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Soar Print and Image Centre Group (ICG) are merging into a new business

The new business – (yet to be named) – will draw on our print, logistics and packaging expertise of Soar Print combined with the creative, publishing and large format expertise of ICG.

While servicing largely different clients, we have had an open and strong working relationship with Dave and his team at ICG for well over a decade, built on the family-led values of each of our company’s founding fathers.

This merger strengthens our overall offering, and gives greater opportunities for both our clients and teams. It also paves the way for an exciting future and allows us to stay as an independent New Zealand owned business.

In the short term, the business will utilise the current Soar and ICG branding, with a look to a revised brand in line a move to a new 5000sqm consolidated premises in Mount Wellington in early 2022. The ICG team will move into the new premises in January, with the Soar team picking up any printing slack during the transition. The team at Soar will then complete the move by May, with all operations then established at the new site. This ensures a seamless transition for clients, staff and key suppliers.

The company will be right at the top of New Zealand print power, with both Soar Print's Heidelberg 106 XL and ICG's eight-colour B1 Komori long perfector among the production equipment that it will have at its disposal.

Fred Soar and David Atkins, currently CEOs of the two businesses, will be joint CEOs of the new company.

ICG offers a wide range of services from print and creative to content and marketing automation. Atkins said, “For us it is about looking to the future of what a combined offering means for good and sustainable business, and how this translates to not only financial stability and continuity for our staff and clients, but also opportunity to grow.

“It is exciting to get the critical mass that we’ll have, and therefore the market penetration that'll go with it, while retaining the Kiwi ownership in our DNA that has been strong drivers of both the ICG and Soar brands.”

Managing director Fred Soar, said, “Soar Print and ICG have a similar philosophy about work and we know that both our teams get on pretty well. We've helped each other out with work over the years, and now we’ll be able to better help our clients with a greater offering and capacity”.

"We have done a lot of work when it comes to print and sustainability, and I’m excited by what a combined offering will further achieve in our sustainable best practices."

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This entry was posted in blog on November 16, 2021.

Why print direct marketing is beating the pants off email

Marketing experts used to predict the demise of hardcopy direct mail, however at Soar Print we know that it’s evolving rather than fading. In fact, it’s enjoying a renaissance, because email has become a less-trusted channel and social media messaging is so easily ignored.

How many spams and unsolicited emails did you delete today?  And how effective were all those Instagram and Facebook ads you flipped past? Now think about walking to your letterbox to discover personal mail in a classy envelope with a handwritten address. Slicing it open to see what’s inside is like opening a gift.

According to the Data & Marketing Association (DMA), up to 90% of direct mail gets opened, compared to only 20% to 30% of email. Data from Canada Post suggests that direct mail requires 21% less cognitive effort to process than email. Also, based on direct mail statistics from Marketing Profs, 75% of consumers can recall a brand after looking at a piece of direct mail, but only 44% can recall a brand after seeing a digital ad.

So we’re suggesting it’s time to take your database on a journey back in time, because hardcopy direct mail is a marketing tool that’s making a big comeback. And now it’s better than ever, because there are so many more print effects, personalisation techniques and paper stocks to make your DM piece irresistible.

Here are four ways to magnify the affect of addressed mail:

1.     Make your print DM a symphony for the senses

Tactile communications appeal to multiple senses. Touch, sight, smell and even your auditory senses (the sound of crisp, upmarket paper unfolding…) can be stimulated with carefully-designed print material. With help from Soar, your printed communications can make a big first impression.

It begins with a great stock; something that feels good to touch. It continues with effects like embossing and debossing, spot UV and holographic foiling. And it can even say something about your values, by showing a logo that proves it was produced to be carbon zero. Or for a new level of engagement, your DM piece can involve paper engineering that produces amazing pop-ups, reveals and other surprises.

2.     Give customers a reason to keep your DM piece

Keypoint Intelligence’s marketing communications research says that 20% of respondents stated that they were more likely to see and save printed promotions. What’s more, 15% believed that businesses who sent printed communications were more serious about winning and keeping their business. Interestingly, respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 – i.e. digital natives - were especially likely to feel this way (31%).

While email inboxes are a source of risk, as well as a source of annoyance, printed direct mail is seen as a more trustworthy marketing channel. You can capitalise on this by sending your customers something useful that’s worth keeping. From calendars and notebooks to coffee mugs and desk pads, printed promotional giveaways have power. Blank journals with arty covers are a trend that Soar Print can help you to embrace. On the inside cover, there’s plenty of space for sales messaging.

3.     Remind customers of all your capabilities

If you run a services company, your customer base needs periodic reminders of all the things you can do for them. If you don’t keep in touch to reinforce your scope of work, they might start using one of your competitors simply because they can’t remember all the things you can do. You might think they have a handle on your services and capabilities, but it never hurts to underline your specialities from time to time.

A natty direct mail piece can showcase each of your skills or services, and customer case studies can provide proof that you deliver results.

 

4.     Use your database to power personalisation

The digitisation of orders and customer relationships has made it easier to collect customer data. And data is power. It allows you to personalise customer experiences, both digital and print. At Soar, all our HP digital presses have the ability to customise outputs using variable data. In addition to personalised outputs that speak directly to each customer, you can also create virtually unlimited design variations. For direct mail and brochures, variable data increases engagement and reinforces your connection with customers. Sit down with us and we’ll talk you through the possibilities of data-powered print runs, where every output is a one-off for one customer. 

References

Keypoint Intelligence. (2021, July 6). Intelligent Print Marketing in The Digital Era. Retrieved from Ricoh Business Booster

 

Want to put direct mail to the test?

Bring your creative team to Soar and let’s talk about how hardcopy direct mail can help you to tick off some of your marketing goals. For a meeting, contact Claudia Fraser 09 302 9100 or email [email protected]

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This entry was posted in blog on September 09, 2021.

Our Receptionists Story

At Soar, we are truly committed to our team. Whenever we can, we promote internally which keeps our staff engaged with new challenges, it broadens their industry knowledge, and provides our employees with a stronger career path.

A great example of this is three of our wonderful staff whom all started out as receptionists at Soar.

Fina Toa has been with Soar Since 2002, moving from reception to accounts and administration in 2006. She loves that Soar has helped her achieve and learn a lot of great skills and says that “Soar is a great company to work for, that’s why I’ve been here for 19 years!”

Zoe Harker started at Soar in 2012 and moved into customer services in 2013 and has recently taken on a new position in operations support. Zoe loves being given the opportunity to grow within the business and is still learning new things daily, even after 9 years. She is especially grateful for a new understanding of sustainability and says, “Soar have great values and it makes me proud when they win awards for staff or as a business, knowing I work for a family-owned business who are strong and value their staff”.

Adrienne Zamor-Bongout started at Soar in 2014, and after 2 years at reception, moved into customer services. She also dipped her toes into production for a while. Adrienne loves working with a great team of people and enjoys the variety and the challenges she faces each day, as no two days are the same.

From Left: Fina Toa, Jenny Carter, Zoe Harker, Adrienne Zamor-Bongout

“Seeing some of our receptionists over the years move on to other areas of the business and do well gives me a great sense of pride in their achievements. Their attention to detail, and great communication and computer skills have helped all 3, Fina, Zoe and Adrienne progress. With their combined experience of 35 years at Soar Print they are a real asset to the company“ - Jenny Carter 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on August 10, 2021.

Stretching our print boundaries with a te reo board game

At Soar we love a new challenge, so being chosen as the printer for Kura Rehia’s board game ‘Kaupapa’ made our team super happy. There was much more to this challenge than print – we had to weave together multiple components. 

Kura Rehia create games, resources and events that are helping to realise the vision of a bilingual Aotearoa. Their recently-released board game ‘Kaupapa’ is for speakers and learners of te reo Maori. Involving 900 words to expand players’ Maori vocabulary, it’s huge fun for families and classrooms. There are different difficulty rules to suit players of every language level - from complete beginner to fluent speaker. 

Opting for sustainable materials and eco-friendly printing processes, it was important to Kura Rehia to support our local economy and make sustainable choices with Papatuanuku in mind. The board itself is made from sustainably-grown plywood, which is printed on an HP printer with eco latex ink. Creator Kuruho Wereta drew on his background in carving to create the design, featuring patterns that tell stories. Each game board is die-cut and sanded into shape.

Clear tokens (aptly named ‘waka’) carry each team around the board, each with its own Maori pattern printed in the team’s colour, with enough clear space so that you can still see what category you’ve landed on while you’re on it. The cards, and the 100% recycled paper booklet, resin timer and tokens sit in a beautiful box, made from Colorplan Vermillion Red card with a metallic foil print. All of these elements are assembled by us and sit in a kraft board box with die cut labels. 

The first print run of Kaupapa was so successful, it sold out. We’re in the process of printing, assembling and distributing more games right now. With waitlists on most reo Maori classes, this game is a brilliant way to get te reo into homes, workplaces and classrooms. Kura Rehia’s mission is to see te reo Maori as vital to how we have fun as whanau and friends. For everyone keen to learn some reo, this is a beautiful and joyful way to do it. 

Once we’d printed, finished and assembled all components, we put each game together and organised distribution from our warehouse. It was a true end-to-end project, where we stepped way beyond the usual boundaries of print supply.  

 

If you’d like to order a copy of Kaupapa and improve your reo,  go to the online store

If you have project you’d like to discuss contact Stuart Shepherd [email protected]

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This entry was posted in blog on August 03, 2021.

Pride in Print Awards 2020

A colourful Pride in Print awards night at the Cordis Hotel netted five golds and three highly commended awards for Soar and Rocket. Surrounded by popping champagne corks, we spent some quality time celebrating with our printing industry peers.

The Adrian Kenneth Burr book was a stand-out entry for Soar. Exquisitely designed by Mister Wolf Ltd, it achieved three gold medals including Booklets Under 16 Pages, Specialty Products – One Off Works and Print Finishing.

The stocks chosen for this booklet give it a sense of luxury. The text is Renoir natural white 130 gsm and printed on the Indigo 7800 with an unprinted curious translucent clear inside the cover. The cover is Curious Matter Sand 270gsm all from B&F Papers. The Print finishing included a KURZ Silver foil text on the cover, but the real star was the thread sewn spine.

It’s no surprise that the Being Together is the Only Reality catalogue from the University of Auckland earned a gold medal as the colour quality achieved on the Indigo 7800 is phenomenal. The book was printed offset on our HP Indigo 7800 and saddle stitched.

Also achieving a gold was the Black Robin Gin label. It was expertly executed by the team at Rocket Print, who were tasked with creating a temporary label that replicated the usual etched bottle design, which at the time wasn’t possible due to Covid-19 restrictions.

AUCKLAND; THE OCEAN CITY is an elegantly designed guide from Showroom 22 for fashion brand COS. It was printed on Mohawk superfine eggshell white as 4 booklets, which were stitched and bound using two different magazine sizes and a map insert. It earned a highly commended for booklets under 16 pages.

Once again, the Laminex Laminate catalogue by designers Davy & Chapman received recognition for Business Print - Commercial Promotional Catalogues & Directories - over 32pgs. Printed on the Heidelberg Speedmaster CX102, with matt laminate and Spot Gloss UV, it’s always a standout.

The St Johns Appeal Tool Kit Box by ASB Bank earned a highly commended for Paper & Board Packaging - Functional Packaging - Industry & Business. It was printed on our Heidelberg Speedmaster CX102, then mounted on E flute with matt laminate and digitally die cut.

In addition to receiving gold awards for printing, we are pleased to have Travis Jordan named Apprentice of the Year and Alex Huynh named Trainer of the Year.

For us, the 2020 print awards were all about the ongoing investment we make in keeping our people sharp. ‘Craft & Pride’ is one of our core values, so this is an important validation.

If you’d like to pick our brains about training, feel free to drop us a line on 09 309 9100.

Need something printed? Visit our website, then talk to us about award-winning print. 

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This entry was posted in blog on July 01, 2021.

A look at the Océ VarioPrint i300 print-on-demand press

It’s been just over 3 years since we installed the state-of-the-art digital print technology - Océ VarioPrint i300, so we thought we’d take a look at how our customers have responded to the revolutionary sheet-fed press.

Sheets go in one end, and a fully-finished brochure or book pops out the other end as the i300 mixes your media, perforates and personalises all in one. It also folds and staples the book in a way that creates a square spine up to 10mm wide – up to 180 pages plus a cover, meaning you get a perfect bound book, but without the high price that usually comes with perfect binding.

So, what’s the verdict?

“The quality we’re getting is even better than what we saw in Holland – our i300 is over-delivering!” – Fred Soar – managing director at Soar Print.

THE COLOUR QUALITY IS INCREDIBLE

For Graeme Foote, General Manager at Fusion Print (a subsidiary of Soar Print) colour consistency is the machine’s best attribute. “Customers have responded really favourably to the i300, they really like the natural appearance of the i300 ink compared to the oversaturated toner”.

