Briggs & Stratton Takes Top Honors

WHEN BRIGGS & Stratton Graphic Services accepted a complex catalog job from a local non-profit, Pressroom Supervisor Brian Patterson had an inkling it might turn out to be a prize winner. When he saw the quality of the finished product, he felt even more confident.

But it wasn't until the final minutes of the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association's awards banquet last month that he got the thrilling news: that catalog had been chosen over 34 other Gold winners as this year's In-Print Best of Show winner.

"The heart was pounding," says Patterson, describing his reaction as he and Manager Debbie Pavletich—along with more than 100 other IPMA conference attendees—watched a video showing the judges pick the Best of Show winner. He was on the edge of his seat as he witnessed his shop's piece eke out a very tough victory over a photo book from Brigham Young University. (Watch the video at www.IPGonline.com.)

The "Circle of Life" catalog was printed on a four-color, 23x29˝ Ryobi 754 press and consists of 116 full-color pages, plus a cover. One of the pages folds out into a three-page spread showing an elaborate mural. The Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based in-plant printed 5,000 of the catalogs for its client, SHARP Literacy Inc., which is dedicated to teaching students to read and write effectively and build their vocabularies through the use of visual arts and art history.

The intent of the publication was to eliminate racism by helping children better understand their heritage and the varied cultures that make up the Milwaukee community. The book featured personal stories written by children about their cultural heritage and their family history. It was illustrated with their drawings and photos of bead collages and murals they had created.

"There was a lot of work done with these kids to put this all together, so they really wanted to display it well in a very nice piece," says Patterson.

Backgrounds Prove a Challenge

Because the job clearly meant so much to SHARP, Patterson felt a responsibility to do an excellent job on the piece. What made the catalog's design especially difficult to print, though, were the various backgrounds, all of which crossed over onto adjoining pages.

"We wanted to make sure that whoever ran the first signature of that particular background saved a copy...by the pressroom control board, so that whoever would put the next signatures on with that same background had a sample...to maintain consistency," Patterson says.

The plan worked. Press operators Paul Gulczynski, Jack Prondzinski and Tom Nolan took extreme care to match colors exactly. This was especially challenging because the job hit the pressroom at the same time as another large offset job.

"We had the press rolling for almost seven days in a row of non-stop production," Patterson recalls.

The catalog took four days to print, Patterson says, and was finished on a Saturday. It required 120 plates, all of which were made by Digital Prepress Technician Don Becker on the shop's chemistry-free Agfa Acento thermal computer-to-plate system using Azura plates. An Epson Stylus Pro 9800 provided the proofs.

The catalogs were perfect bound, a task the in-plant outsourced to H.R. Bindery in Milwaukee. The cover was laminated by Great Midwest Laminating.

When it came time to pick samples to enter into the In-Print contest, the in-plant assembled a team for the job.

"We didn't have to look through a lot of these to find good samples," Patterson says.

Winning Best of Show is a definite feather in the cap for this 32-employee in-plant.

"There's a lot more credibility...once you get an award like this," says Patterson. IPG