Preserving Hawaiian Culture
Kamehameha Schools Design & Production Services recently brought a Xerox Gold Award home to its Honolulu facility.
By Bob Neubauer
While winter sends snow and bitter cold across much of the country, Reid Silva and his crew at Kamehameha Schools, in Honolulu, live in a world without jackets, where eucalyptus trees grow in a lush valley visible through the windows in their in-plant.
But their location in the virtual paradise of Hawaii belies the hard work the nine employees at Design & Production Services handle every day. The three operators in the Digital Document Center (or DDC—part of Design & Production Services) churn out some 1.2 million copies a month of jobs designed by the department's four graphic designers, says Silva, manager of Design & Production Services.
Though they produce an assortment of color brochures, flyers, programs, booklets and catalogs, one of the in-plant's jobs recently brought it much acclaim when it was selected for a Gold award in the 2003 Printing Innovation with Xerox Imaging Awards.
The in-plant printed a series of illustrated educational books on its DocuColor 2045. Called the "Where I Live" series, the saddle-stitched books were designed to teach children in different parts of Hawaii about the area in which they live. One of the in-plant's designers, Robin Racoma, illustrated the books using photos of the different areas.
The books reflect the mission of Kamehameha Schools: to instill pride among native Hawaiian children in their culture, language, history and traditions. Back in the 1800s, this pride was slipping away due to the growing influence and domination of foreigners. Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last royal descendant of Kamehameha the Great, recognized this and bequeathed her estate for the creation of a school to educate people of Hawaiian ancestry. It was founded in 1887.
Today, Kamehameha Schools is the largest private landowner in Hawaii, enrolling about 5,500 students from preschool through grade 12 on its three main campuses and other locations. This also makes it the largest independent school in the United States.
In-plant Boosts Hawaiian Pride
Silva feels the in-plant plays an important role in furthering the mission of the school. Not only does it produce educational program brochures, curriculum materials, books and other items that help the school educate native Hawaiian children, it helps build the pride of those children with some of the products it prints.
"One of the ways that DPS is able to help instill pride among KS students is by providing a resource that can showcase who native Hawaiian children are and what they can do, through print," Silva explains. "One of the publications that DPS handles is the high school literary journal called Ho'okumu. This journal contains pictures of students' artwork and creative writing, both fiction and non-fiction. The circulation is 500, printed in full color and perfect bound."
When printing publications such as the "Where I Live" series, the in-plant staff's familiarity with Hawaiian culture, geography and flora plays a big part in ensuring the books are graphically accurate.
"For instance, accuracy in floral colors, skin tones and correct illustration of ethnicity are essential when creating a book of this type," Silva says. "If elements such as these are inaccurate, the books and the educators would not be successful."
Their knowledge of Hawaiian vocabulary helps the in-plant team catch spelling mistakes before they are printed. Though none of the in-plant's employees are fluent Hawaiian speakers, all of them have taken a Hawaiian language class.
"They make sure you can pronounce the Hawaiian words," Silva says of the school. And with some tongue-twisters like "lokomaika`i" (to share), "ho`omalimali" (to flatter), "po`okela" (excellence) and "halakahiki" (pineapple) in use, such a course is indeed helpful.
The in-plant's designers create a variety of projects, including programs, invitations, admissions brochures, posters, CD jackets and curriculum materials. The lone photographer on staff shoots school events both for inclusion in printed products and for the school's archives.
A few years ago the in-plant did away with its offset presses.
"The machines were old," explains Silva. "The machines just got run down."
In 1999, the DDC was overhauled and started life as an all-toner operation to handle the school's growing needs more cost-effectively. It now operates a Xerox 2045 with a Fiery 2000, a Xerox DocuTech 6135 with a DigiPath workstation, and Xerox 480 and 490 printers. The bindery includes a 10-bin Duplo 2000 collator/bookletmaker, another hand-fed bookletmaker, a Challenge 265 cutter and GBC punches for coil and comb binding.
Color printing makes up about 10 percent of the in-plant's work, Silva says, mostly for items like flyers, programs, brochures and book covers. The shop is producing increasingly more perfect-bound books, and though the binding is currently being done outside, Silva has his eye on C.P. Bourg's Digital Book Factory with its in-line perfect binder.
The shop is experimenting with converting hard-copy books to electronic format, then recording them onto CDs. Though the CD burning is currently done outside, Silva would like to bring that equipment in-house.
The in-plant has also found new work by reprinting small runs of jobs that were originally printed in large runs by outside printers. Silva obtains the files from the designers, updates them if necessary, and outputs additional copies on demand.
"It's way more cost-effective and efficient," he notes. "Administration loves it."
Speaking from his mountainside office, with its view down into the lush Kalihi valley, Silva says winters on Oahu can be rather rainy, though with temperatures averaging 72 degrees, it's not hard to take.
Silva got a taste of chilly weather in the fall when he ventured to Graph Expo in Chicago to accept his in-plant's Gold Award and to look at new equipment. But despite that tempting glimpse of big city life, Silva says he's not ready to trade Hawaii's rainy winters for the chilly temperatures of the mainland.
"I personally prefer warm winters," he remarks. "It's just a lot more comfortable for me."
