Thank you to all of our amazing clients from everyone at Direction. We appreciate the opportunity to work with you and we look forward to 2022!

All the best for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Halloween to all our amazing clients!

From the whole Direction Team, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for a happy and safe New Year!

From all of us at Direction, wishing you an amazing Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Halloween from Direction Printing!

The last few years have shown an ongoing movement within the print industry to become more environmentally friendly. There are many forestry programs that provide jobs as well as a supply of raw materials for printed materials. A huge amount of recycling to offer renewable materials, but there is also an energy component to creating those materials. The largest challenge is to come up with sustainable materials.

So what is the right step for your company? While most larger companies have already made the switch to offer greener solutions, it’s never too late to start! Today’s consumer is much more environmentally aware and wants to make sure that they’re doing their part as much as possible. Making decisions to support companies that support recycled materials or paper from sustainable sources is a factor these days. Budgets are of course a factor as well, but there are some options that do not break the bank.

FSC stocks are a simple option that allow businesses to help with the sustainable forestry movement. FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is an international non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established in 1993 to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. The FSC does this by setting standards on forest products, along with certifying and labeling them as eco-friendly (FSC information taken from Wikipedia). What that means is that by printing with FSC regulated stocks, you’re supporting their efforts to manage forests in a way that makes them sustainable.

Another option is choosing stocks with a higher than average recycled content. Most stocks have SOME % of recycled materials, but there are specific stocks that have 50% or 100% post-consumer recycled materials used in the manufacturing of that particular stock. Choosing this option is sometimes more expensive, but you’re helping keep the paper/pulp from recycling programs circulating with a new life.

There are great solutions such as using hemp products as well. Which could be another article all together. But to start, hemp is 7-8 x’s more recyclable than paper. Paper is only 3x’s recyclable. Hemp paper does not require bleaching, which means less chemicals, it is stronger thus longer lasting and 1 acre of hemp produces as much as 4 acres of trees yet only takes 100 days to grow to a stage where its fibers can be used.

Ink is another thing that people don’t usually think of as having environmental impact. Many printing companies (Direction Printing included) have made the switch to using inks, coatings, and chemicals used in print production that are vegetable-based wherever possible. Traditional inks that are petroleum based which can be much more harmful to the environment. They can eventually lead to contamination of the local groundwater and soil.

Vegetable-based alternatives are typically better for the environment and have less of an impact during the recycling process as they tend to be removed easier during the washing processes. But don’t let the fact that they’re vegetable-based make you think that they’re inferior, they still produce results as good as standard inks.

Overall production processes are also becoming more efficient as each generation of equipment is engineered and re-engineered. While there is obviously always going to be power needed for any type of manufacturing process, printing included, the simple changes/switches in lighting and power saving equipment are helping to reduce the energy used per project.

If you have a mandate or project that you’d like to have a quote on for more environmentally-friendly options, we’d be happy to discuss.

The “Wow” Factor

Let us help you create a unique wall. We can work from existing graphics or create something new to compliment your space. The installation process is simple, only a few hours and then you can enjoy the “wow” factor that a full wall graphic brings to an office, retail or even residential location.

Contact us today to discuss further!

Merry Christmas from Direction Printing!

From the entire Direction Team we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here's a tasty recipe for gingerbread cookies to bring you some holiday cheer!

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups flour
½ cup white sugar
½ cup butter softened
½ cup molasses
1 egg
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp nutmeg (grated or ground)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Directions: (makes approx. 24 cookies)
Note - Mix all dry ingredients together first and then add the wet (egg, butter and molasses).  
In a large bowl with mixer at low beat all ingredients together.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough in bowl for 1 hr.

Preheat oven to 350°
Grease cookie sheet with butter
Lightly flour your working surface and your rolling pin…take the dough out (divide dough in half) use first half and then the remaining half.  Roll dough out to be 3/16” thick and punch out your desired shapes and place cookies ½ inch apart on a baking sheet. 

Bake for 10 minutes, 12 minutes max. Cool cookies on cookie rack then decorate as desired. 

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving from Direction Printing!

Hoping you enjoy the first over-eating holiday of the season and on that note here are some of the things that our team posted on our chalk wall when asked, “What are you most looking forward to eating at Thanksgiving?”

- Garlic mashed potatoes with gravy (can't go wrong there unless you're a vampire)

- Turkey - dark meat (yes!)

- Brussel sprouts (guess to each their own...)

- Yorkshire Pudding (nice!)

- A WHOLE pumpkin pie (that's a winning idea!!)

What are YOU most looking forward to eating at Thanksgiving?

And to our American clients/visitors, guess same question, but you will have to think ahead 1.5 months!

Welcome to another Printing 101 blog entry - Holding it all Together – Bindery Basics

Ever wonder what the best way to bind your project is? There are several different options and it really depends on the type of project/preference and the page count. Here is a breakdown of the most common types of bindery for easy reference and comparison.

Saddle Stitching (Stapling) – This is where there are 2 staples put through the stock to hold pages together (sometimes 3, if needed). Great for lower qty page count projects.