The i300 features ink technology that precisely delivers up to 80 million drops per second. Each ink droplet can be one of four sizes, resulting in smoother colour gradations usually achieved only on higher-resolution presses.

PRINT JOBS HAPPEN FASTER

“Customers can’t believe the quality we are achieving on an ink jet press; they can’t believe the turn around and they can’t believe that you get a finished product out the end. It’s been really well accepted by them” – Fred Soar.

One operator loads the stock and presses the start button. Job done. And because it’s easy and fast for us to set up a print run, you can print only what you need then order more as supplies run low, making the Océ VarioPrint i300 a perfect solution for print-on-demand books of everything from poetry and art books to travel guides and text books.

LOW COST

The i300 book services we now offer New Zealand Trade Publishers is a cost-effective solution for new books and backlist reprint paperbacks. An i300 text block and cover is the most competitive way to print your book for short and medium runs.


Watch the video to see the press in action

 

Email Stuart Shepherd about printing for books, booklets and catalogues s[email protected]

Read more about automated book printing with the i300.

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This entry was posted in blog on June 03, 2021.

A book we’ll never forget

Every now and then (and actually more regularly these days), Soar Arts gets a job that demands the most intricate pre-press, printing and finishing we can achieve. Katie Kerr’s new book ‘Dwelling in the Margins’ is one of those projects.

Recently completed and destined to win awards, Dwelling in the Margins is a 318 PUR bound jacketed- cover book that captures the essence of art book publishing. Published by Katie Kerr’s GLORIA Books, the book contains stories and essays written by 30 practitioners – artists, poets, photographers, designers and curators - who incorporate publishing in their practice. The articles and images reflect on New Zealand creativity, speculate on the changing landscape of book-making and imagine alternative frameworks for the future of publishing.

The man tasked with shepherding this book through weeks of painstaking production was Stuart Shepherd, head of Soar Arts at Soar Print. He said it was a labour of love.

“This highly experimental book required weeks of personal input and obsessive checking of substrates and print process from all angles. I wanted it to be everything Katie desired, and then some. At Soar, we recognise that this type of job is an opportunity to demonstrate our prowess with the most challenging types of print and finishing processes,” says Stuart.

Stuart arrived at Soar Print five years ago, bringing with him a special focus on the creation of art books and high-end magazines. He has 30+ years’ experience in magazine and book publishing in New Zealand and overseas, as well as a wealth of knowledge in design arts marketing. Stuart pioneered a number of specialist magazine and design book-related business ventures in New Zealand, including Propaganda Arts Distribution and Magazzino.

Bringing the book to life

Soar Print used a range of presses and techniques to bring Katie’s vision to life. The book’s pages were printed on the Océ Vario i300 Inkjet print-on-demand press. They are printed on two paper stocks, our unique Soar Print Book Bulk text stock and Indigo Press Satin, which is printed black to give the reader a distinct textural difference between text and imagery.

For the book jacket, Katie wanted a concept that gives the book a tactile advantage.

“I wanted to create a ductile jacket that wrapped around the book like vinyl. The book is small in size but bold in thought, so the cover needed to be really vibrant to reflect that. Screen-printing allowed us to print a canary yellow ink onto vinyl-like paper. It was an experimental process, but one worthy of a book on art publishing,” says Katie.

Dwelling in the Margins is PUR-bound with an unprinted black Popset cover. The book jacket was screen-printed using Imprimex cotton textile, with the assistance of our production partners Southan Print. It used PMS yellow and black with UV-cured inks. The book is available from GLORIA Books.

“Every aspect of Dwelling in the Margins is a triumph. The writing is from a variety of angles, voices and experience which is illuminating. The production itself is gorgeous from the zing of the canary yellow cover, the elegant typography and layout, and beautiful photographic spreads.” — Kiran Dass, Kete

 

Find out more information on Soar Print’s design and art book production services or contact Stuart Shepherd on 021 630 954 or email [email protected]. 

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This entry was posted in blog on March 30, 2021.

Introducing the Z-CARD®

Putting big ideas into your customers pockets

Z-CARD® is a totally unique and innovative communications solution that was invented over 20 years ago by George McDonald when he was a travel writer and consultant for British Airways. Soar is currently the official printer for Z-CARD PocketMedia® ensuring that all Z-CARDs® are produced at an exceptional level of quality.

The Z-CARD® is printed on a single piece of paper with a card attached to the front and back. The customer has the choice of a 4 panel, 6 panel or 8 panel size to accommodate any type of media from detailed maps to simple restaurant menus. The Z-CARD® can be customised to include extras such as card holders, inserts, or custom covers ensuring that your Z-CARD® campaign stands out.

The Z-CARD® has the convenient form factor of a credit card or small passport making it more likely for customers to keep your printed material as they would likely prefer the more durable and portable option compared to a simple leaflet.

 

Z-CARD Formats:

Z-CARD: The Original

Our best-selling product continues to be the original Z-CARD® with over 2 billion produced worldwide. The Z-CARD® remains a great example of a simple and unique idea, successful in every market across the world.

C-Fold: The Single Concertina

A great lower cost option for conveying smaller amounts of information. The C-Fold Z-CARD® is concertina folded and can be used for vouchers, support banners, product information and much more.

K-Fold: The Coupon King

the ideal format for delivering promotional coupons or vouchers. Our K-Fold Z-CARD® is one of the best formats for incorporating a response mechanism, with options including tear-off panels.

Book Fold: Secure Branding

A tactile marketing tool that engages the end user. The Z-Book cover is hinged down one side creating the more familiar feel of a book. It can contain any of our insert variations.

 

To learn more about Z-CARDS and their incredibly diverse potential, visit zcard.co.nz, email your account manager or contact [email protected]

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This entry was posted in blog on February 09, 2021.

Soar wins the Climate Action Leader Award at the 2020 Sustainable Business Awards

The Sustainable Business Awards are New Zealand’s longest-standing sustainability awards. Now in their 18th year, they recognise and celebrate success in sustainability. 

This award, sponsored by EECA, is presented to an organisation actively leading and delivering impact and scale with climate action.

Addressing the challenge of climate change must be a priority for businesses. How they respond will determine whether we succeed in meeting our ‘net zero carbon’ goal for Aotearoa, especially in making significant emissions reductions in the next ‘decade of action’, starting now.

Businesses at the forefront of this response are embedding climate action across their operations. They are reducing their operational emissions. They are influencing their staff, suppliers and customers to have a much broader and deeper impact on emissions reduction. They are preparing for the effects of climate change. They inspire others to follow.

The judges said: 

“This is an excellent example of what a privately-owned small business can achieve. Soar’s emission reductions, energy costs and fuel savings are well documented and have been analysed in detail over several years. Soar has been a leader in the industry for several years, is continually looking for ways to improve further, and has been very proactive in teaching other SMEs.”

Click here to watch a car interview with Te Radar and Managing Director Fred Soar

Soar Print has been inspiring leadership through sustainability since 2009. We are out to prove that smaller businesses can – and must – play a powerful and noticeable part in reducing our country’s footprint, and in influencing others to join the journey.

Soar Print was the first New Zealand corporate printer to achieve Toitu carbonzero certification and have been reducing our greenhouse gas emissions over the past decade. By the end of 2019 we had reduced emissions by 55.5% compared to 2009.

Soar Print also has Forestry Stewardship Council certification and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification and operates under the ISO14001 environmental management system.

The sustainability initiatives introduced by Soar Print over the past 11 years have made a major impact having reduced resources and saved over $200,000 in fuel, metal plates, paper and energy.

 

Learn more about Soar's sustainability credentials

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This entry was posted in blog on November 23, 2020.

Playing to print’s strengths

In a time of uncertainty, consumers look to brands and communication channels they trust. 

56% of people see printed marketing as the most trustworthy form of communication

We’re admiring brands that are taking a more creative approach to communicate with us. Any brand can send an email but those that make the effort to send a well-designed printed direct mail piece, brochure, catalogue, postcard or even branded merchandise will reap the rewards.

Print connects emotionally with people beyond the scope of any digital platform, engaging three of our five senses – sight, touch and smell. That’s a powerful differentiator right now.

Brands need to maintain visibility and customer connection now, with a view to rebuilding demand for their products and services. Print can be one of the most effective tools to connect with audiences – it’s time to be proactive and be a trusted advisor, use the power of print to forge ahead.

Online sales are currently buoyant and print can be used at every touchpoint in the customer’s buying journey to generate and convert leads. ROI can be elevated with personalisation, using customer data to deliver timely marketing messages.

91% of people are more likely to purchase when brands recognise and remember them, and provide relevant communication

 

3 great reasons to use print media in your next marketing campaign

  • Print marketing offers its audience a sense of creditability; it takes time to write, edit, publish, and distribute. 
     
  • Print marketing might actually have a higher visibility rate because it cannot be as easily disposed of by a click of a finger. Your consumer will at some point hold your information in their hands, not just on their phone.
     
  • Print marketing targets those who are not always logged in online. 

 

Find out how we can help your marketing campaign through the power of print!

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This entry was posted in blog on November 03, 2020.

Bundled Packaging that helps move more product

Carton packaging plays a vital role in ensuring that articles reach its destination safely but they are also a great advertising tool. There are as many packaging forms as the product itself and each of them has specific purpose.

When it comes to “bundled offers” Soar designs carton outers to snugly fit the bundled products presenting beautifully printed packages, like these cartons from Bosch that would make any DIYer’s day!

Robust packaging that also packs a punch.

These high quality “Litho-Laminated” boxes are a great example of ‘shippers’ that double as point-of-sale displays for veterinary products. They are structurally designed for easy assembly and simple pop up display.

These units are printed and gloss laminated, then mounted and die-cut, presenting shelf appeal along with rigidity for important product protection when shipped.

Packaging that delivers products and their protection

When your product is fragile, it’s important to carefully consider packaging where your products won’t shift in transit, ensuring your goods get to their destination in one piece.

We can help you specially design packaging to suit your product, such as this pharmaceuticals box. 10 vials per pack, maximum protection needed, concept to creation, large or small, easy as that!

 

Prototypes are part of the service

To eliminate costly mistakes before they occur, Soar includes a mocked-up prototype in our pack print process. As far as we know, we’re the only NZ packaging printer to make printing of an accurate prototype standard procedure.

One-off prototypes are printed digitally and laser cut using the correct stock.
If problems are discovered, adjustments can be made before the digital or offset print run.

 

Do you have packaging needs? Talk to Brian Landry on (09) 302 9500
or email [email protected] about getting a prototype.

Find out more about pack printing.

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This entry was posted in blog on September 29, 2020.

Print embellishments play an important role when you want to make an instant impression.

Studies have shown that haptic (touch) memory has a strong impact on the human brain. When we feel something, it reaches us on a deeper level. So, if you choose a textured stock or add textured embellishment to a printed item, you’re helping your brand stand-out or your communication to work harder.

With Soar’s state of the art Kama ProFoil 76 your job does not have to leave the premises to achieve your desired finishing touch.

Embossing / Debossing

Can be applied to all promotional print collateral and books.
Embossing is when the surface of a chosen area or pattern is raised. This gives stand-out presence on the shelf and has a tactile effect that encourages the consumer to linger over the product.
Alternatively, debossing uses the same method but in reverse, where the chosen element is lowered into the surface.

Die cutting

For use on everything from business cards to catalogues
Die cutting is a printing process that involves cutting shapes out of a sheet of paper using a steel rule die.

Foiling

Makes eye catching book covers, packaging, labels and more
Foiling is the application of pigment or metallic foil, often gold or silver, to paper or card. It can be combined with embossing to create a striking almost-3D image. Foiling is done in-house at Soar, to ensure your finished print meets the highest quality standards.

UV spot gloss

Great for catalogues and magazines
As the name suggests, UV spot gloss is applied to chosen areas of a printed piece. It helps to draw attention to that part of the design and give your printed material a special point of difference.
A particularly effective technique involves applying a UV spot gloss on top of a matte surface – the resulting contrast between the two surfaces is very eye-catching.

UV Textured Coatings

Give your catalogues and magazines a point of difference
These have a unique tactile and visual quality that offers a slightly raised, textured finish….

Perforation

Perforate any paper stock to create tickets, vouchers and reply cards.
Perforations entice your customers to take action. Everyone likes to tear along the dotted line.
Our Canon OCE i300 prints, perforates and binds on the fly.

Variable data

This process can be used for direct mail, brochures, even labels and packaging
Soar Printing has a large digital print arsenal including HP Indigo, Canon Oce i300 and Xerox
presses that can produce personalised print, driven by an Excel spreadsheet. You can change out names, addresses, areas of text, QR codes and images. You can also use versioning for ‘print on demand’. For example, print a one-off version of a brochure based on client information collected by your call centre.

Laminations

Give labels, covers and other high use print collateral extra durability
The entire surface can be finished in a gloss or matt lamination film. This provides a high impact
appearance in addition to strong moisture and scuff protection. Specialty laminations such as Soft Touch are great for giving invitations and booklets a luxurious feel.

