Hi Rez Digital Solutions

This open house and demonstration “will showcase the latest technology available in wide-format printing, featuring every component of the digital printing process.” I bet General Manager Drew Hendricks at Hi Rez could put on the same open house if only there was more room here.

The event includes sneak previews of products and equipment not yet released to the industry! Well known vendors such as FLEXcon, HP, Onyx, Hahnemuhle, OKI Printing Solutions, and Digital Equipment Company are giving half hour presentations throughout the day. It’s interactive, free and food is on the house. Go get a tan in Florida and check it out.

For more information, hit up http://www.lexjet.com/OpenHouse/.

Tags: printing by elizabeth.latham
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We all know that fonts provide an underlying tone in all sorts of media from email marketing to newsletters. Anyone who’s taken Design 101 or read an invitation knows that. What you might not know is that fonts have an annual conference. That’s right! They discuss the latest in font happenings and even prevent bad fonts from taking over the world. This year’s was caught on tape:

Font Conference 2008

Tags: design, marketing, printing by elizabeth.latham
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Hi Rez Digital Solutions is now home to what I would argue is the world’s greenest, most ecologically friendly printing press.

Not because it runs earth friendly soy-based inks (which it does)

Not because it prints out beautiful full color prints on 100% recycled paper (which it can)

but because we purchased this press used from another shop that had already paid its carbon debt. We did this not because it was cheaper, but because of our commitment to the environment. Press manufacturers such as Heidelberg and Komori are constantly under pressure to to produce and sell new machines. Factory incentives would have made it very easy to install a new press. However, we could not justify the carbon footprint a new press would make when there are still fully functional presses ready to be run.

In addition, we invested in the latest platemaking technology. Today’s platemaking systems use a fraction of the chemicals used by systems just a few years old. Traditionally platemaking was one of the most environmentally hazardous steps in the printing process. Our platemaker greatly mitigates these hazards.

In the June 2008 issue, Wired Magazine summed up this philosophy well when they pointed out in their, “Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What It Means to Be Green,” article. Specifically, you would have to drive a Toyota Prius 100,000 miles to offset its carbon footprint versus buying a decade old car. Given most people only drive 65,000 a year and the battery of the Prius is gauged to last 7 years, the carbon footprint is never erased.

“Still, the comparison suggests a more sensible question. If a new Prius were placed head-to-head with a used car, would the Prius win? Don’t bet on it. Making a Prius consumes 113 million BTUs, according to sustainability engineer Pablo Päster. A single gallon of gas contains about 113,000 Btus, so Toyota’s green wonder guzzles the equivalent of 1,000 gallons before it clocks its first mile. A used car, on the other hand, starts with a significant advantage: The first owner has already paid off its carbon debt. Buy a decade-old Toyota Tercel, which gets a respectable 35 mpg, and the Prius will have to drive 100,000 miles to catch up”

So, take the carbon debt out of the equation, add in the eco-friendly platemaking system, multiply by soy-based inks and recycled paper and you have the formula for a printing press that rivals all peers for earth friendly.

Tags: green, printing by drew.hendricks
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Never thought I would hear it from “Jesus” himself, or at least the man who has been called Jesus. Yes, Alex Bogusky of Crispin Porter + Bogusky told Hi Rez Digital Solutions to take the resolution down a notch. “Gotta keep it low-res; there are too many bloated files out there,” he said when I met him at the Ad Club San Diego’s “Evening with Alex Bogusky” event Tuesday.  Not only was I dumb-founded by the simple fact that I just shook hands with the advertising guru himself, but also by the fact that I didn’t come back with a witty comment. Later in the evening Alex talked about the importance of a brand name. The name embodies the life, history, and character of the brand.

So thinking back on this event, why didn’t I tell him what Hi Rez was, what we stand for, where we come from? I left him with Hi Rez being a simple cliche at the appetizer table.

Many people have the same assumption as Alex - Hi Rez is a spin-off cliche of the term “high resolution.”  Hi Rez Digital Solutions is a printing company with marketing and design capabilities, so “high resolution” is an important term we use; however, the name Hi Rez is so much more. “Rez” is also a term that Native American Tribes use when referring to their reservations. So, in a way it is cliche to use Rez like so many other Native American owned entities; for example, Rez Radio, Rez Biz , and so on. We have a history, we have a name that is more than just an ad-guy’s spin.

