Digital Output - July 2008 - (Page 24)

application spotlight Success is Proof Master High Quality, Accurate Prints by Kim Crowley L arge format graphics are a major marketing investment. Businesses making room in their budget for large format advertising want accurate results. Proofing is an important step in achieving the client’s desired match—especially when color branding is essential. An on-screen, soft proof is adequate enough for some. Others require a partial or full size printed proof from the LVT film output devices, and learning how to reproduce an artist’s vision. “Working with artists proved to be a fairly painful economic model,” notes Peter Hogg, president/founder, Digital Pond. “Since 1995, we have turned 180 degrees in the other direction and took our high-level color finesse from fine art printing and wove it into the commercial space. This is primarily for people in the digital world who need that level of translation between the Hogg feels there is a hierarchy of proofing. “The first choice is a full size proof on the machine you are using, the second is a half size proof with a complete image at a smaller size, and the third is a soft proof.” Digital Pond’s customers include prestigious companies such as Cisco Systems, Crate & Barrel, the Getty Museum, Levi’s, and Wells Fargo. “We do high-level museum jobs, retail jobs for Nike, and installations for Pixar. It’s rare in those installations that a proof is used for the final sign off.” Hogg is satisfied with the proofs his Hewlett-Packard (HP) Designjet Z3100 12-color photo printer produces. “We use the Z3100 as our primary proofing device when we’re not able to use the final print device,” says Hogg. Digital Pond has a 44inch HP Designjet Z3100 in its 19,000 square foot San Francisco, CA location, and a 24-inch version in their smaller Portland, OR shop. Achieving accurate color reproduction is key to quality output. “We see the ability to produce accurate color during all stages of the creative process as sort of core to our program,” says Hogg. Digital Pond works to ensure that proofing and costs stay grounded. “We’re looking at high accuracy, low cost proofing to facilitate color communication earlier in the creative process,” explains Hogg. “The genesis of that concept really comes out of our relationship with Nike. Nike spent a lot of money on hard proofs and shipping early in 2000, so they really pushed for soft proofing—very successfully. We supported that and have calibrated monitors available to our Nike clients.” He adds, “For us it is important to provide an accurate and very cost efficient service, and also to interweave it with soft proofing so we’re not generating high proofing costs. We can offer a high-level design client either version. As you can imagine, the closer you get www.digitaloutput.net Digital Pond, based in San Francisco, CA, printed and proofed signs for an exhibit at the SFAM in the San Francisco Airport on an HP Designjet Z6100 using HP Photo Semi-gloss media. “We’re looking at high accuracy, low cost proofing to facilitate color communication earlier in the creative process.” —Peter Hogg, president/founder, Digital Pond. final print device or another that offers a similar result. Some shops use proofing as a revenue generator, while others use it to continue a high-quality track record and maintain client satisfaction. Digital Pond creative process and the computer,” explains Hogg. Today, Digital Pond specializes in large format signage for customers in retail and museums and employs nearly 50 people. The company’s annual revenue averages $8.5 million dollars. Getting it Right Output Inspired by a renowned Mexican photographer’s photo essay he saw in the early 1990’s, Peter Hogg learned about the possibilities between art and the digital world. In response, Hogg opened a shop to print his and other artists’ photographs. The San Francisco, CA shop, Digital Pond, morphed and grew into a full service graphics provider and project management partner. Digital Pond’s early years were an expensive exercise with Iris printers, Digital Output July 2008 For some clients, a perfect representation of original art and color is not a high priority, while others demand absolute accuracy. Digital Pond prides itself on always getting it right. Hogg notes that from the mid to late 1990’s, “it was a serious competitive advantage just to make a perfect print.” Now, he finds, “clients expect color completely controlled.” 24 http://www.digitaloutput.net http://www.digitaloutput.net

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Output - July 2008

Digital Output - July 2008

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