"Oscar" of the Printing Industry
Insite Wins Coveted Benjamin Franklin Award
Insite Printing was recently awarded a 2009 Benjamin Franklin Award, the highest honor in the graphic arts industry for print quality. Only 94 “Bennies” were awarded from more than 3500 regional printing competition winners (beginning with tens of thousands of initial entries) throughout the international competition sponsored by the Printing Industries of America and the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation. This prestigious award recognizes printing companies who have produced difficult, yet flawless projects, recognizing outstanding quality attributes in print production.
Insite Printing is proud to be recognized among the elite printing companies in the world. The 2009 Bennie was awarded to Insite for its entry “Texas A&M Basketball Envelope” produced for the Texas A&M University Athletic Department. Insite was awarded a Best in Category award for this project in the regional PIA Gulf Coast region which qualified for this year’s Bennie competition (read more about the regional awards here).
We have many talented and creative people on our athletic staff and I am very proud of Jon Carpenter and his work with Insite Printing on the Basketball Envelope. Our motto in athletics is Building Champions. This applies to everything we do each day, as well as our relationships within our community.
Bill Byrne
Director of Athletics
Texas A&M University
Anatomy of a Winner
The TAMU Basketball Envelope project began with an outstanding design by Jon Carpenter, Graphic Specialist with the TAMU Athletic Department. The university selected several printers to bid on the project based on their capabilities to produce the exacting quality required of a specialized full-color envelope. Insite was awarded the contract based on its past performance on projects for Texas A&M University as well as cost conformity.
Upon contracting the project to Insite, representatives with the Athletic Department, including Mr. Carpenter, met with personnel from Insite to meticulously plan the steps needed in production to produce what was envisioned as a stand-out marketing tool for the TAMU Basketball Program. The project required elements not usually associated with typical printing projects: full color printing with tight color matches on uncoated paper; pattern die cutting (for envelope flaps as well as art design cutouts around photo elements) with tight registration to the printed elements; and spot ultraviolet cured coating on specific elements that would not only highlight those elements but also provide a texture feel to the piece.
The project on Insite’s end was headed by Marie Lindley and Janice Hellman who provide customer service and support for Texas A&M University projects. The first step of the process, after reviewing initial artwork entailed consulting with die makers and coating providers to determine any possible issues with the project. After consultations, some artwork changes were implemented to assure success of the project. Finished proofs were produced showing actual die cutting and folding to check accuracy of reproduction. Color changes were implemented as needed in the digital artwork at this point.
After all necessary modifications were made to the artwork, the next step was testing coatings for compatibility to the inks and uncoated paper selected for the project. UV coating on uncoated papers, with heavy ink combinations is a challenging process. Experimentation in coating/ink combinations was needed to achieve the desired look as well as textured feel. After all obstacles in the process were overcome, it was time to move on to the printing process.
Insite’s Komori 629LS press was the press of choice for this project. The press has unparalleled ability to hold tight color and registration sheet-to-sheet which was a two-part requirement for this project. Sheet registration was extremely important to ensure exact match with the coating and die cutting requirements. Futhermore, color matching of the trademarked maroon color used extensively in TAMU Athletic marketing material was essential. The LS629 press handled both requirements with ease owing to its on-the-fly colormetic measurements done by a sophisticated computer control system on the press. In person press checks were conducted throughout the run to further ensure consistency on the entire run of 5,000 envelopes.
The next steps required thoughtful pre-planning and meticulous oversight as well: Applying the UV coating to the press sheets in tight register to the printing and thickness control for look and texture; intricate die cutting which again had to perfectly match the printed press sheet from start to finish; foil stamping in register with coating and ink; and then application of glue and folding to form the finished envelope. Even the folding and glue had to adhere to strict requirements to form a perfect envelope. All elements of the project came together successfully and resulted in a perfect product for the TAMU Athletic department.