Aqueous Coating

A more environmentally friendly finish
Gloss, Matt, and Soft Touch can also be applied on our state-of-the-art Heidelberg CX102 press.

Metallic Inks

Use on everything from labels and packaging to books and calendars
Metallic inks are used to create a similar effect to foil, although not as reflective. The shine of the metallic particles in the ink give a premium metallic look in a variety of colour choices. Patented
ColorLogic software and ink open a plethora of design opportunities.

 

Talk to us about embellishing your next print run – it’s less costly than you think.

See some examples of our 2020 Pride in Print award winners, which hosted a range of embellishments. 

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This entry was posted in blog on August 28, 2020.

Mercury Plaza 1994 - 2019 by Tim D, printed using our most cost-effective print process

Mercury Plaza, Auckland’s iconic and celebrated food court, was recently knocked down to make way for the new Karangahape train station. Many will have fond memories of both the food and the people who made the place so great. Tim D photographed many of the stall holders, inhabitants, and visitors to the space in its last days, and put together a book of his photos that Soar had the pleasure of printing.

Mercury Plaza book was produced using two of Soar’s presses, combining a specialist Colorplan cover and a digitally printed uncoated text book block.

The cover is printed using a 4 colour process on Colorplan 270 gsm Citrine Yellow a 100 % recycled stock on Heidelberg A3 Anicolor press. Here is our talented printer Graeme looking very happy with the magneta-rich printed result.  

The text is printed on the Oce Vario i300 digital inkjet press using Advance Laser 120 gsm.

The binding was completed inside the i300 press using the inline saddle stitch unit which three-knife trim finishes the book and binds the cover to the digital text block. This process uniquely creates a printed square back spine similar to a PUR binding.

One of the benefits to this is the inline saddle stitch, which has the advantage of allowing content to be displayed flat with the wide-view format, particularly effective in photography books that use a number of double page spreads.

Soar Print offers a wide range of extensible publication packages that utilize the range of digital and offset presses and print finishing services to achieve a cost effective publication service. Mercury Plaza met the market on both price and quality with a second edition printing due off press later in August.

Mercury Plaza will be featured in the 2020 edition of Off the Press our online art book store.

For more information go to www.offthepress.co.nz

 

Find out more about the OCE Vario i300 Print on demand press.

 

You can purchase the book via The Plaza Store

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This entry was posted in blog on August 18, 2020.

How low can we go? Soar surpasses emissions target

Soar’s annual Toitu carbonzero audits have just been completed and the news is all good. We didn’t just achieve our target, we exceeded it.  In 2016, our aim was to reduce emissions by 40% by end of 2020. We roared past this target a year ahead of schedule.

Continuously reducing GHGs (greenhouse gas emissions) has been a focus for Soar Print since we began our sustainability journey. Since 2009, our achievement has been measured every year by independent auditors working for Toitu Envirocare, who developed the internationally-recognised Toitu carbonzero programme. Here’s a quick summary of our latest results:

·      Since we became Toitu carbonzero certified in 2009, we have reduced our emissions by 55.5% (395.79 tonnes in 2009 compared to 176.2 tonnes in 2019)

·      We have exceeded the target set at the beginning of 2016 to reduce intensity of our emissions per FTE by 40% by end of 2020, compared to base year of 2015 (an FTE is the annual hours worked by one employee on a full-time basis)

·      Our actual emissions have reduced by 38.2% and the intensity of our emissions has reduced by 48.5% since 2015

How are we doing it?

To reduce our emissions year after year, we continuously introduce initiatives that are focused on reducing, recycling and repairing. Most recently, installation of our new CX102 press has resulted in energy savings of 20% and an estimated saving in paper waste of 84 tonnes. We have also installed energy meters that report on energy consumption around the building, which allow us to identify areas where consumption is abnormal and have partnered with Ecotricity, New Zealand’s only provider of Toitu carbonzero certified electricity to provide our power.

An audacious new target has been set

Now that we’re a member of the Climate Leaders Coalition, we’ve been working on targets that are in line with our coalition commitments. Just recently, we set an ambitious new target of achieving an absolute reduction in our Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions combined of 46.1% by 2030, versus 2019. This target is science-based and equates to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. This target will be verified in our next Toitu carbonzero audit and will be published on the Toitu Envirocare website in the form of a disclosure page. 

Still the strongest for sustainability

Soar continues to have the strongest sustainability credentials of any New Zealand printing company. In addition to Toitu carbonzero certification for both organisation and product services, we hold these credentials:

·      ISO14001 - the internationally recognised standard that specifies the requirements for an environmental management system.

·      Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) - a non-governmental organisation that promotes the responsible management of the world's forests.

·      Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) - an international non-profit organisation dedicated to sustainable forest management.

 

Find out more about Toitu carbonzero

Read more about Soar’s sustainability journey

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This entry was posted in blog on July 31, 2020.

Then and now - 100 years of Soar Print

The 100th birthday of Soar Print is an opportunity to see how things have changed, both in the print industry and in Auckland. As our business has passed from generation to generation, technology and societal trends have modified what, how and why print materials are produced.

Orphan’s Hall in Onehunga, Soar Print’s 1920 premises

 

All in the family, then and now

The original Fred Soar purchased a small Auckland printing business in 1920. It was located in the basement of the Onehunga Orphan’s Hall. The name of the hall had nothing to do with children; it was coined by a group of blokes who weren’t able to join any of the established gentlemen’s clubs in the area. They called themselves ‘the orphans’ and started their own club in this unremarkable wooden building. Fred Soar was one of the so-called orphans.

During WWII, Fred had to put printing aside to work as a full-time soldier in charge of Rotorua and then Ngaruawahia Military Camps. During this time his rank advanced to Lieutenant Colonel and Commander of the 1st Field Regiment. While Fred was away, his wife Edna ran the printing business. Every weekday she biked from Seacliffe Road in Hillsborough to Onehunga, sometimes with a child riding pillion.

Fred and Edna’s eldest son Harry took over the business in 1965, when Fred passed away. By running Soar Print during the day and setting headlines for the NZ Herald at night, he saved enough to invest in new offset printing technology from Germany.

In 1990, all three of Harry’s children came to work in the family business. Fred and Jenny arrived from chartered accountancy; Vicky from the legal sector. While their only experience in the printing industry was from holiday jobs, all three had business skills and experience that were instantly applicable to the print world. Harry Soar died in 2002, after working alongside his children for 12 years. Today, the Soar siblings collectively operate New Zealand’s largest privately-owned print company.

 

Fred Soar junior with his father Harry in 1970

 

Print trends, then and now

A hundred years ago, Fred and Edna’s business thrived on producing stationery, invitations, business cards and ferry timetables. These items were typical print requirements for the local community during the 1920s. Fifty years later, Harry Soar’s work was dominated by production of business forms, brochures, labels, packaging and point of sale.

 

Church Street in Onehunga circa 1956

 

In 2020, all of these printed products are still produced by Soar, along with many more that were unimaginable in 1920. The ability to produce 3D holographic labels and variable data runs, where every output in the print run is different, would have impressed Harry Soar and his father Fred. And they would have been astounded by the Océ VarioPrint i300 digital press, which prints, trims, perforates, folds and binds in a single process. Blank paper goes in one end, a finished book comes out the other.

One of the biggest technological changes during Soar’s lifetime has been in prepress, which has progressed from hand-set metal type to data files exchanged between computer and press. This evolution has eliminated materials like metal type, metal plates and film; it’s also minimised waste and significantly reduced the carbon footprint of printing.

 

Printing presses, then and now

Lt Colonel Fred Soar’s pride and joy was his hand-fed platen printing press, which could produce approximately 250 10” x 15” sheets (the equivalent of 250 A4s) per hour. It used solvent-based inks and setup for each run could take one hour. Four-colour printing wasn’t invented until 1923, so Soar Print’s earliest outputs were strictly mono.

 

A hand-fed platen printing press, similar to the one that would have been used by Lt Colonel Fred Soar

 

When Harry Soar purchased a Heidelberg GTO press in the early 1970s, following a visit to the Drupa trade fair in Germany, Soar Print took a giant leap forward. This offset press could print around 8000 A3 sheets or 16,000 A4 sheets an hour and setup took around 15 minutes. The arrival of the GTO was the catalyst for moving the company into a purpose-built building.

 

The Heidelberg GTO offset press that Harry Soar worked nights at the Herald to pay for

 

Our most advanced press today is the Heidelberg CX102. Compared to similar machines manufactured a decade ago, make-ready time has reduced from 20 minutes to 4 minutes, setup requires 50% less paper and ink, paper waste for the total job is reduced by 80% and print happens at lightning speed – up to 16,500 A1 or 132,000 A4 sheets per hour.

 

Soar’s Heidelberg CX102 offset press

 

Print people, then and now

In 1920, Fred Soar ran his business with just two staff – himself and one printer. After the war, Auckland’s growth spurt allowed Soar Print to expand steadily. When Harry took over the business in 1965, he worked the day shift at Soar with a few employees, and then did a night shift at the NZ Herald as the senior compositor or ‘head stone’. Harry’s hard work helped him to purchase the ground-breaking Heidelberg GTO in 1970, quit the Herald job and work fulltime at Soar. Icing on the cake was moving the Soar Print to a purpose-built factory at 49 Church Street.

 

 

Between 1993 and 2020, Soar acquired more than 10 Auckland print businesses that were either finding it tough or had owners ready to retire. Today there are more than 90 people working at Soar-owned companies in Auckland and Hamilton.

Nearly every Soar employee has a training programme on the go and more than 50 printing apprenticeships have been completed at Soar since 1920. Soar Print was named Training Company of the Year at the 2017 Pride in Print Awards.

 

Print substrates, then and now

Back in 1920, Lt Colonel Soar did most of his printing on imported paper, which was made in the UK. As New Zealand-made paper became available, it’s likely he would have based stock decisions on price and quality. New Zealand Paper Mills Ltd (NZPM) based at Mataura was New Zealand’s only commercial paper mill until 1939. There were no pine plantations back then, so New Zealand paper was made from native timber.

Today, Soar Print is certified for FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) paper stocks. When our customers choose paper endorsed by either of these schemes, they can be confident the wood fibre in the stock was sourced from legal and well-managed forests.

 

Vicky Soar, Fred Soar and Jenny Carter at the Sustainable 60 Awards

 

Print sustainability, then and now

The word ‘sustainability’ hadn’t been invented in 1920, but re-using, repairing and upcycling was normal behaviour for everyone – purely for economic reasons. Rubbish disposal, however, was a problem. Print waste would have either been burnt in a backyard incinerator or sent to the dump.

Traditional petroleum-based inks contained high levels of solvent, which evaporates during the drying process, releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere. Additional solvents were required to clean the printing press after production – adding even more VOCs into the air. These inks were able to leach into the water table when sent to landfill.

Today, Soar Print is New Zealand’s most environmentally-responsible independent print company. We have a fully-certified ISO 14001 environmental management system that maximises energy efficiency and minimises waste. Since 2009, our greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by more than 50%. We are also the first and only offset printing company in New Zealand to hold carboNZero (CertTM) certification as an organisation.

In line with our commitment to New Zealand, Soar has always given back to the community. Both Fred Snr and Harry Soar supported local schools and not-for-profit organisations with pro bono work. This tradition continues today with Soar’s extensive sponsorship programme, which is focused on health charities, community groups and the arts.

 

Looking ahead to another 100 years

During 100 years of business, Soar has survived the 1930s Depression, World War II, the Wool Bust of the 1960s, the Oil Price Shock of the 1970s, a couple of recessions in the 1990s, the 2001 Global Slowdown and the Global Financial Crisis of 2007. The Covid-19 financial crisis of 2020 (CFC) is another significant bump in the road, however Soar Print is being steered through the challenge by steady hands. We’re looking forward to our 125th anniversary in 2045.

 

More about the story of Soar.

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This entry was posted in blog on July 23, 2020.

Category win and more at the Pride in Print Awards 2020

Soar has been in the print business for nearly 100 years, so we know a bit about business survival. Through depressions, boom times and financial crises, one strategy that has held us together is our commitment to print quality. Entering the Pride in Print Awards every year is how we make sure that commitment stays strong.

We’re particularly happy to have received a print finishing category win and a gold for the Laminex Timber Veneer brochure, which was beautifully designed by Davy & Chapman. It has a beautiful cover adorned with an embossed pattern that mimics a timber grain and finished with outstanding gold foiling created on our KAMA Letterpress. The judges’ comments says it all “Produced with lots of processes and no mistakes or blemishes – an exceptional finishing job”.

