Why Phil Phillips of Colouration is so enthusiastic about the spot gloss UV capability of the company’s new Oce 480XT. Should you be enthused too?
“Spot varnish application is creating a huge level of interest with prospective clients and allowing us to talk to new customers and offer a point of difference, so it's a real winner for us.” So says Phil Phillips of Colouration, which began putting work through its new Oce 480XT flatbed printer with varnish and roll-feed at the beginning of March.
Already the company is winning jobs off the back of the machine’s spot varnish capability that has Phillips jumping up and down about its potential to extend revenue streams for producers of wide-format print. Even when some of the jobs themselves may not be wide-format!
“We won a recent job on a small-format digital print project that needed a spot gloss UV on certain images. It was much more cost effective to put it through the Oce than send out for spot UV gloss application and the machine also places a much heavier varnish layer which the client had requested. Without the use of the 480XT the job would have been cost prohibitive and we’d not have got it.”
Phillips adds: “A number of new clients want to use the gloss varnish on unprinted clear acetate and acrylic signage to create an almost 3D/etched effect due to the heavy coverage the Oce is able to put down. The size of the bed at 3m x 2.5m which means we can use larger materials, gang more projects together and offer costs savings to our clients while making more money ourselves.”
Established in 2001 by family members Tony, Dawn, Pam and Ray, south-west London based Colouration continues to grow and now employs 45 people. The family owned large-format, acrylic fabrication and POS display manufacturer, has been quietly servicing the needs of the top UK cosmetics companies for over ten years. But Phillips believes the ability to offer spot varnish capabilities to customers in the retail space will take large-format graphic display to a new level.
“The ability allows retailers to add an extra dimension to their print and make their graphics much more imaginative and effective,” enthuses Phillips. “Great interest in this new capability has already been expressed by several premium brand retailers and marketers headquartered in London, as a way of differentiating their in-store marketing collateral from their competitors. They realise that because the Oce printer puts a substantial amount of varnish down during the print process the effects are impressive - even on small areas contained within a larger graphic image. The retailers are also getting some fantastic effects just using the varnish onto acrylics to create an almost 3D effect. They are realising that the addition of the varnish can really enhance their message.
“For Colouration it means it is now able to offer something genuinely exciting, and that is being well received by brands and retailers alike. It means the company can move into new market sectors and get new client wins, without always relying on price cutting to achieve it.”
Everyone is only too well aware of how tough the retail market is at the moment, so by being able to offer clients something different like spot varnish POS manufacturers/printers can offer a genuine alternative to traditional large-format print. It is not often that something new creates such an interest from the retailers and brand managers at major organisations but the spot gloss UV capability and the white ink channel of the Oce 480XT is really creating buzz. It means there’s a new conversation to be had with clients wanting to change-up their promotional activities.”