Pyramid Visuals

When it comes to Vehicle Graphics, Pyramid has the Edge.

In 1993, a group of young designers decided that they could make vehicle graphics even more effective by taking advantage of emerging vinyl printing technology. With the help of a business partner they set up a state-of-the-art sign company based around the newly launched Gerber Edge colour printing and contour cutting system. Just six years later, Pyramid Visuals is a prosperous company enjoying a nationwide reputation for its fleet vehicle identification and promotional branding work.

Pyramid Visuals has its headquarters in Woking, Surrey, however, examples of the company’s creativity can be seen all over the UK.

In addition to a broad base of clients in the South East, it provides a comprehensive sign design, production and fitting service for a number of nationwide organisations, including Securicor, Omega, Toyota (GB) Ltd and Clancy Dowcra Ltd.

Justin Murray, Sales Manager and one of the founders of Pyramid Visuals Ltd believes that the company’s success is born out of strong design and project management skills backed up by a versatile and reliable production system. Pyramid Visuals was one of the first companies in the country to take delivery of a Gerber Edge cutting system from Spandex PLC, Gerbers European distributor and its purchase enabled Pyramid Visuals to print vibrant spot and process colour designs direct on to the everyday self-adhesive vinyl used in the production of signs and vehicle graphics. The printed images require no lamination and offer an outdoor life of up to five years. A Gerbers slave plotter provided highly accurate contour cutting for the output.

The advent of this new thermal transfer printing technology opened the door to all kinds of marketing and advertising opportunities for Pyramid Visuals. In addition to producing fleet vehicle liveries for corporate customers, the company also works closely with a number of marketing, advertising and promotion companies to create exciting promotional branding on vehicles and it has produced some absolutely stunning full-colour work with the Gerber Edge. The superb graphics produced for the Taylor Made promotional vehicle guaranteed that this golfing supplies business received plenty of attention during the recent PGA European Tour. Pyramid Visuals also used the Gerber Edge to ensure that the UK launch of the new Toyota HI-Ace power van packed a really big punch.

However, as Pyramid’s sales manager was quick to point out, promotional branding is just one facet of the company’s signmaking activities. Pyramid Visuals is equally adept at tackling conventional vehicle liveries, general work, even short run labels with its Gerber Edge system.

Although Pyramid Visuals offers a UK wide onsite vehicle fitting service (it has recently completed a 700 vehicle contract for Securicor Omega), some of its clients find the DIY approach to fitting vehicle graphics to be a more convenient solution in certain instances. Toyota (GB) Ltd provides its 230 or so UK distributors with “Toyota Parts Express” graphics kits, (which features spot colours, drop shadows and fades), which can be produced as and when they’re needed and customised to suit different vehicle colours. Using ordinary cut vinyl production methods, design elements like drop shadows would have to be produced, weeded, applied and removed separately.

According to Justin Murray, Sales Manager and one of the founders of Pyramid Visuals, producing the graphics kits with the Gerber Edge system saves time and money for both the company and its clients “printing the design elements and contour cutting the graphics in one piece saves time when it comes to weeding and makes it much easier for individuals with little or no vinyl experience to apply and subsequently remove the graphics.”

So what does the future hold for Pyramid Visuals? Well, the company’s commitment to high quality design, workmanship and customer services continues to attract new clients and to ensure that it retains its ability to react swiftly to the needs of its increasing number of customers, it has plans to expand its production facilities, possibly with the addition of a new Gerber Edge 2. Although the existing Gerber Edge is still going strong, investing in a Gerber Edge 2 would increase productivity significantly. According to Spandex, the Gerber Edge 2 prints vinyl graphics up to three times faster that the existing system and offers even higher print resolutions too. By investing in the latest technology and offering the highest levels of customers service, Pyramid Visuals sees no reason why it can’t maintain its position at the forefront of vehicle graphics and promotional branding in the UK.