It’s clear that embellishments make printed pieces stand out from the rest, whether it be a matt velvet-touch laminate with a spot UV gloss like what was used on the King’s College Collegian magazine giving a tactile finish or an eye-catching metallic foil as seen on the Inferno GUI book. When used effectively, print embellishments can convince prospects of the quality of the piece, as well as the care and attention-to-detail of those who designed and printed it. Davy & Chapman have utilised this to their best advantage with a second design winning gold for its finishing embellishments, the Laminex Laminate brochure has a spot UV gloss on the cover and throughout to give readers an indication of the look and feel of the Laminex Laminate range.

Another highlight is gaining two awards for our work on The Blue Privilege – Te Kuia Moko case bound edition reprint which was co-published with Depot Artspace and Harry Sangl. We credit taking out the gold for publications over 32 pages to printing the book on our new CX102 press, which produces the highest offset print quality achievable in New Zealand. The cover was printed direct to Wibalin on our HP R2000 press, the same flat-bed press we used for the exhibition canvases.  We partnered with the Book Binding Press, who bound the hardcover book using PUR (polyurethane reactive), the most durable book binding glue available, giving us a highly commended for machine binding.

 

Category Win

Laminex Timber Veneer brochure - Print Finishing

Gold Awards
Laminex Timber Veneer brochure - Print Finishing / Embellishments
Laminex Laminate brochure - Print Finishing / Embellishments
The King's Collegian 2019 magazine - Magazines over 64 pages
Inferno GUI book - Publications under 32 pages
The Blue Privilege, Te Kuia Moko - Publications over 32 pages

Highly Commended
Laminex Timber Veneer brochure - Business Print / Commercial Catalogues over 32 pages
Savour - Dairy Free Cashew Cheese packaging - Paper & Board Packaging / Food & Beverage
The Blue Privilege - Te Kuia Moko - Print Finishing / Machine Binding
Best Awards coaster for Soar Print - Print Industry Promotion / Self Promotion

 

Te Kuia Moko can be purchased via our online bookstore Off The Press

Learn more about our catalogue and book printing service

Learn more about our print finishing services

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This entry was posted in blog on June 30, 2020.

Soar wins at World Label Awards 2019

The fabulous labels printed by Soar for Vine Street fruit wines are a sparkling success. Not only are they helping the wines to leap off the shelf and into supermarket trolleys, they’re picking up awards!

It was exciting for Soar to score a win for ‘Digital Labels – Wines & Spirits’ at the World Label Awards 2019. The Vine Street labels qualified for the global awards after winning gold at our local Pride in Print Awards last year. We’ve been building our label-printing prowess for nearly a decade now, so these wins confirm that our label printing team really know what they’re doing.

The labels for Vine Street were printed using a ColorLogic metallic ink effect. For shelf impact, metallic colours really jump out. Humans are like magpies – shiny, glittery objects are attractive to us.

ColorLogic is a system that enables digital printers to print onto metallic substrates, producing striking images and colours. We won’t bore you with exactly how it’s done, but it involves masking with white ink. If you want all the technical details, go to www.color-logic.com.

The Vine Street fruit wine labels were printed on our HP Indigo WS6800 Label press using Manta OPP silver metalised SYN52gsm and sealed with matt laminate before die cutting.

A full offset and digital label printing service

Metallic labels are just one of Soar’s packaging print specialties.
Our capabilities include:

  • Combining multiple SKUs on a single run
  • Consecutive numbering and variable data – including barcodes, text and images
  • Affordable short runs for artisan products such as self-standing pouches and sealable bags
  • Labels – offset or digital
  • Shrink sleeve labels
  • Special effects, such as ColorLogic, Collage and Mosaic Software creating a unique label experience. 

 

If you’re interested in Soar’s label printing capabilities, talk to Brian Landry about your project.

Email [email protected] or call (09) 302 9500.

 

Special thanks to New Zealand Printer for the feature

Read another story about label printing

 

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This entry was posted in blog on June 09, 2020.

Let's Squash Covid-19!

We can print and deliver Level 3 Covid-19 signage to make your business safe NOW.

Soar Print has welcomed the announcement by the Government that the country will move to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 on Tuesday 28th April. We are here to support businesses, clients and our community through level 3 and beyond.

 

We can provide a range of products that will help keep your business safe, by effectively communicating with your customers and staff.

PULL-UP BANNERS AND FOOTPATH SIGNS

We can make pull-up banners and footpath signs to your specific requirements – perfect for letting people know that you are trading!

POSTERS

We have a range of poster options – which can be a helpful reminder to staff of good hygiene and safety practices.

WINDOW & WALL GRAPHICS

We can print onto a self-adhesive temporary vinyl for windows, doors and glass room dividers - great for reminding your customers of the social distancing rules.

FLOOR DECALS

Floor Decals can be helpful for use in situations where queuing is required.

 

Find out more about Soar’s large format printing capabilities

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This entry was posted in blog on April 24, 2020.

Best Design Awards Annual Book

Soar Print were delighted to produce the latest Best Design Awards Annual book (2018 edition) on our Heidelberg CX102 Press.

The Best Design Awards are an annual showcase of New Zealand’s design industry talent, honouring the year’s best projects in graphic, spatial, product, interactive and moving image design. The judges award Purple Pin’s for each category, which feature as case studies within the annual publication.

Each section was printed CMYK and aqueous coated on Sumo Matt paper supplied by BJ Ball. The cover was printed on Crescendo paper, then laminated with Scuff Free Matt laminate with the iconic ‘purple pin’ being finished using a HI-Build spot UV over gloss by Graphic Lamination & Coatings. The 394 page book was then PUR bound by Doherty’s Print Finishers.

“Partnering with Designers Institute of New Zealand and publishing the Best Design Awards Annual book allows SOAR Print to support New Zealand designers by helping to showcase exemplars in the Design Industry” – Fred Soar

500 copies are now making their way out to all the studio entrants from last year.

Order your copy here

Find out more information on Soar Print’s design and art book production services.

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This entry was posted in blog on March 17, 2020.

Multi-faceted print solution achieved great results for this unique project

Soar Print utilised the HP R2000 flatbed printer to print onto varied rigid substrates.

Our team created a unique print solution for this stunning Ngati Ranginui board game - comprising of laser cut printed plywood boards, games cards, instruction booklets, double-sided laser-cut clear acrylic game characters all encased in a jute drawstring printed bag.

The intention of this game is to promote the iwi (tribe) of Ngati Ranginui and let the world know who they are. Therefore the game is based around their waka (canoe) that their eponymous ancestor Tamatearikinui came over on and the issue that he begat, one such as Ranginui, of which the tribe is named after. That shows not only the connections to other iwi (tribes) across the country, but also the skills and feats that those ancestors were well known for and that the people of Ngati Ranginui can be proud of.

The game is pitched at ages 7+ years, and can be played two fold. One way of playing the game is simply using the game board, dice and figurines to make your way across the board, following the cues on the board. While the more challenging way to play is to make your way across the board while answering the questions on the cards as you land on different stations on the game board. The game can be played individually or in teams.

The limited-edition Board Game components consisted of:

4mm Poplar Plywood Printed was printed using a 4 colour process plus White, on the HP R2000 large format flatbed printer which was then laser cut to size.

Also utilising the R2000 large format printer was the 3mm clear cast acrylic game characters which were printed in 3 layers, CMYK colour then a white layer followed by another CMYK layer in order to make the characters double sided. They were then laser cut to size and mounted onto router cut clear cast acrylic bases.

56 kinds of game cards, were printed on the HP Indigo 7800 press along with an A4 instruction booklet.

All of the components were consolidated into jute drawstring printed heat-sealed tote bag with die cut hand grips with screen-printed branding.

 

Find out more about Soar’s large format printing capabilities or ask a question about your multi-faceted print job send Stuart Shepherd an email.

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on February 27, 2020.

Waste-Not Kitchen

Nourishing the lives of those in need.

We are proud to support the team at Waste-not Kitchen by printing their beautiful soup packaging for free on our Heidelberg CX 102-6+L, with die cutting on our KAMA ProCut 76. This support means they are able to run a 1+1 gifting programme. For every soup purchased, one is gifted to those in need in the community.

Waste-Not Kitchen are on a zero meat waste mission. Farro stores kindly donate their surplus meat and Waste-Not Kitchen make it into delicious soups packed full of meat and vegetables. In fact more than 3 times meat per serving than most other soups available. And they contain no artificial flavours or preservatives.

Since Waste-Not Kitchen was launched back in June 2019, they have stopped approximately 3,934 kilos of surplus meat from going to landfill and have donated the equivalent of 8,842 meals to the community. The beneficiaries of these meals are Auckland Women’s Refuge, Everybody Eats, Auckland City Mission, The Attainable Trust and I Have A Dream.

You can find the soups in the freezer section of your local Farro store.

 

Do you have packaging needs? Talk to Brian Landry on (09) 302 9500 or email [email protected] about getting a prototype.

Find out more about pack printing.

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This entry was posted in blog on January 30, 2020.

Vibrant pavement artwork printed by Soar Print

If you’re strolling around Auckland’s CBD this holiday season, direct your eyes to the pavement to see the colourful artwork of Sara Hughes.

The artwork, consists of hundreds of individual elements, inspired by the different shapes and angles found within the urban landscape. Commissioned by Heart of Auckland City, four different designs adorn the pavements along Queen Street and surrounding Fanshawe Street, Britomart and Federal Street. The pavement work is accompanied by complimentary flags, bringing vibrant colour to Auckland’s City Centre for the holiday season. 

Hughes combined water colour paintings with hand cut collages, which were then scanned and digitally enhanced. We’ve then printed these designs onto a highly specialist adhesive media to produce pavement artwork made up by hundreds of individual elements. 

The work needed to be bold to have a strong presence in the busy city scape, so Soar was tasked with ensuring the vibrancy of Hughes work was echoed in the decals we produced.

The graphics were printed using a 4 colour process of UV-resistant latex inks on specialist anti-slip self-adhesive 150GSM floor media, on the HP Latex R2000 digital press and digitally cut into shape.

Soar managed the print media and worked in partnership with Shout Media for the installation.

To find out more about reproducing artwork onto self-adhesive or other materials, email Brian Landry at [email protected]

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This entry was posted in blog on December 05, 2019.

Turn your images into LED display boxes to really make a statement!

Innovative and environmentally friendly LED Lightboxes are the ideal display solution for retail outlets, showrooms, exhibitions, restaurants, in fact anywhere that eye-catching advertising is required.

Deliver a point of difference in style

Custom designed and manufactured to the dimensions of the artwork and the style preferred, they’re favoured by premium New Zealand artists for their exceptional quality and the value they add to each piece of art.

Our LED illuminated lightboxes are specially designed to enhance the impact of photographic images

Using LED technology, these lightboxes provide a clean, consistent light source. Fine borders keep the focus on the work being displayed, and the colour of both the frame and the face panel borders can be powder-coated to match any colour scheme.

  • Available in both backlit and edge lit LED technology
  • Frame depth of either 50mm or 75mm
  • Options for easy image change-out
  • Simple to wall mount
  • Low power consumption
  • No heat generated
  • No maintenance required

 

Want to showcase your work in the best possible light? Get in touch for a full supply and installation solution. Call Brain Landry on (09) 302 9500 or email [email protected]

 

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This entry was posted in blog on November 14, 2019.

Most glamorous job of the year? Print partner for NZ Fashion Week!

It was epic to be appointed official print partner for New Zealand Fashion Week. Working closely with the NZFW/19 team, we produced an exciting range of printed materials that helped make New Zealand’s premier fashion event a huge success.

Print for NZFW/19 included 12 tasks, ranging from car decals and textile signs to the NZFS/19 Daily Newspaper, special event invitations and Kate Sylvester’s Love Letters. To impress a discerning audience, every print had to look its absolute best,

Dame Pieter Stewart, founder of New Zealand Fashion Week, remarked on the service Soar provided:

“When you’re doing something for the first time, there are always a lot of unknowns – things we take for granted that were new to Soar. However Stuart and his team did a great job and were very obliging. They worked through all the different variations of what we needed, printing everything from tickets to daily newsletters, as well as all the print needed around the venue.”

One of the detailed tasks was variable data ticket printing, which involved getting the right combinations of show names and seating numbers on every ticket. And the most innovative requirement was turning the 24-page The Guide booklet into an interactive web app using our Partica technology. This meant that every attendee had the full NZFW guide at their fingertips in their phone.

By all accounts, NZ Fashion Week 2019 was an outstanding success.

“It was nice to be back in the central city at our original venue – the Auckland Town Hall and Aotea Square. Returning to this venue after 16 years really shows how far Fashion Week has grown and evolved. We had a really packed schedule and a big variety of designers,” says Pieter.

Sustainability was a key focus for this year’s NZFW, and that’s one of the reasons why Soar was selected as the event’s print provider. Stuart Shepherd, Soar’s account director for NZFW/19 printing, comments:

“Soar has more sustainability credentials and awards than any other print company in New Zealand, so we’re an ideal print partner for any business or event that wants to reduce its carbon footprint. It was a pleasure to help NZ Fashion Week tread more lightly on the Earth through environmentally-responsible printing.”

