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C'mon
The other parents in the playground think I'm strange. When a new banner goes up they wonder why I'm pressing my nose against the vinyl. I can't help myself, I have to check the quality of print, substrate and finish.
Recently, two new banners have arrived. One is designed to encourage children to walk to school. In addition to the general message, the banner is personalised to include the name of the school: an ideal application for digital print. However, on closer inspection not all is well. Stand 10 meters away and the banner looks fine. Close in and the banding ruins the print for me.
Three things annoy me. Firstly, I'm sure the printing machine used for the job was capable of producing a band-free finish. Maybe it was a maintenance problem, maybe lack of operator training, maybe poor colour management, the list goes on. Secondly, I doubt the proof, if one was produced, would have included such banding. Finally, why did one of the blue chip, household names sponsoring the banner not question the finish.
The second new banner was promoting a voucher scheme. No banding on this job: excellent.
Unfortunately, there was one final disappointment. Whoever specified the eyelets for this outdoor application did a bad job. Firstly, they left a jagged edge on the reverse, not ideal for a school playground. Worse than that, not only were they not stainless, the plating was so thin rust started quickly forming. I had to chuckle as I watched the rust stains heading for the sponsors logos.
C'mon we can do better than this.
Jon Barrett
Editor