Pro’s: Inexpensive and fast to produce, project lays relatively flat when open to a page (not so much for higher page counts), adds minimal weight so especially good for mailing, easy to insert into envelopes

Con’s: Limited page count

Detailed Spec’s: Minimum 8 pages up to 76-80 pages based on 80lb text weight (increments of 4 pages needed for this bindery type). The max. page count is based on best performance - Add’l pages are also possible, but they cause spine creep (see previous blog entry) and the force of the stitching can sometimes create issues of strain on the cover and the center panels.

Perfect Bindery – This is essentially where all your pages are glued together along with a cover that creates a spine for your project.

Pro’s: Can accommodate a lot of pages and creates a very professional finished look, easy to insert into envelopes, spine allows for design/text when on a shelf

Con’s: Takes a bit of extra time to produce (1-3 days), projects do not lay flat when open to a page

Detailed Spec’s: Minimum 48-52 pages up to 310-330 pages based on 80lb text weight (increments of 2 pages okay for this bindery type). There is standard glue available for shorter term catalogues and a PUR glue, which is much stronger for longer term use catalogues to help insure the pages don’t fall out easily with repeated use.

Plastic Coil (Plastikoil) Bindery – This is where a series of holes are punched through collated sheets and then a plastic coil is threaded throughout them and bent on the edges to close up bindery. Available in many colours

Pro’s: Can accommodate a lot of pages, colourful options available, project lays flat when open to a page

Con’s: Takes a bit of extra time to produce (1-3 days, depending on qty)

Detailed Spec’s: Minimum 20 pages up to 290-310 pages based on 80lb text weight (increments of 2 pages okay for this bindery type). Standard colours are black and white, but there lots of other colours are available (some are special order). A bonus is that this bindery type could be opened up if typos are found on a page so that it can be swapped out (vs. having to reprint the whole project.)

Double Loop Wire (Wire-o) Bindery – This is also a method where a series of holes are punched into collated pages and then a metal double loop wire is put in and then pressure closed (squeezed).

Pro’s: Can accommodate a lot of pages, project lays flat when open to a page,

Con’s: Takes a bit of extra time to produce (1-3 days, depending on qty)

Detailed Spec’s: Minimum 20 pages up to 240-260 pages based on 80lb text weight (increments of 2 pages okay for this bindery type). Black and dull gunmetal or gloss metal are standard. Other colours available, but will be special order. As with plastic coil, this bindery type could be opened up if typos are found on a page so that it can be swapped out (vs. having to reprint the whole project.)

Here are some add’l types of bindery available:

Corner Stitching (stapled corner) – This is just as it sounds, a staple put into the top corner of a project to hold the pages together. Some projects are done this way for economy or simplicity.

Case binding (hardcover) – This is for high-end books or catalogues meant to be kept around for a long-term use. Expensive when compared to other options.

Loop stitching – This is sort of a version of saddle stitching that is designed to include a handy loop so that you can put your project into a standard binder (vs. having to do 3-hole drilling).

Plastic Comb (Cerlox) – While similar to double loop wire (Wire-o) this type of inexpensive binding is most common in copy shops or educational institutions. Simple to be put together but tends to come apart after a lot of use (as it’s just tension on the loop of plastic and nothing is permanently attached).

Feel free to contact us if you’d like to know more about different bindery options and what might work best for your project. We’d be more than happy to provide a sample for your review as well!

"27 April, Icograda's anniversary, was designated World Graphics Day in 1995. It is an opportunity to recognise communication design and its role in the world.

Design shapes our world in every way, affecting our understandings, opinions, actions and decisions. Design determines the impact of information, whether it be through colour, form, or type, including the smallest street sign, the websites we browse, the products we purchase, or the books we read." - ico-d.org

http://www.ico-d.org/connect/features/post/295.php for full article

We at Direction want to celebrate how design impacts our lives from the packaging that helps you identify ingredients and nutritional information in your food, the signage that guides you on your way to work or even the conundrum created when trying to choose which mustache t-shirt to buy!

Hoping everyone can spend 5 seconds thinking about how much design effects their lives on a daily basis!

Cheers to all the graphic artists out there working hard!

It’s that time of year – egg nog, jellied salad, ugly sweaters…

We always look forward to working with you, but at Christmas we like to take some time to spend with family. So, it will be regular business until Fri Dec 22nd - then closed the week of Christmas – reopening Tues Jan 2nd. We’ll be back refreshed, 5lbs heavier and ready to take on the New Year.

From the entire Direction Team - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hello! Welcome to the new directionprinting.com – Grab a coffee and stay a while...

We have worked to incorporate more content about who we are, what we do and more importantly what we can do for you and your business! Our new site obviously lets you read all about our company and the services we offer, but we’ve now added additional resources and specials that will be updated regularly, so check back to see what the current deals are.

We’ve also added a blog where we will post what’s new at Direction, explain a print term or process to expand your print knowledge or just report in on something new and exciting within printing. Or a killer chili recipe, you never know what will pop up…

Thanks to all our current clients for choosing Direction and we look forward to meeting some new faces and showing you The Direction Difference!