See the NZFW/19 Guide online.

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This entry was posted in blog on September 27, 2019.

‘Your Print’ is out now! Subscribe to get your copy.

Twice a year we put together our ‘Your Print’ mini-mag. It’s designed to keep you up with new print technology, money-saving print tips, print sustainability and ideas for increasing the effectiveness of your print. Are you on the mailing list?

The latest edition of Your Print is out now as hard copy and electronic flip-book. Its 12 pages are a quick read and a convenient way to stay up with the print world. 

Here are some snippets to give you an idea of the content:

  • The concept of ‘print and mount’ has gone. Our new HP R2000 press prints directly onto a wide range of rigid substrates, and prints can be huge - up to 2500mm wide.  What’s more, substrates can be up to 50mm thick.

  • Consumer research conducted by Clemson University of South Carolina proved the benefits of foiling and metallic special effects for packaging. By examining where shoppers look, how long they stare and which products they preferred, the study showed that foil-stamped and metallic packaging is strongly preferred.

  • Physical material is more ‘real’ to the brain. Hard copy is better connected to memory because it engages with the brain’s spatial memory networks.

  • Prototyping is often used to ensure the paper engineering of packs is spot on, but it’s also useful when you want to test pack variations before you go to market.

Get the full stories in our electronic flipbook

We’ve loaded the latest Your Print onto our website, so you can read it as a flipbook. Read Your Print online now.

Subscribe for a personalised hard copy! It’s free

If you subscribe to Your Print, you’ll receive a personalised copy twice a year (yes, your name included in the headline on the front cover!).  Sign up now at www.soarprint.co.nz/yourprint

 

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on September 26, 2019.

Hydro Flask® makes a splash at the 2019 Gift & Homeware Fair

Hydro Flask

Hydro Flask exhibit at the 2019 Gift & Homeware Fair, printed on Beaver Board by Soar.

Owned by Compendium Limited, ‘Hydro Flask’ will soon be on everyone’s lips. These long-life stainless steel flasks keep things hot or cold, helping New Zealanders move away from single-use containers.

The secret of Hydro Flask is double-walled insulated stainless steel. It’ll keep your water frosty or your coffee hot – you can even enjoy a warm lunch when you’re out hiking for the day.  And if you’re into craft beer, owning a Hydro Flask Growler is the way to go – you can call into your local brewer for a refill, avoiding single-use cans and bottles.

Hydro Flask

Soar Print’s proud to be helping this start-up get going in New Zealand. We’ve been printing packaging labels and inserts for Hydro Flask, as well as large format display boards for tradeshows. Caitlin Lopes da Silva, brand manager at Compendium Limited, found Soar’s input really helpful.

“We’re a family-owned and run business that was started by my dad and brother. Now it’s managed by my brother and I, and we’re trying to do everything as environmentally responsible as possible - sustainability is at the core of our brand. Soar has helped us make good choices about printing, including using Beaver Board for trade show displays at this year’s Gift & Homeware Fair.

Hydro Flask NZ

”Beaver Board is a paper-based corflute alternative that works perfectly with Soar’s new large format digital printers. It has excellent rigidity, which means it doesn’t have to be as thick as corflute to do a great signage or display job.

Soar also printed ‘thank you’ cards that are inserted with the flasks before they are dispatched to customers. And when Compendium were having a problem with products getting damaged during distribution, we pointed them towards recyclable Kraft packaging that protects the flasks while they’re being transported.

“It’s great to work with a printer who shares our values and is good at solving problems,” says Caitlin. “Getting started in the New Zealand market has been easier with their help.”

Visit the Hydro Flask online store.

Read a blog about Beaver Board.

 

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This entry was posted in blog on September 12, 2019.

Our CX 102 offset press delivers a better Customer eXperience

CX 102 offset printing

The big chunk of leading-edge offset printing technology that we call the Heidelberg CX102 is making our customers grin with delight, because they’re getting their high-volume print faster and for less cost - without any quality compromise.

For multi-version and multi-part campaigns, the push-to-stop functionality of this machine makes the CX102 a game changer.  Paul Jacomb, sales manager at Soar Print, explains:

“It’s interesting that this press’s name has CX at the front – I reckon it stands for customer experience. Our customers always want a way to get great-quality offset print faster more cost-effectively. The CX does that, so the customer experience is great. They can also feel good about using a press that’s highly energy efficient and – that means a smaller carbon footprint for every print job.”

The CX’s specialty is affordable offset print projects with multiple versions and multi-page catalogues. For example, A1 poster printing where you need 200 copies of 30 different versions (like for a fundraising appeal or entertainment event). Or Christmas gift product catalogue printing that’s destined for every NZ town or city letterbox.

How does the CX102 make your print job faster, better and less expensive?

  • Make-ready time has reduced from 20 minutes to 4 minutes
  • Setup requires 50% less paper and ink
  • Paper waste for the total job is reduced by 80%
  • Print happens at lightning – up to 16,500 sheets an hour
  • Prinect Inpress Control, an integrated inline spectrophotometric colour measuring and register system, provides high colour stability throughout the entire run
  • Colour is monitored and adjusted based on how the human eye sees colour, rather than ink density.
  • Inline aqueous coating system puts a perfect finish on your job
  • The press has a control centre that knows how to minimise carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and reduce energy consumption, while running at peak performance

Do you have a multi-page or multi-variation print job coming up? Call Brian Landry on (09) 302 9100 or email brianl@soarprint.co.nz for a competitive print quote.

Read more about our offset printing technology.

 

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This entry was posted in blog on September 05, 2019.

Greeting cards designed and in NZ and printed sustainably by Soar

Image Gallery greeting cards printed by Soar Print

Image Gallery is a New Zealand success story; a local company using Kiwi imagery for greeting cards that stand out for their superior design, great ideas and sustainability.

The greeting card industry in New Zealand is strong with a good outlook. Millennials are communicating more than any generation before them. While they use digital devices for day-to-day communication, special occasions are more likely to be marked with a carefully chosen card and a handwritten message.

New Zealand greeting card companies are competing with the world

In the NZ greeting card market, Image Gallery’s main competitors are small importers of niche cards sourced from the UK, Europe and the US, as well as large firmsthat print and manufacture their own. Image Gallery is one of a handful of companies that design, print and distribute greeting cards locally.

Image Gallery NZ greeting cards

“Publishing local content is an important part of our product mix. There are so many talented Kiwi artists and designers creating not only great art, but great commercially viable art that our customers are looking for. To then have that art printed in NZ on sustainable card stock finishes the story,” says Edward Robinson, general manager of Image Gallery.

Cost-effective short runs of greeting card printing

To ensure their greeting card products are profitable, Image Gallery has to make every print run as economical as possible. Quality and a quick turnaround are two other must-haves.

“The trusted relationship we have with Soar has helped us to learn and understand the whole print process, from quoting to setting up files, including how we can best configure the layups to make the most out of a print run, “says Kember Snaith, graphic designer at Image Gallery.

Greeting card

Soar has also streamlined the print ordering service to create a simplified process for managing Image Gallery’s complicated requirements. The icing on the cake is continual sourcing of attractive card stocks that are derived from responsibly managed forests. Soar is accredited with both the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

Environmentally-responsible stocks and vegetable inks

FSC is a non-governmental organisation that promotes the responsible management of the world's forests. We were the first printer in NZ to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. PEFC is an international non-profit, organisation dedicated to sustainable forest management. We are certified by PEFC, the world's largest forest certification system.

At Soar Print we also use vegetable based inks, rather than traditional petroleum inks. Derived from corn, walnut, coconut, linseed, canola and soya beans, vegetable inks release significantly fewer VOCs into the atmosphere during the drying process. We’re also able to use water-based products to clean the press after production, rather than solvents. What’s more, stripping ink from paper during the paper recycling process is much easier with vege inks and produces less hazardous waste.

Take a look at Image Gallery greeting cards

Read more about Soar’s sustainability credentials

 

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on August 15, 2019.

Being a big loser made Soar a big winner at sustainability awards

Maggie Bainbridge-Smith, Jenny Carter and Fred Soar at the Enviro-Mark Solutions 2019 Awards.

Soar was named one of New Zealand’s biggest losers at the Enviro-Mark Solutions 2019 Awards. We’re talking carbon loss, of course. Our achievement was recognised with the award for Excellence in Climate Action – Small Organisation.

The Enviro-Mark Solutions Awards are a biennial celebration of success stories in measurable climate action for businesses certified under the carboNZeroCertTM, CEMARS® and Enviro-Mark® programmes.

As well as recognising the top carbon reducers from the past year, the awards salute organisations who demonstrate exceptional leadership in environmental management.

A major contributor to the carbon reduction that won us the award was purchasing the Océ VarioPrint i300 digital press, which is highly energy efficient and reduces paper waste. Partnering with other carbon neutral companies was another factor in our win.

We were absolutely tickled to be a winner, because our achievements were being measured against some of the country’s sustainability heavyweights. To qualify for the Excellence in Climate Action awards, organisations had to be carboNZero or CEMARS certified for at least three years and have achieved a minimum of 20% absolute reduction in carbon emissions.  More than 131 certified companies were contending for awards.

Enviro-Mark Solutions Chief Executive, Dr Ann Smith said that the combined carbon reductions of the finalists in these categories are equivalent to taking more than 23,000 medium-sized cars off the roads for a year.

                                         

Excellence in Climate Action - Small Organisation 
Winner: Soar Printing Limited
Soar reduced its carbon footprint by 32% on base year through investing in an energy efficient printing press machine that creates less waste and partnering with other carbon neutral companies.

See the full list of winners

Read more about Soar’s sustainability credentials

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on August 12, 2019.

We can print on wood (and a lot of other unexpected surfaces)!

The arrival of our new HP R2000 large format flatbed printer has opened the door to a brave new world of printing. Now we can print on wood, aluminium, acrylic, canvas, vinyl, fabric, Beaver Board (recyclable corflute alternative) and almost any other flexible or rigid substrate you can imagine.

What does this mean for you? Very simply, it means that high quality signage or decorative branding pieces can be easily and cost-effectively produced.

Large format printing with the R2000 comes with some sizable benefits:

  • The concept of ‘print and mount’ has gone. The R2000 press can print directly onto rigid substrates.
  • Colours are bright and vibrant, but also allow the intrinsic properties of the surface being printed on to show through. For example, if you print on a brushed chrome board, you get a brushed chrome image; if you print on plywood, you get a plywood-textured image.
  • The latex ink we use is water-based and has no smell, plus it’s highly durable.
  • For even greater durability and scratch resistance, we can add an extra latex overcoat.
  • Prints can be up to 2.4m wide.
  • You’ll enjoy the best white ink laydowns in the market, with no ugly U.V core lines. Its quality, gloss level and density make it stand out from the crowd, and it doesn’t go yellow over time!

If you can imagine it, we can print it

The applications for this type of printing are many, and the list is growing daily. Traditionally, large format printing was about signage and point-of-sale material, but the category has expanded to include artworks, personalised home or business interiors, vehicle branding and even clothing.

Here are just a few of the ways R2000 printing can be used:

  • Menu boards printed directly onto plywood, acrylic or Beaver Board for markets, cafés and street food stalls
  • Branded vinyl wraps for vehicles – all over or nose/tail
  • Health and safety signage for offices, warehouses, construction sites and factories
  • Branded wallpaper for foyers, reception areas and conferences
  • POS backboards, stands and fit-together display shelving
  • Murals and imagery for retail store and office interiors
  • Huge window decals for sales, promotions and seasonal signage
  • Wall decals for decorating kitchens, bedrooms and living areas
  • Branded giveaways, like printed fit-together smartphone stands made from plywood
  • Fabric banners and room dividers for trade shows and conferences
  • Art works that can be applied to exteriors or interiors, temporarily or permanently

To find out more about the R2000’s capabilities or ask a curly question about large format printing, send Brian Landry an email.

Find out more about Soar’s large format printing capabilities.

 

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This entry was posted in blog on July 17, 2019.

Our fine art carbon neutral calendar, illustrated by Erin Forsyth

Soar Print fine art calendar

Every year we produce a calendar to exhibit some of our more specialised printing skills and showcase the talents of a remarkable New Zealand creative. For our 2019/20 effort, Erin Forsyth has provided a series of exquisite illustrations featuring NZ native species.

The works printed in our calendar come from Erin’s ‘A Few’ exhibition, which was held last year. A variety of flora and fauna are represented in this collection with special attention given to purerehua/butterflies (lepidoptera), manu/birds (avifauna), pekapeka/bats (chiroptera) and rakau/trees.  

Erin’s not only famous for her nature illustrations. She also produces contemporary works, including sculptures, which reference traditional and contemporary symbolism, archetypes and anecdotes.  Her comically dark illustrations have graced walls, cafes, clothing and album covers.

