| 51 T T Russell Fredric Printers offering personal service The company’s multi-skilled team enjoys the challenge and variety offered across a broad range of jobs, from personal stationery, such as wedding invitations, through to corporate branding, social media adverts and creating professional, visually appealing websites. Brackens Print REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT A lot has changed since Oamaru business Brackens Print & Signs was established in 1946 but the fundamentals are still the same, even in a digital world, according to director Paul Johnston. “It’s that personal service factor; customers can come in and sit down with our designers and go from an idea to the finished product. We aim to produce high-quality work using quality products. Every job going out the door has got to be the best or else a customer can easily go somewhere else in the future. Definitely customer service is a big part of what we try and do here.” Paul and his partner Kate Orr, a hairdresser, have owned the business since 2021, while Paul has a long history with the company having started when he left school in 1998. Brackens Print & Signs has a small but loyal workforce of five staff, of which three have been with the company for 20-plus years. Paul worked his way up from being a general hand to completing a sheet-fed printing apprenticeship, which involved working with a printer that produced the likes of invoicing books, brochures and magazines. The business has evolved over the years, from using traditional offset and letterpress printers, to offering digital printing including wide-format products and signage. Brackens Print & Signs’ modern day workhorses include two Fuji Xerox Versant 2100 and 3100 high-volume copiers, an Epsom Surecolor 1600mm-wide format printer, a Duplo slitter/cutter/ creaser that is ideal for business cards, and a Mutoh multi-purpose plotter cutter for vinyl lettering, decals and custom stickers. Altogether, this suite of machines is a powerhouse of digitally driven equipment that enables Brackens Print & Signs to offer its comprehensive range of products and services. The company’s multi-skilled team enjoys the challenge and variety offered across a broad range of jobs, from personal stationery, such as wedding invitations, through to corporate branding, social media adverts and creating professional, visually appealing websites. Also available are a wide range of ever-popular promotional products such as pens, drinkware, key rings, technology products, tools, bags and branded apparel for which Brackens Print & Signs has partnered with other companies, including the largest supplier of promotional products in Australasia, which is a New Zealand-based company. Brackens Print & Signs’ wide-format printer is capable of printing on many mediums for numerous applications. These include standard photo satin posters, plan printing, and pull-up banners for interior use, through to corflute panels, ACM (aluminium composite material), teardrop and wind- blade flags and eyelet banners for durable exterior use. Despite the impact and benefits of the digital revolution, Brackens Print & Signs continues to offer conventional letterpress printing “which is where printing all began”. The company still operates two Platen letterpress presses, although these days they are more restricted to envelopes and bags, along with being ideal for die-cutting to create custom shapes and designs for labels. In addition, offset printing provides very good results on larger jobs and is especially useful for producing carbonless books in duplicate, triplicate or quadruplicate. A big advantage of digital technology is the greater efficiency it creates in the turnaround of jobs, Paul says. “It’s probably just the time factor. When we used to print jobs it would be a week turnover easily and customers were aware of that. Now two or three days is the maximum for turnover; sometimes even same-day production is required.”
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