Hi Rez Digital Solutions opened it’s doors to the public in October 2003 as the first collaborative for-profit business venture with The Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association (SCTCA), a non-profit agency representing 18 Native American tribes in the San Diego County area. Located in Southern California, Hi Rez Digital Solutions provides high quality, fully digital printing, design, and marketing services to customers nationwide while generating job training opportunities and income for the local tribal community. We give back to the community that founded us, feed the economy with well-trained employees and business opportunities, and provide “Hi Rez” quality printing, design, and marketing solutions.

So, do we take Alex Bogusky’s advice and go “low-res?” I say no way! Next time, I’m ready to tell Alex Bogusky what Hi Rez Digital Solutions is all about!

Tags: advertising, design, life at hi rez, marketing, printing by heather.marsh
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An eager and trendy account executive said to his boss, ”I think it’s important we let our clients know that we support the environment.”

His boss turned around and looked down at him with sympathetic wisdom to say, “See, I think it’s important that we actually do support the environment.”

Firstly, I’d like to comment on the term “environmentally friendly”.  Any way we conduct business, the best of the worst way, the worst of the worst or anything in between, we’re not being environmentally friendly.  The environment has a natural state and anything we do to affect that is not friendly as to progress it.  What we consider environmentally friendly is the least amount of damage possible while turning a profit.         

To pile on the heap, our era has given way to greenwashing, a term used to describe the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company.  For instance, a printing company can place an attractive, little tree in the corners of their documents that are on 10% recycled paper.  Where’d the other 90% go?  Or, a company can use 100% recycled paper on a press that uses hundreds of paper stacks to warm up.

Green standards do not take enough into consideration.  That’s probably because there are no green standards.  All we’ve got are attractive little trees that any business that knows what’s best for it will find a place for on their next letterhead.  With all the Prius’s in the world, it’s no secret green is the new black.  Why wouldn’t companies take advantage of such a loose label?   

There’s a lot to say for companies who take being green seriously.  Unfortunately, we spend time focusing on the scams than appreciating pure agendas.  It’s only a matter of time before we actually do get standards or we become the set of Wall-e.

Tags: business practices, green, marketing, printing by elizabeth.latham
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Elizabeth Latham here to introduce myself as the new Marketing Coordinator for Hi Rez Digital Solutions.  The drive from my hometown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and through my college town Louisville, Kentucky was long but worth it.  I’m the lucky one who gets to see an order from the sales process through the delivery.  Throughout the country, there are few people in marketing firms who can claim that because so much of this industry is outsourced.  It’s nice to be in a personal environment that nurtures and takes responsibility for all aspects of a job and doesn’t skip out on the effectiveness.  I remember “borrowing” samples at my interview just to show off to my friends the quality of work I would get to influence.   

Along with my arrival came the Hamada offset press!  Little did I know, (Well, little do I still know) this press would take my first couple weeks for a whirl wind and land the firm on an entirely new level.  Fortunately, Hi Rez has all sorts of people will all sorts of specialties so I’ve been able to observe the printing industry from top to bottom, left to right. 

While learning the printing industry I’ll be challenging my understanding of the marketing industry.  There are many hiccups left to have so stay tuned and help me figure them out.

Tags: life at hi rez, marketing, printing by elizabeth.latham
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Of all the large format projects we do at Hi Rez Digital Solutions it’s the Game Boards that prove to be the most challenging and ultimately the most rewarding. Usually, the hard part is coming up with a compelling graphic design. Not so with a one-off pieces such as a game board. Here, design takes a second seat to structural design. The client might ask for a picture of a mountain with pegs and a mountain climber. While our design department can quickly whip up a mountain and a climber, it takes hours of deliberation by the structural designers to answer questions such as:

• What kind of substrate should the graphics be mounted to? Gator-board, Sintra, Foam-core…
• What should the pegs be made of and how are they to be affixed?
• How is the board going to stand up? Easel,Wall Mount Etc.
• How will the board be stored? Should seems be installed
• Will there be lighting?

Tags: printing by drew.hendricks
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