Tui by Erin Forsyth

In recent months we’ve helped Erin produce two journals – Tauhou Volume 1 and Rakau, Trees A-Z. The words featured in our calendar are from her Tauhou series. Here’s Erin’s explanation of her Tauhou concept:

“Tauhou is a publishing concept that combines refreshed information and contemporary natural history illustrations of plants, animals and ecosystems - the biological diversity - of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

The motivation for works in this series is to ease accessibility to information regarding the flora, fauna and varied environments of this special place, with an aim toward increasing awareness of their cultural and scientific significance, as well as the threats and challenges they face, to increase active engagement with their protection for prosperity. 

Illustrations in the Tauhou series are hand-drawn studies in gouache, graphite or ink paired with basic and factual descriptions.”

Butterflies by Erin Forsyth

CarboNZero(CertTM) printing

This new calendar has been produced using our carbon neutral printing service, which means that carbon inputs associated with paper, inks, waste, finishing, transport and the electricity used by the printing technology have been neutralised through New Zealand carbon offset programmes.

Visit Erin Forsyth’s website.

See an online catalogue of ‘A Few’

Find out more about sustainable printing with Soar.

Erin Forsyth, fine art illustrator

 

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This entry was posted in blog on June 13, 2019.

Printing Jan Hellriegel's Sportsman of the Year CD cover and book

Jan Hellriegel

Jan Hellriegel and Soar Print go way back. Nothing makes us happier than helping one of New Zealand’s leading musicians bring her print creations to life. Jan’s latest print production, Sportsman of the Year – A Suburban Philosophy, involved printing a CD cover and a book.  

Jan is a New Zealand legend; a songwriter/performer/businesswoman that we’re proud to call our own. Sportsman of the Year is her 4th studio album, but it’s the first to include a book of true-life short stories. With 12 chapters that spin the tales behind the album’s songs, Jan describes it as a ‘musical in a book’.

The book sprang from the album project when Jan realised the new songs were driven by real-life stories. She decided to write the stories that inspired the album, so that the stories would enhance the music and vice versa. The overall theme is about following your dreams and never giving up.

Jan Hellriegel book

Jan’s songs and stories are a memoir that touches many aspects of her rollercoaster life – growing up in West Auckland, student days, relationships, playing with her band Cassandra’s Ears and her solo career. The book has an easy-reading, conversational tone, while the songs are more refined and poetic.

The name of the project refers to how Jan won the Sportsman of the Year cup at Rangeview Intermediate when she was 12. Back then, she felt she didn't deserve the award and says the album is "calling that 12-year-old back to claim her prizes with pride and without reservation".

Launched on Mother’s Day 12 May, Sportsman of the Year – A Suburban Philosophy is available from Jan’s online store. You can buy the book, the CD or a package that includes both.

Jan Hellriegel book and CD

Find out more about Soar’s book printing capabilities.

 

Project facts

  • Produced on Océ VarioPrint i300 print-on-demand digital press
  • Foiled matt laminate covers
  • PUR bound (a form of perfect binding)
  • First 500 limited edition copies were sequentially numbered

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on June 07, 2019.

Printing for events that want a smaller carbon footprint

TechWeek19

As with many festivals and conferences these days, Techweek19 wanted a small-as-possible carbon footprint. Soar helped them to achieve this with carboNZero printing as a service. 

As organisers of New Zealand’s premier festival of innovation, the Techweek team leads by example. They recognise that they can influence others to make responsible decisions about things like print services. That’s why the chose to work with Soar Print. We are the only printing company in New Zealand certified to offer carbon zero services and products under Enviro-Mark Solution’s carboNZero scheme, which exceeds international standards and best practice for a carbon programme.

How carbon neutral printing as a service is done

To provide carbon neutral printing as a service, our in-house expert calculates the carbon inputs associated with paper, waste, finishing, transport and the electricity used by the printing technology. Once the carbon footprint of the print job is known, offsets can be purchased. Soar chooses to buy carbon offsets from New Zealand providers, such as forest regeneration schemes and windfarms. They cost more than some overseas schemes, but the benefits to New Zealand are greater.

By working with us, clients like TechWeek can use the carboNZero brand on their collateral to demonstrate their commitment to environmentally responsible practices. It reflects well on their brand, plus it exposes the concept of carbon neutral printing to other businesses.

For TechWeek19, Soar produced a wide range of printed collateral, including posters, banners, signage, display cubes, name tags and lanyards. Every element in the print mix qualified as a carbon neutral print service.

Techweek19 printing by Soar

There’s still time to get to a TechWeek19 event near you

Now in its third year, Techweek aims to inspire and build capability for all New Zealanders by providing a week-long, nationwide opportunity for connection, cross-pollination and learning about all things techy. There are workshops, labs, demonstrations, panel discussions and much more. You don’t need to be a tech person to attend; you just have to be interested in the future of New Zealand and finding local answers to global challenges.

Techweek’s vision is for New Zealand to be globally recognised as a beautiful country where world-leading solutions are born. It’s not just about showcasing leading edge technology, but amplifying brilliant ideas that are solving the biggest global challenges – innovation that’s good for the world.

Visit the Techweek website to find events happening in your city.

Find out more about sustainable printing with Soar.

 

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This entry was posted in blog on May 23, 2019.

Printing ‘A Decade of Disruption’ memoir for Basement Theatre

Basement Theatre 10 Year Compendium

2018 was a milestone year for Basement Theatre – 10 years of creative, challenging, compelling, touching and outrageous live entertainment for Auckland. Now that the dust has settled, Basement has produced an intriguing publication to mark the occasion.

Titled ‘A Decade of Disruption’, it’s a compendium of love letters, script excerpts, doodles, memories and stories by some of the Basement whanau from the first 10 years of the theatre’s life. As Basement Theatre’s print partner, Soar Arts was entrusted with bringing this special piece of memorabilia to life.

Basement Theatre 10 Years

“We just click with the Soar Arts team,” commented Tim Blake, Marketing Manager for Basement. “They get who we are and with their help we’ve created such a beautiful object. With over 50 contributions from Basement artists and a giant family tree, we’ve been able to celebrate our first 10 years in a really special way.”

The compendium is a collection of nine books housed within a hard case. One of the books, The Shared Camaraderie of Weirdos, is an oral history of Basement Theatre put together by Rosabel Tan, founder of The Pantograph Punch.  This book has a spectacular gold foil cover.

“Rosabel interviewed all the key people involved with Basement, so that she could write an article. But she ended up really loving the way the stories were told. The result is a collection of transcriptions that capture the Basement journey.”

Pulling everything together graphically was the job of One Design, a creative agency that’s been working with Basement Theatre for a couple of years. Casey King was the lead designer and Tim reckons the result could be an award winner for One Design.

Soar has also thrown everything at the compendium, from a print quality point of view, because we love supporting the arts. We’re also handling distribution, complete with VIP packaging, to fulfil online orders. Fingers crossed this project will be a top performer in next year’s Pride in Print Awards!

If you want to secure a copy of A Decade of Disruption, you’ll need to register your interest quickly. Only 200 copies have been produced, so there’s a waitlist. Options include a personalised copy stamped with your name, a copy signed by Basement’s contributing artists and a (cheaper) digital e-book.

Project facts

Slipcase: Manufactured from Colorplan 700gsm Ebony, foiled and die cut on the KAMA Profoil 76 using a matte silver foil.  Assembled by Soar Print finishing.

Books: Each book inside the slipcover is perfect bound and printed on the HP Indigo press (covers) and the Océ VarioPrint i300 (text pages).  The Shared Camaraderie of Weirdos book has a gold foil cover.  Two of the books have mini books stitched inside. The compendium also includes a glossy concertina brochure of acknowledgments.

Distribution: Soar is distributing the Basement publication, complete with special packaging that adds to the experience.

For more information about Soar Arts, email Stuart Shepherd [email protected]

Find out more about Soar Arts, a print service for the creative sector.

 

 

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on May 23, 2019.

Soar strikes gold at 2019 Pride in Print Awards

Pride in Print 2019 results

Quality is how we’re judged in our industry, so entering the annual Pride in Print Awards is our way of making sure we’re measuring up. This year we secured seven awards - five golds and two high commendations.

Exposing our printing and finishing work to the microscopic scrutiny of experts isn’t easy. There’s certainly some nail-biting going on at Soar while judging is underway! But skipping the awards isn’t an option. If we didn’t participate in the Pride in Print Awards, our clients would have no impartial proof of our quality standards. 

This year our gold awards span a wide range of print formats. It’s a good sign, because it means we’re achieving high standards across a broad spectrum of disciplines.  Here are three gold-winning projects that were particularly challenging to produce:

Make Every Day is a 112-page book featuring the work of architect/artist Rebecca Commissaris. Graphic designer Katie Kerr and Soar Arts collaborated to achieve the highest quality proofing in pre-press, enabling us to produce an outstanding print result. The book was printed with our HP Indigo 7800 and Xerox iGEN 150. Finishing included section sewing and a cloth exposed spine.

Make Every Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vine Street fruit wine labels feature Color Logic to achieve a metallic ink effect. They were printed on our HP Indigo WS6800 Label press using Manta OPP silver metalised SYN52gsm and sealed with matt laminate before die cutting.

Charlotte Graham's Te Waiora, floor art decals commissioned by Britomart Group were printed with UV-resistant latex inks on two specialist anti-slip self-adhesive products, to allow for different surfaces, using our new HP Latex R2000 digital press.

GOLD MEDALS

Vine Street New Zealand fruit wine label, printed by Rocket Print (a division of Soar)

Inspired by Design, printed by Fusion Print (a division of Soar)

Make Every Day book, printed by Soar Arts (a division of Soar)

Charlotte Graham's Te Waiora, commissioned by Britomart, ground-based artwork, printed by Soar Print

B J Ball 2019 Calendar, printed by Soar Print

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Make Every Day book binding, finishing by Soar Print

Britomart Chinese New Year gift card envelope, foiling by Soar Print

Read more about Soar’s commitment to quality.

 

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on May 14, 2019.

Soar offers sustainable corflute alternative – Beaver Board

Corflute alternative - Beaver Board

Corflute, aka core flute, has been central to temporary signage for decades. Can you imagine how the real estate industry could get by without it?  We can, because now there’s Beaver Board – a 100% paper, 100% recyclable alternative to corflute.

Beaver Board can do everything corflute can do. It’s a super-smooth display board that’s perfect for both indoor and outdoor temporary signage. Ink sticks to it beautifully, so you get really great print quality too.

Brian Landry, GM at Soar, thinks Beaver Board will revolutionise the temporary signage industry.

“It’s the first truly water-resistant paper product to give Corflute a run for its money. And it’s a choice you can be proud of because it’s both fully recyclable and FSC certified, which means the paper was sourced from responsibly-managed forests.”

From a printer’s point of view, Beaver Board ticks all the boxes. As well as superb ink adhesion, it lies absolutely flat – perfect for use with one of Soar’s new flat-bed large format digital printers. And its composite construction gives it excellent rigidity, which means it doesn’t have to be as thick as corflute to do a great signage job.

From a sustainability point of view, corflute can’t touch Beaver Board. At the end of its life, it can be recycled through regular recycling systems.

We’re giving Brian the last word:

“As the print industry thinks about greener solutions for print, products like Beaver Board are brilliant. In most countries, corflute can’t be recycled – it ends up in landfill. Beaver Board, on the other hand, is completely recyclable, so eco-conscious businesses that need a  short-term display or POS solution can use it with a clear conscience.”

To find out more about using Beaver Board for temporary signage, inside or out, send Brian an email.

Find out more about Soar’s large format printing capabilities.

 

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This entry was posted in blog on April 23, 2019.

One legendary family print company joins forces with another

Fred Soar and Mark (Neville) Newcomb

Most Aucklanders have heard of Newcomb Digital, formerly known as Neville Newcomb Reprographics. The company has been at the forefront of quick digital printing for decades. Now Newcomb Digital is joining the Soar group of companies and bringing their equipment, people and brand under our roof in New North Road.

If you think Soar has an interesting history, dating back to when Lt. Colonel Fred Soar started the company in Onehunga nearly a hundred years ago, then you’ll be blown away by Newcomb’s history.

The family behind Newcomb Print can trace its ancestry back to Sir Hugo Le Newcomen, a Knight Templar of the 3rd Crusade, who settled in the English district of Lincoln.  The Newcomb family also has connections to Thomas Newcomb ‘The Elder’ and Thomas Newcomb ‘The Younger’, who were King’s Printers throughout the reigns of Charles II, James II and William III.

While the ink in the Soar family’s blood doesn’t stretch back quite that far, Newcomb Digital and Soar Print share an intriguing grandfather-grandson connection.

“I was named after my grandfather Fred Soar, who started up Soar Print in Onehunga in 1920. Neville Mark Newcomb - known to most as Mark - was named after his grandfather Neville Newcomb, who set up the Newcomb family’s first New Zealand business in His Majesty’s Arcade in 1886,” says Fred Soar.

