Artisan Colour Celebrates 25 Years of Printing and Prepress Innovation
Artisan Colour, a highly diversified print provider in Scottsdale, AZ, is proud to celebrate 25 years of innovative commercial printing solutions. By placing an emphasis on color management, print technology and market trends over the years Artisan was afforded an opportunity to evolve for better than two decades. Locally, Ranking Arizona has named Artisan a top commercial printer several years running and the company’s work has earned multiple American Marketing Association Spectrum Awards , and PIA’s prestigious Benjamin Franklin award.
Founded originally as a high-end catalog color separator in 1998 by industry veterans Doug Bondon, Joe Vallone, and John Passante, Artisan Colour has adapted to meet the changing needs of brands over the last 25 years. The non-traditional print shop’s vast array of services now includes digital printing small-format and wide-format divisions, immersive image editing, photography & creative, promotional product sourcing along with warehousing and fulfillment operations. The organization also operates an ecommerce store dedicated to the production of museum quality fine art prints named ArtisanHD.
“Nothing stays the same in business - that’s the number one lesson I've learned over the past 25 years,” says Artisan Colour Co-Founder, President, and CEO, Doug Bondon. “It’s evolve or perish, so we strive to stay ahead of the curve becoming early adopters of new technology, and diversify our print services to fit market change.”
Artisan did just that in 2021, when they became the first printer in Arizona to install the state-of-the-art HP Indigo 7K Digital Press. The HP Indigo 7K quality not only rivals offset presses with metallic and white inks, it incorporates digital technology to personalize printing data and imagery. The new press has helped Artisan advance its variable data printing and direct mail capabilities, leading to the launch of EchoPoint, Artisan’s omnichannel marketing system which integrates direct mail campaigns with modern digital marketing tactics.
Another marketing area that Artisan is excited to expand is Web to Print on its OrderJet platform where customers have their own dedicated online storefront populated with branded products. Clients, including national franchises and corporations provide their managers direct access to an online portal where they can order their print collateral – from business cards and store signage to event promo items and point of purchase marketing materials – which Artisan ships directly to their doors.
“Print companies that aren’t keeping up by adding marketing elements are falling behind,” comments Aaron Kilby, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “By supporting our clients’ marketing efforts, we’re helping them expand their reach. We’re not just printers, we’re partners.”
Artisan Colour believes partnerships within the community are just as important as those with clients. During the COVID pandemic, Artisan pivoted production when they learned of protective gear shortages. The team quickly found PVC-type material and used their technology to manufacture face shields that were donated to local police departments, fire departments, the Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and other frontline workers. Supporting the community extends to helping those in need through donations to the Doctors Without Borders, Chrysalis Shelter, No Kid Hungry, and St. Mary’s Foodbank, to name a few.
Artisan has also been a proud partner and/or sponsor of local organizations and events, including AIGA Arizona Phoenix Design Week (PHXDW), TEDx at Grand Canyon University, Arizona Professional Photographers Association and Alice Cooper’s holiday charity fundraising event, “Christmas Pudding”.
With a nod to the past and an eye on the future, Mr. Bondon is optimistic about Artisan Colour’s evolution into marketing. Bondon credits their entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to adapt as the key driver to reinvent and reinvest into Artisan’s current dynamic operation.
“We’re very excited looking at Artisan’s future. We’ve got a great company, wonderful customers and fabulous employees. We’re looking forward to doing more good things throughout 2023 and beyond.” - Doug Bondon, Co-Founder, President, and CEO
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions.
