Product Tips – News

​Easy Signs has been selected by HP to be the first company in the Southern Hemisphere to install their new technology R2000 Latex flatbed printer! As Australia’s most innovative signage manufacturer and winner of the 2017 SmartCompany Top Innovator Award, Easy Signs was keen to develop a close partnership with HP and to be at the forefront of this exciting new printing technology.

We explain why Easy Signs chose this new technology and what the launch of the HP Latex R2000 flatbed printer means to the Australian printing industry.

Easy Signs had been selected by HP to be the first company in the Southern Hemisphere to install their new technology R2000 Latex flatbed printer! As Australia’s most innovative signage manufacturer and winner of the 2017 SmartCompany Top Innovator Award, Easy Signs was keen to develop a close partnership with HP and to be at the forefront of this exciting new printing technology.

We explain why Easy Signs chose this technology, and what the HP Latex R2000 flatbed printer means for the Australian printing industry.

Check out this video showing the new HP Latex R2000 flatbed printer!

Never heard about flatbed printers using the Latex printing technology?

That is because they were not invented yet! The world’s printing industry has been excitedly waiting for HP to develop their new R2000 flatbed printer which uses their world leading Latex printing technology. HP had perfected their Latex printing with their flexible media printers over the last few years and has been working hard to convert that Latex technology to a flatbed rigid material printer. HP have just announced that they have made this leap forward by releasing this new technology R2000 printer at FESPA in Berlin.

Easy Signs have been silently working behind the scenes with HP to commission this new printer and we can also now announce that the HP2000 Latex flatbed printer is in production in our Smeaton Grange factory - the first of it’s kind in the Southern Hemisphere! This new printer complements our existing range of HP3200 Latex printers which have been printing our flexible substrates for the last few years - with amazing print quality results.

How is the new HP Latex printing technology different?

The HP Latex R2000 printer will provide Easy Signs with the following benefits:

• Print Quality: HP has once again reinvented their printhead technology to reproduce colours with depth, sharp text and beautiful skin tones. The printheads utilise 1200 nozzles per inch to produce images and graphics that are second to none.
• Increased vibrancy of colours: The R2000 includes a 6 colour printing process to provide richer colours. The HP Latex inks are water based and when cured will have a similar finish to the material that they are printed on. This means that our glossy European Screenboard will result in a glossy finish of the ink. The result is a sign or point of sale display that has deep blacks and vibrant colours.
• Increased Weather and Scratch Resistance: All UV inks when exposed to water for a long period of time will begin to soften while they are wet. This increases the possibility of scratching signs that are exposed to these conditions. The HP Latex inks are printed with an overcoat to increase the scratch resistance and, when cured, forms a surface that offers unparalleled resistance to both weather and scratching.
• Environmentally Friendly: It is not just us telling you that the HP Latex inks are better for the environment. Third party testing against independant standards has the ink accredited with:

1. UL ECOLOGO® Certified HP Latex Inks meet a range of stringent human health criteria. The first ink large format digital printing ink manufacturer to receive this accreditation.
2. HP Latex Inks are GREENGUARD GOLD Certified to standards for low chemical emissions into indoor air.
3. Prints produced using HP Latex Inks on some medias meet AgBB criteria for health-related evaluation of VOC emissions of indoor building products. These prints are rated A+ (very low-emission) according to the Émissions dans l’air intérieur statement on the level of emission of volatile substances in indoor air posing health risks if inhaled.

Why was Easy Signs selected to install the first of these printers in the Southern Hemisphere?

Easy Signs is recognised as the most innovative signage manufacturer in Australia. Over the last few years Easy Signs has grown to become Australia’s leading online signage manufacturer - by embracing the newest printing technologies, providing the fastest production times in the country, driving costs down and setting the highest standard for customer service in the signage industry. This culminated in Easy Signs winning the Top Innovator Award at the 2017 SmartCompany Smart50 Awards - an award judged by an independent panel of industry experts. This is an honour we are extremely proud of and one of the reasons that HP decided to select Easy Signs as the first in our region to install their new technology printer.

Will we be offering white ink printing?