Neville Newcomb Senior

Neville Newcomb Senior established his first Auckland business in 1886.

Lt Colonel Fred Soar

Lt Colonel Fred Soar started his Auckland printing business in 1920

Combined, Soar and Newcomb have spent more than 200 years looking after the print needs of Auckland businesses. Soar’s strength has always been with high-quality offset printing, while Newcomb (previously known as Neville Newcomb Print and today known as Newcomb Digital) has had more of a quick-print and short run focus.

Newcomb Digital will move from Parnell to Soar’s premises in New North Road in late March this year. While it will be owned by the Soar Group of Companies, the brand Newcomb Digital will be retained and promoted.

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on April 16, 2019.

Capturing kids’ lyrical brilliance with the Play It Strange book

Play It Strange Lyric Book printed by Soar Arts

Recently Soar Arts printed an amazing book for one of our favourite not-for-profit clients. It’s the 2018 lyric book  for Play it Strange, which captures the 16 original songs written by young New Zealanders during last year’s Lion Foundation Songwriting Competition.

It was a pleasure to help Mike Chunn and his team put this book together. The Soar Arts team was even involved with doing the artwork, following a template created by the Play It Strange graphic designer.

Front Cover of Play it Strange lyric Book

Every double page spread of the book shows an introduction written by the songwriter, then the lyrics of their song. Professional recordings of the songs can be heard at www.playitstrange.bandcamp.com

“Songs written by young NZers forge a communal strand, a national voice, a summation of who they are and with that, it’s clear that they are telling us who we are. Listening to the hundreds of songs that we receive at Play It Strange is like opening a window into the hearts and minds of our youth. And there is much to learn.” Mike Chunn, CEO, Play it Strange.

We produced the book on our new Océ VarioPrint i300, which is based at Fusion Print in Hamilton (a member of the Soar Printing Group). With this amazing piece of printing technology, you can literally touch one button and have a fully-formed book come out the other end of the press. It can fold and stitch (staple) a book in a way that creates a square spine up to 10mm wide – up to 180 pages plus a cover. Your get a perfect bound book, but without the high price that usually comes with perfect binding. For small runs (1 to 2000) it’s a cost-effective way to get a high quality result.

The book was also produced as a Partica digital flipbook.  The ability to produce electronic versions of printed books is an important part of Soar Arts capability.

View a Partica flipbook of the lyric book.

Find out more about Play It Strange

Learn about the Océ VarioPrint i300 for book printing.

 

Here’s an excerpt from the song ‘Dinner Plate’ written by Tara Canton of Chilton St James School, Wellington.

Play It Strange

Honestly, isn’t it so strange how her

battery has become so low so suddenly

and how she hates the sight of cutlery, lately.


Red-rimmed eyes become more waterfilled

the more time flies, I notice her jeans have

gone down in size and how she never comes to meal times.

 

Pins and needles in her arms and legs

cotton wool stuffed in her head

flippin’ through these old magazines

she sees beauty but all I see…….

 

Are these pretty girls with parasols

picture perfect Barbie dolls,

skeletons at the table tasting lettuce leaves

although they’re craving

sea salt, crinkle cut, whiskey in a sippy cup

 


 

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This entry was posted in blog on April 09, 2019.

Canvases, book, flyers, e-commerce – a total package for Te Kuia Moko

Te Kuia Moko canvas printed by Soar Arts

Canvas prints of 34 remarkable paintings by Harry Sangl are on display at Depot Artspace in Devonport. Soar Arts was involved with every aspect of this project, which demonstrates the incredible versatility of our people and printing technology.

Canvases printed on the HP R2000

At the heart of the Te Kuia Moko exhibition, on until March 22, are 34 prints of portraits painted by Harry Sangl in the early 1970s.

In the absence of the original portraits, which are in storage at an unknown location, the prints allow art lovers to appreciate Harry’s immense talent, as well as the extraordinary faces of Maori kuia with moko. Many of the kuia were of Tuhoe descent and Sangl developed a close bond with each, some of whom were over 100-years-old when he painted them.

The prints were produced on Soar Print’s new HPR2000 press. flat-bed large-format digital press, which is revolutionising printing for point-of-sale, trade displays and signage. It’s the only one of its kind in the North Island.

Canvas art

Book reprint with ECO 100 and Wibalin® cover stock

Soar Arts also reprinted The Blue Privilege, a hardcover book that features Harry Sangl’s kuia paintings. The page stock is ECO 100 in natural white 135gsm and the book cover is Wibalin cover stock, which has a vintage look and texture.

We printed the book’s pages on our new CX102 press, which produces the highest offset print quality achievable in New Zealand. The cover was printed direct to Wibalin on our new HP R2000 press, the same flat-bed press we used for the exhibition canvases. To finish the book’s cover, we partnered with the Book Binding Press, who bound the cover to the pages using PUR (polyurethane reactive), the most durable book binding glue available.

Reprint of Te Kuia Moko

Marketing material and e-commerce site

To complete the set, Soar Arts produced the marketing material for the exhibition (posters and flyers) and an e-commerce book sales solution. Soar’s new digital capability makes it possible to produce an integrated campaign of print and online components with a single supplier.

Buy the Blue Privilege book online.

Read more about Soar Arts

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on March 08, 2019.

Soar supports a month-long festival of all things eco

EcoWest Festival, sponsored by Soar Print

We’re proud to be the print sponsor for EcoWest, a West Auckland festival that celebrates the art, science and fun of sustainable living.

EcoWest begins in Saturday 16 March and runs until Sunday 14 April. It includes more than 120 eco and sustainability-related events that will help you to shrink your carbon footprint and live a cleaner, more meaningful life.  And it will be fun! EcoWest makes doing the right thing a joy, because it wraps creativity around sustainable living.

Soar printed the EcoWest programme on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) mixed stocks. So even the festival’s marketing is setting an example of how to be a more responsible, future-focused business.

EcoWest Programme

Now in its 8th year, EcoWest covers a lot of ground. Here are just some of the highlights:

Workshops and events in the great outdoors

  • Native nursery potting
  • Love your stream
  • Butterflies!
  • Glen Eden bat walk
  • Lizards and insects in West Auckland
  • Forest therapy walk

Creative opportunities

  • Basket weaving with harakeke flax
  • Upcycling old clothes into fashion items
  • Make your own beeswax wraps
  • Soap making
  • Bag making using old tee shirts
  • How to make a shower timer
  • DIY natural skincare

Art and music

  • Lungsong at Lopdell House, a dance experience
  • Artist talks about climate change
  • Numerous exhibitions of art works related to sustainability

Conscious living

  • Tour of Earthsong eco neighbourhood
  • Healthy homes on a budget
  • Winter gardening
  • Funding for carpooling
  • Zero waste open day
  • One family, one year, one bin
  • Composting for beginners

The list goes on and on. There are far too many events and workshops to describe here, so you’ll just need to check out the programme.

Read about Soar’s sustainability credentials.


 So even the festival’s marketing is setting an example of how to be a more responsible, future-focused business.

 

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This entry was posted in blog on March 05, 2019.

Another big leap forward for Soar: the CX102 Speedmaster

 

Best offset printer in NZ

Back in 2008 we wowed the New Zealand print world with the country’s first XL105 Speedmaster. The launch involved loud music, dry ice, dancers, laser lights and a speech by then-PM Helen Clark.  It was quite a show.

Now we’re wowing the print world again, this time with New Zealand’s first push-to-stop CX102 Speedmaster, a shining example of Heidelberg print automation.

Before we get into the detail about what makes the CX102 so special, which will please the printophiles amongst you, let’s talk about what it means for our customers.

Unparalleled quality and speed for complex print jobs

The CX102 represents the perfect interplay between people, machines, materials and processes. With speeds of up to 16,500 sheets per hour, there are very few challenges in commercial, label, and packaging printing that it can’t handle. And it switches between jobs without even pausing.

Imagine you’re a high-end furniture designer who requires 10,000 A4 brochures with process, spot PMS and aqueous coating. You also need four additional versions in different languages in the 300-500 run-length range.  This press can handle all that and get the printing done in less than 35 minutes

And if you wanted 24 versions of an A1 poster, with 200 copies of each version, the job would take us only 2 and a half hours to print. What’s more, the quality across every output will be consistently impeccable, from first impression to last.

 “This press delivers the highest print quality imaginable, while also increasing our productivity and efficiency,” says Fred Soar. “It’s genius.” 

The best offset printer in NZ

Less waste, smaller carbon footprint

The CX 102’s technology raises the benchmark for more than just productivity. Its high energy and resource efficiency make it the most environmentally-responsible press in its class. For example, it uses 50% less paper and ink during setup. It’s certified as a low-emission press by the German Institution for Statutory Insurance and Prevention in the Printing and Paper Industry.

CX102 highlights for print geeks

For the first time in the history of offset printing, workflow is completely automated. The press will progress through every scheduled print job automatically, without any human intervention. We don’t have to pause between jobs.  The press operator only interrupts the autonomously running process chain if necessary, i.e. push to stop.

Other highlights include Heidelberg's InterTech Technology Award-winning Prinect Inpress Control, an inline spectrophotometric colour measuring system, Prinect Inspection Control, an inline sheet inspection system, and Prinect Press Center control console with Intellistart, an operator guidance system and integrated Wallscreen.

Want to come and watch?

If you’d like to take a look at our amazing new press, drop an email to [email protected].  He’ll arrange a time for you to see the CX102 in action.

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on February 09, 2019.

Beautiful ground-level Britomart artwork printed by Soar

If you’re strolling around Auckland’s CBD this January, direct your feet to the Britomart precinct to see the artwork of Charlotte Graham. Installed on the ground, it was printed by Soar.

The artwork, known as Te Waiora, consists of 24 hand-painted water droplets, many of them inscribed with Maori motifs. The droplets have been materialised as 1200 self-adhesive decals, which you can see applied to walkways throughout Britomart.  Te Waiora will remain in place until the end of January 2019.

Charlotte created the artwork to emphasise Christmas as a time of connectedness between whanau and friends; people and the land; past, the present and future. She chose water as a motif because of the way it refers to the maritime histories of Maori, Pakeha and Pacific peoples, as well as Aotearoa’s more recent immigrants. In the Maori language, wai means ‘water’ and ora means ‘life’.

The droplets were printed with UV-resistant latex inks on two specialist anti-slip self-adhesive products, to allow for different surfaces, using our new HP Latex R2000 digital press. This same press is often used to print vinyl car wraps, bespoke adhesive wall murals, point of sale materials and signage. It can print both on roll and rigid substrates up to 50mm thick and boasts the smoothest white ink laydown available in New Zealand today.

To find out more about reproducing artwork onto self-adhesive or other materials, email Brian Landry at [email protected]

 

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This entry was posted in blog on January 08, 2019.

NZ art book directory by Soar Arts – it’s a first!

Art book directory for New Zealand

'Off The Press: The Art Book Directory’ is a Soar Arts initiative that shines a light on New Zealand art publications.

Until now it’s been difficult to find out about the latest books, monographs and catalogues from New Zealand’s art world. Our Off The Press directory changes all that.

“Most of the arts publications in New Zealand are printed in very short runs, which makes it a challenge for people to find the publications created by our arts community”, says Stuart. “With only a few specialist booksellers remaining in this country and little in the way of an online presence, there’s a real need for a guide like Off The Press to catalogue these works.”

The directory is edited by Katie Kerr, a graphic designer with a passion for art books.

“Arts publications tend to be carefully-crafted objects, and often experimental in both editorial and design”, says Katie. “Without a better platform for national exposure, there is a real possibility of this alternative realm of publishing disappearing in New Zealand. Through Off The Press, we hope to champion both the publishers and the books, showcasing a diverse body of thought relating to art, design, theory and practice – while also exhibiting the creative powers of New Zealand's specialist bookmakers.”

Copies of the first edition of Off The Press have been distributed to selected galleries and participating publishers and artists.  The directory is also available as a digital book for mobile offthepress.partica.co.nz.

Next edition of Off The Press coming soon

Soar Arts is working on the next edition of Off The Press, which will be published in May 2019. If you have an arts publication that would benefit from greater exposure, email us before 29 March 2019 [email protected]. Your publication can be as a free listing or as a feature article.

Directory of art books in NZ

Free listings

Directory free listings will include your book cover with a description up to a maximum of 75 words for each book, in a 1/4 page gallery layout style.

Feature article

For a more impactful promotion of your book, a feature listing offers a double page spread in print and online, with extra photography and extended content over two pages.

You can submit your latest New Zealand visual art publication or catalogue online.

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on December 18, 2018.

Carbon neutral awards book for SBN – we’d have it no other way!

SBN Awards 2018

Soar is a keen supporter of the Sustainable Business Network, a business community dedicated to helping New Zealand become more sustainable. Businesses of all shapes and sizes belong to SBN, including us.