Posted by paul on 10/07/2005 at 12:47 under News.
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Scitex Press May 2003

Pyramid Launches New Services with the Scitex XLjet

The January/February www.glaucoma.org.il of popular trade magazine Signs, Screen & Digital Printer, featured Scitex Vision customer Pyramid Digital, of Surrey, England. Describing Pyramid’s transition from the general sign-maker to all round graphics provider, the article highlighted the company’s “bold” step in moving straight up to a Scitex Vision XLjet 3 from its first non-sign-making purchase, Gerber Edge.

Scitex

Scitex Vision Digital Printer

Pyramid’s chairman John Fidler said that “We felt that rather than purchasing an interim level printer it would, in the longer run, make more commercial sense to acquire a super-wide, high production machine that was versatile enough to accommodate anything from posters to billboards and everything in between”.

According to Signs, Screen & Digital Printer, the Scitex Vision XLjet 3 emerged as the clear favourite of all options on offer, due to the vibrancy and quality of the colour reproduction. The fact that, with a printing speed of 75 sqm/hr, it is one of the fastest printers in its class, and the Scitex Visions XLjet’s ability to switch effortlessly between four- and six colour printing onto a wide variety of different substrates were also important considerations.

Posted by paul on 09/05/2005 at 09:13 under digital print, large format print, scitex.
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The latest yogaplazasul.com from the decade-old Pyramid group is Pyramid Digital. Launched in November of last year, the company moved into new premises in Byfleet with its two UK installation firsts – the Scitex XLjet 3m grand-format inkjet printer and the superior finishing capabilities of the Miller Weldmaster 112 Sign & Billboard finishing system.

For most companies getting to grips with the machines would have been the undeniable first priority. For Pyramid, explains director Justin Murray, the first problem for the new enterprise was the building. Untouched for forty years, the rebuilding and restoration work was far greater than anyone had anticipated.

Indeed on the company’s press open day last year, there were still some hidden no go areas and the definite whiff of fresh paint!

The Pyramid group was established by Murray ten years ago, eventually establishing itself in vehicle and fleet graphics. The move into wide-format digital was a natural evolution for the company. “We felt that digital was and is still an expanding market, and therefore could accommodate yet another player.” says Murray.

“David Watson from Scitex Vision is a great salesman and a really good guy,” says Murray, “and after comparing print quality at the end of the day he convinced us to go with the XLjet. Being the first in the UK was, we believe an advantage, also the fact that it prints virtually on any media and the price was competitive.”

In addition, Pyramid was turned onto Scitex because, says Murray, of its attitude to environmental issues for the future, for example its work with water-based inks. .

Pyramid has a staff of 13 and mostly everyone can interchange jobs, if the need arises. The company works for trade clients outputting in the main onto PVC and between 20-25 percent of work on self-adhesive and 15 percent on fabrics. Pyramid is working very closely with Spandex and has also formed a close association with Avery.

Bread and butter work includes, as you would expect, banners, vehicle wraps, curtains and building wraps. Going big on digital represented not one, but two learning curves that had to be dealt with simultaneously. Not only did Pyramid have to get to grips with the XLjet, but it had to chart a course in an area of the industry it wasn’t very familiar with – which as Murray says, turned out to be harder than anticipated.

What Murray also learned in the beginning that wastage of materials wasn’t in the 5-7 percent zone but in the region of 25-30 percent. In addition, he is keen to point out that more education is required in the migration of solvents. “Ideally,” he says, “you need a good 24 hour drying time when printing on self adhesive vinyl with solvents and to help speed this process up we have fabricated the UK’s first solvent migration cabinet to accelerate the migration.”

To compliment its grand-format print output, Pyramid went straight in for the kill purchasing an open-frame Miller Weldmaster 112 finishing system, enabling it to offer specialist finishing to other grand-format providers. Miller Weldmaster, recognised as the leader in the development in hot air sealing technology, uses a unique combination of heat pressure and speed along with exclusive vacuum holding technology to create durable and inconspicuous seals and seams very quickly.

Posted by paul on 16/07/2003 at 15:05 under reviews.
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