You may have seen on the HP video that the R2000 flatbed printer can also print with white ink. At this stage Easy Signs are not offering white ink printing as an option.

How can you see the quality printed by this new technology?

You can order your signage quickly and easily online through the Easy Signs web site or contact our Customer Happiness Team on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 1300 972 077.

Designing a company logo is not a simple process. Apart from the colours, font, size and content, your design must include something that appeals to the public on a subconscious level. A logo should ultimately be able to convey a message about your business to the public without actually stating what the message is. To the general public, a logo represents a brand that they instantly recognise and can associate with. For instance, the logo ‘Harley Davidson’ doesn’t actually state that the company manufactures motorbikes, yet that is what the public instantly associate the logo with because of the strength of the branding.

To a company, a logo means a whole lot more: it represents not only the company’s ideology but can also be a symbol of the strength of a company’s branding. To a graphic designer, the challenge lies in producing a logo that expresses this.

Statistics show that the logo design of 94% of the world’s most famous brands do not indicate what product they are actually selling. What that tells us is that a company does not have to rely on the product they are selling, but have used their name to create a reliable brand, and a brand that is consistent with its products gains a good reputation. Logos fall into three different categories: iconic, illustrative and typographic. Iconic logo’s feature both wording and a picture, while typographic designs use only words and are favoured by more traditional or conservative companies. Illustrative logo’s are created by using only a picture or graphics ,so need to be extremely clear and are also one of the hardest types of logos to get right. There are a few general rules to remember when designing a logo for any company.

• Make sure the lettering and typeface are clear and easy distinguished.
• Keep the design simple but memorable. Unique designs can be effective if they aren’t too complex.
• A logo must suit the company. It should be able to grow with the company, so that in 50 years’ time the logo is still appropriate.
• It must be able to be applied to a wide range of mediums.
• Keep the logo colour limited. Logos with too much colour only make the designs too busy, which leads to confusion.
• Never use clip-art or base logo’s on existing designs. Apart from this being illegal, it conveys poor work ethics.
• Ensure the finished product is balanced. This means that it has a good combination of graphics or wording with good contrasting colours.

It is important that you do a bit of research before starting the design. Look at competitors from the same field and work out what makes their logo so effective. By comparing the different logos, you can be sure to design a logo that is unique to the field – which is a sure way to stand out from the crowd. If possible, find a symbol that represents the company on another level. The Nike ‘swoosh’ symbol is a perfect example – apart from being a simple and memorable design, it also has mythological ties as it was created to reflect the wing of Victory, the Greek Goddess.

Never incorporate a by-line within the logo, and try to avoid using big words. Interestingly enough, over 52% of the world’s most recognisable logos use 6 letters or less in their design, while a further 62% of these restrict the design to one word only. Another interesting fact is that 52% of top recognised brands use a solid background, while 40% use blue as the dominant colour. But the most important thing to remember is to make sure the logo suits the company it is designed for.

Is it time to print your logo on some signage? If so, check out Easy Signs huge range of signage products and start working on how you can market your business using your new logo!

We have two printing options for our Teardrop Banners, Bow Banners & Rectangular Flags.

Option 1: Single Sided, Mirror Reverse For this option, we print onto 1 piece of fabric that allows the ink to bleed through and show on the reverse side. This results in the back of the fabric displaying the printed artwork in a mirror image - with the colours being less vibrant.

Below is an image that shows exactly how this looks:

Option 2: Double Sided Blockout This option is slightly more expensive, as we print two separate pieces of blockout fabric from two different files, one for the front of the banner and one for the back. Our Signweave™ Blockout Fabric, that our double sided flags are printed on, ensures that the printed image on the reverse side will not show through. Both pieces of fabric are then carefully sewn together to create the double sided flag. This results in having the image on the banner looking the correct way from both sides. No matter which way the wind is blowing your design will always be seen the correct way.

Below is an image that shows exactly how this looks:

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Get an instant online price (including bulk discounts) on a Bow Banner, Teardrop Banner or Rectangular Flag now.

If you are not sure of the best printing method for your application, please contact our Customer Happiness Team on 1300 972 077!