Drawing from our local community of artists to make something useful and beautiful for a client fills our Bubble & Hatch bucket. The B&B Print Source 2024 calendar project was a wonder of collaboration that showcased our client’s capabilities.
Client and Partner
B&B Print Source
B&B Print Source is a locally-owned business committed to building strong, lasting relationships with employees, clients, and the community. The award-winning commercial printer has over 35 years in business and is 60 employees strong. They specialize in commercial printing, packaging, large format signage and environmental graphics, promotional and apparel items, customized direct mail, and integrated marketing solutions.
Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation is a Native-led, national nonprofit that advances equity and cultural knowledge. It focuses on the power of arts and collaboration to strengthen Native communities and promote positive social change with American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples in the United States.
How It Came Together
Calendar Project Objective
Bubble & Hatch set out to create a desktop calendar featuring a community partner in the arts. The annual calendar is a gift to B&B Print Source’s clients, community, and prospects, showcasing their commercial facility capabilities. Technologies used include Konica Minolta small-format digital, Canon large-format flatbed inkjet press, and Koenig and Bauer 40” offset printing presses. The press sheets moved through production onto the full-service bindery, finishing, and packaging departments, where the box and individual pages were trimmed, die-cut, and folded. The black stands were printed on the Canon Arizona 2380 XTF UV Flatbed and digitally cut on the ZUND Digital Cutter.
Project Description
The calendar is 13 loose pages printed on Titan Dull Cover, neatly tucked into a die-cut box printed on a natural matte cover stock that closes with a small seal. The front of each page features a large image of a Native artist’s work and an elegant calendar of the month. An in-depth bio, description of the featured work, photo of the artist or other image, and a QR code linked to a blog post about the art grace the back. Because the calendar doubles as a collection of samples, detailed print production notes are included on every page.
The 13th page includes a full-year calendar on the front and helpful information about B&B Print Source and the Native Arts and Cultures on the back. A modern paperboard stand printed with black and white ink was produced in-house on a Canon UV flatbed press and die-cut using a Zünd digital cutter. It holds the calendar pages securely while adding pop and elegance.
Digital Print Details
Xerox Iridess Digital Press using the CMYK process, plus special clear and gold toners. The final art files were prepared and packaged up using B&B’s pre-press guidelines. Our design team utilized the Adobe Creative Suite. The box was designed and laid out in Illustrator, the calendar pages were created using InDesign, and any image modifications were done using Photoshop. To ensure the digital embellishment was created correctly, unique layers for the gold and white touches were added to the native and print-ready PDF.
Project Challenges
Overcoming image variances
As with any creative project involving provided images, the files varied in type, quality, orientation, and scale. We worked with NACF to obtain higher-quality imagery when possible. Our design team ensured each page looked consistent yet pleasing to the eye, told each artist’s story, and resulted in a high-quality printed page. Art met science to produce a stunning outcome.
Creating a unique box
The calendar not only functions as a collection of samples to showcase B&B’s print work but also serves to put its packaging production capabilities on display. The box holding the calendar pages is a work of art itself on customized die-cut natural kraft cardboard. It was created with a small tab so that a small seal would close the box. To add a throughline of natural materials, we scanned the outer box substrate and used it as the background image on the inside calendar pages.
Coordinating stakeholders
To be honest, it’s hard to call this a challenge because one of our favorite things to do is bring people together. We have a special knack for coordinating best interests and practices in a harmonious process to create a project that exceeds expectations. The NACF is a Native-led, 501 (c) 3 philanthropic organization headquartered in Portland, dedicated exclusively to the perpetuation of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian arts and cultures nationwide. B&B is a local commercial printer based in SW Portland for over 35 years. Each had completely different objectives for the calendar, but the goals were the same--to create a stunning piece that showed the best work of both organizations.
“This is amazing!” said Rachel Hershey, NACF Associate Director of Development. “Thanks for all of your work on this. We’re so excited to be a part of this project with B&B!”
We hope that you will use this calendar to explore Native arts and cultures, provoke thought, spark discussion, explore solutions, and make a vital contribution to our communities and world. You can order the calendar absolutely free HERE.
Comments