For 15 years, the SBN has been running the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards, to recognise and celebrate the best sustainability achievements in New Zealand – everything from making products from recycled materials to running communication programmes about minimising waste to landfill.

As print sponsor for the awards, Soar produced the 2018 awards booklet. And this year we did something different: we used our ‘carbon neutral’ certified print service. This means all the emissions involved in production - raw materials, energy consumer, transport and distribution - were measured to establish an accurate carbon footprint for the booklet. After a check by Enviro-Mark Solutions, we offset the emissions by buying New Zealand carbon credits, such as forest regeneration schemes and windfarms.

We printed the booklet with our new Océ VarioPrint, which prints, trims, perfs, folds and binds in a single process. This press is best-in-class internationally for reducing unnecessary waste.

And the SBN Awards winners for 2018 were…

The City Rail Link (CRL) busted through construction and infrastructure industry norms to the highest accolade at SBN’s 2018 awards.  See all the winners.

Have you heard about the circular economy?

The work SBN does is best described as helping New Zealand move towards a ‘circular economy’, a sustainable and viable alternative to the dominant ‘take-make-waste’ linear model.

In a circular economy the lifecycles of materials are maximised and their use is optimised. At the end of life, all materials are reutilised. A circular economy is is underpinned by the use of renewable energy. More about NZ’s Circular Economy Accelerator.


 

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This entry was posted in blog on November 27, 2018.

Supplement company strikes gold with Soar’s label printing

Metallic label printing

When a nutritional supplements client needed a label print provider for their home brand range, Soar stepped up to the mark. The result was better quality at a lower cost – always an ideal outcome!

Our client is a New Zealand supplement company that has its own-brand HealthZone products manufactured and packed in the USA. Until recently, a US printing company produced labels for the HealthZone range, but they closed up shop leaving our client in the lurch. Grant McIllmurray, Business Development Manager at Soar, explains:

“Previously the labels were printed in the USA and sent to a site in New Mexico, where they were applied to the supplement containers. Once labelled, the containers were shipped to New Zealand. Our client didn’t get to see the finished result until it was too late and they were often not pleased with the quality and colour consistency of printing. In the supplement category, shelf impact is huge – products need to look great. A bad label printing job can negatively impact sales.”

It was a big win for our client – not only did we print the labels for less cost, we raised the bar for quality.  Previously the labels had a dull gold from printer’s ink; now the labels feature a true metallic gold for superior visual impact. What’s more, our client can now approve a hard copy proof before printing.

 “The HealthZone self-adhesive labels feature metallic gold. They were printed on our Indigo label press on metallised paper using the Color Logic process. The client is thrilled with the quality and stoked to be using a New Zealand supplier for their label printing.”

digital label printing with metallic effects

What is Color Logic for metallic label printing?

There’s no doubt about it, metallic colours pop. We’re like magpies – shiny, glittery objects are attractive to us.

Using metallic effects on your labels, packaging and point-of-sale can result in higher sales and greater brand awareness. So when a cheaper way of printing stand-out metallic colours comes along, it’s time to get excited.

Color Logic is a system that enables digital printers to print onto metallic substrates, producing striking images and colours. We won’t bore you with exactly how it’s done, but it involves masking with white ink. If you want all the technical details, go to www.color-logic.com.

Need a gorgeous label print job?

Before you start designing, talk to Brian Landry about what can be achieved with Color Logic metallic printing. Email [email protected]  or call (09) 302 9500.

 

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This entry was posted in blog on November 20, 2018.

Make-A-Wish used personalisation to reactivate lapsed donors

Make A Wish personalised brochure

Make-A-Wish New Zealand makes wishes come true for Kiwi kids who are battling serious illnesses, like leukaemia, rheumatic fever, brain injury and cystic fibrosis.  The organisation relies on fundraising, grants and donations to deliver a much-needed burst happiness to up to 200 children every year.

Recently Make-A-Wish partnered with Soar Print to produce a booklet that was geographically personalised to every area of New Zealand. Potential donors who received the book could see how Make-A-Wish was making a difference to the lives of sick children in their local community. 

Personalisation of the booklet resulted in 8% of recipients moving from the ‘lapsed or dormant’ donor category to ‘active’. This was significantly higher than expected and it means Make-A-Wish will have the funds to make more wishes come true next year.

Personalised print with Oce VarioPrint i300

The booklet was printed on Soar’s new Océ VarioPrint i300, a specialised digital press that can print and finish books and booklets in a single press pass. Paper goes in one end; a complete book comes out the other. For personalisation, database files are fed into the press. In a single run every output can have different text and image change outs.

“A bonus of printing with the Océ VarioPrint i300 was that we could geographically personalise our message and advertise key events to the right communities. This was significant progress for us. Making the message more unique and tailored has come with great results”, says Pam Elgar, CEO of Make-A-Wish New Zealand.

In addition to personalisation benefits, printing books, manuals and catalogues with the i300 comes with money-saving ‘print on demand’ benefits. Read more about no-waste book lifecycle printing.

For advice about how to leverage your database to create more meaningful and effective printed collateral, talk to Stuart Shepherd at Soar Print – 021 630 954 or [email protected]

 

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This entry was posted in blog on October 26, 2018.

Neuroscience says hard copy print beats digital in many ways

Print is more effective than digital

A few years ago, everyone was predicting the demise of the print industry. The future was looking more and more digital. But recent neuroscience studies have shown that print communication often eclipses electronic.

What happens inside the human brain isn’t as mysterious as it once was. Now there are ways of seeing whether messages are getting through, which makes it possible to measure the effectiveness of print versus digital.

Here are some fascinating findings:

Hard copy DM requires 21% less cognitive effort to process than digital media, suggesting that it’s easier to understand and more memorable. In a study by Canada Post, when participants were asked to name the brand of an advertisement they had just seen, recall was 70% higher among those who were exposed to a hard copy direct mail piece (75%) versus a digital ad (44%).[1]

Paper communications affect the desire centres of the brain. Paper advertising activates the ventral striatum area of the brain more than digital media.  The ventral striatum is known to be an indicator of desire and valuation.[2]

Physical material is more ‘real’ to the brain. Hard copy is better connected to memory because it engages with the brain’s spatial memory networks. Physical material involves more emotional processing, which is important for brand associations. And physical materials produce more brain responses connected with internal feelings, suggesting greater effectiveness of the ads.[3]

Brains process words differently when they’re on paper. There's a significant amount of research that suggests our brains process a book differently if we read it in paper format versus a small screen. A Norwegian study concluded that "students who read texts in print scored significantly better on the reading comprehension test than students who read the texts digitally.” [4]

B to B communications are better in print. Paper has been shown to be more effective for communicating detailed information. A B2B sales effort often involves important documentation to ensure the customer needs are met. Providing this information in paper format can increase the customer's comprehension and recall.[5]

Have you moved away from print for some of your most important communications? Maybe it’s time to swing back. While digital can be great for some communications, neuroscience says the tactile nature of print is more likely to engage your customer’s brain.

To discuss your print requirements, talk to our Customer Service team on (09) 302 9100

Read another article about print effectiveness.

 



[1] Study sponsored by Canada Post and performed by Canadian neuromarketing firm TrueImpact.

[2] Temple University Study

[3] Bangor University Study

[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035512001127

[5] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerdooley/2015/09/16/paper-vs-digital/#7786ea8c33c3

 

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on October 03, 2018.

No-waste printing to match the lifecycle of your publication

Publishing lifecycle

As every publisher knows, the lifecycle of a book begins with a boom and ends with a splutter. To avoid obsolescence, which means waste to recyclers and wasted money, print runs need to match each stage of the book lifecycle.

Soar’s MD Fred Soar recently presented at the PrintHow symposium in Tokyo. His focus was using digital print, specifically automated book printing with the Oce i300, to accurately match publishing supply to demand. Fred used a tertiary education example to make his point:

“Tertiary education providers have an ongoing need to print prospectuses and course materials, typically near the start of each semester. While history can help them to predict print runs, fluctuations in student numbers often lead to print obsolescence. For a budget-conscious organisation, sending books to the paper recyclers equals money down the drain. Just as bad is not having enough books to meet student needs, which can negatively impact the university’s brand.”

Soar Print recently invested in an Océ VarioPrint i300, a fully-automated digital press for books and other multi-page outputs. With this press, you can literally press one button and have a fully-formed book come out the other end. For smaller runs (1 to 3000), the i300 is a cost-effective way to get a high quality result. For the PrintHow symposium, Fred used an infographic to explain how the i300 makes it easy to match print runs to the lifecycle of a publication.

Printing for books and booklets

“This diagram shows that 1750 copies of a book are required by students during its lifecycle. This was carefully managed by starting off with a run of 750 and setting dynamic minimum stock levels that drop down over time. Reprints were produced 150 at a time, then 100, then 50. It meant they had virtually no obsolescence with the publication. What’s more, the artwork files can be easily modified before each reprint to include new information. Every reprint can essentially become an updated edition.”

This type of digital-only print management model is ideal for publishers who know they will need up to 3000 books, but can’t predict demand with pinpoint accuracy. For publications that will sell more than 3000 initially, combining a primary offset run with subsequent digital runs can be an ideal strategy for avoiding obsolesence.

If you regularly print prospectuses, course guides or catalogues that have a limited lifespan, Soar can help you to master the art of accurate print lifecycle management. Our experts can also design a lifecycle model for other types of publications – everything from poetry and art books to travel guides and text books.

Email Stuart Shepherd about printing for books and booklets [email protected]

Read more about automated book printing with the i300.

 

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This entry was posted in blog on September 13, 2018.

From Cape Reinga to Bluff, we print for all of NZ

Best New Zealand printer

You don’t have to be based in Auckland or Hamilton to work with Soar or our sister company Fusion Print. We have happy clients up and down the country, including all of the provincial centres.

Richard Davy, senior print consultant at Soar, has become a dab hand at handling long-distance relationships.

“Looking after clients who aren’t in Auckland or Hamilton is straightforward. We have a call or video teleconference, then the details of the job are confirmed by email.  Proofing is easy to manage by email too. It’s no more complicated that dealing with a printer who’s just around the corner.”

For corporate clients based in provincial cities and the other main centres – Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Tauranga – Soar’s sustainability credentials are a drawcard.

“As more organisations and businesses define their sustainability policies, finding a print supplier who can provide CarboNZero(CertTM) printing is becoming increasingly important. Soar’s sustainability credentials are unequalled in the New Zealand printing sector, so we are often asked to pitch by corporate or government print procurement teams that aren’t based in Auckland.”

The range of print work completed for nationwide clients is broad – everything from short run large-format pieces to high-volume offset promo material. In some cases, multiple outputs are printed for a single campaign.

“One of our newest out-of-town clients was quite nervous about using an Auckland printer for a campaign they were running throughout the country. We essentially became the guinea pigs for a new approach.  When it was all done and dusted, their feedback to us was overwhelmingly positive. For print quality and logistics, it was one of their best campaigns ever.”

Nationwide customers are welcome to contact Richard Davy or Brian Landry to discuss requirements and print costs. Soar can even assist with print storage, pick and pack, inventory management and nationwide logistics. Call Richard Davy on (09) 302 9106 or email Brian Landry [email protected].

Read more about Soar’s sustainability credentials.

 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on September 13, 2018.

Prototype first, graphic design second. Always!

 

pack prototyping by Soar Print

There’s a right way and a wrong way to design the functional aspects of a product pack. We strongly recommend the right way – prototype first!

Paper engineering is an unforgiving art. Get it right and your product pack looks fantastic on the shelf and feels like premium quality in the customer’s hand. Mess it up and you get a wonky pack that doesn’t do your product justice.

So how do you make sure your pack’s going to look a million dollars when it’s printed and assembled? Prototype first, graphic design second. It’s a strategy that ensures your design and print budget is spent wisely. 

Pack prototyping should happen before graphic design

In our experience, very few graphic designers are expert paper engineers. So we recommend you work with us to get the foundation right before you brief your designer to develop pack graphics.  If you want your designer to have conceptual input before we develop prototypes, that’s easy. We’re great collaborators.

Our prototyping and mock up service gets the underlying engineering sorted on the correct stock before graphic design titivation begins. We can print outputs one at a time and assemble a perfect sample pack that you can put to the test. Once we have perfected the prototype, the graphic design process can begin.

Direct mailers deserve a prototype too

Don’t you love direct mailers with cut outs, fancy folds and fiddly bits? We do. We especially love them when they work perfectly; folding and popping out exactly as planned.

With decades of printing, die-cutting and finishing experience behind us, we know the pitfalls of fancy DM pieces. One of the biggest is a huge price. If you have a great idea, talk to us before you get too far down the design path. We can make sure you achieve the result you want for the smallest print cost.

Need a pack or direct mail prototype? Talk to Brian Landry on (09) 302 9500 or email [email protected]

Find out more about pack printing.

Read a case study about prototyping. 

 

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This entry was posted in blog on August 16, 2018.

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