on the proper installation of its products. Before uStore, DCI would print generic corporate shells for the seminar invitations. The shells would be shipped and stored for eventual laser printing with seminar-specific information and then mailed to each recipient. With uStore, DCI provides an online site for Norandex branch managers to upload customer mailing lists, customize seminar mailers, print exactly the amount needed and mail to recipients. This solution cut down on printing and reduced shipping and storage resources and expenses. The program had been a huge success, eliminating significant waste while increasing branch participation from 15 to 100 percent.

Please visit our Eco page to learn more about how DCI is leading the forefront in environmentally friendly printing.

 

*This article can also be found on the following websites:

> Graphic Arts Online  (www.GraphicArtsOnline.com)

> What They Think  (www.WhatTheyThink.com)

> Printing News  (www.PrintingNews.com)

> Quick Printing  (www.QuickPrinting.com)

In order to accommodate the 2,500 riders who travel in buses throughout Akron every day, Metro recently unveiled their new $17.4 million transportation center on South Broadway and East Bartges. Metro chose DCI to help prepare for the celebration with our large format department in mind. Giant banners were made to hang around the new transportation center. Vibrant colors screamed aloud with an old movie feel from the banners that were scattered throughout Akron Metro.

Check out the footage to get a glimpse of the set up process for travel history in the making.