Cookbook Takes Top Prize

EVEN THOUGH his in-plant won an impressive 10 awards in this year’s In-Print contest, Rodney Brown was not prepared to hear his shop’s name called out as the Best of Show winner during the recent awards ceremony.

“I was totally surprised,” says Brown, manager of the Graphic Communications Center at the University of Delaware. “It just gets harder every year because of the quality that all the rest of the in-plants are putting out.”

The piece that caught the judges’ attention was a case-bound 160-page cookbook featuring recipes from Vita Nova, the University of Delaware’s student-run restaurant, and illustrated with color photos of the succulent dishes. The in-plant printed 2,000 of the books, entitled “Taste of Class,” for the Creative Services Group. They were given to university donors and sold in the book store.

This was the 21-employee in-plant’s second Best of Show award, a testament to the staff’s strong focus on quality. Making this job more challenging than usual were its numerous full-page bleeds and solids, as well as an above-average number of pages. Also, there was a tight deadline.

“It was a very quick turnaround on the piece,” affirms Brown.

Press operators Paul Fahringer and Vernon Foraker ran the job over four shifts, which presented the additional challenge of keeping color consistent. Their experience paid off.

Putting It All Together

The cookbook was designed and edited by Molly Chappell, using photographs by John Cox. Once it arrived in the in-plant, it was imposed by Becky Ramos, who was working alone due to a staff shortage. After the client approved the Kodak Matchprint proofs, Dan Slaten imaged the plates on the shop’s Fuji Dart Luxel T6000 platesetter using stochastic screening. Plates were loaded onto the five-color 20x28˝ Komori press by Fahringer and Foraker, who produced 12-page signatures on 100-lb. coated stock.

To handle the case binding, using PUR adhesive, Brown sent the signatures to Advantage Bookbinding, in Baltimore.

Creative Services was very pleased with the cookbook, as was anyone who received one, no doubt. The mouth-watering photos of dishes like “Roasted Quail Marinated with Molasses and Ginger” and “Grilled Tomato and Onion Napoleon with Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Pesto” are so clear and colorful they seem ready to eat.

Brown is proud of the hard work his staff put into this book.

“It really tested out their years of experience,” he says.

The university’s public relations department plans to salute the in-plant’s accomplishments in an article. Meanwhile, the two Best of Show trophies along with all the Graphic Communications Center’s awards are on display in its front office, so visitors can quickly see that the in-plant has a reputation for quality printing. IPG