//Andy Graham, Technicolor dreamer, has new ideas about measuring success.

Picasso famously said, “Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.” When Andy Graham looks at Portland he asks: “Why not?”  Andy Graham wants 10,000 creative people to move to Portland in the next five years. He wants a creative economy to flourish, and for arts and culture to be at the center of the city’s identity. If this happens, Graham says, then Portland—and Maine in general—will be a more joyful place. Why not? //  read more here: themainemag.com or www.themainemag.com

Here are a few pictures of our work taken by USAID during The First Lady, Michelle Obama’s visit to the USAID headquarters on May 5th.  Her entire speech can be found here.

Ask us today how we can provide large format fabric for your next event.

Our Sustainability Vision:
Portland Color strives to offer environmentally preferable options to our clients and to continuously discover the most sustainable processes and materials technologically available. Portland Color evaluates our printing projects to reduce our environmental impacts. We look at materials, product manufacture, distribution, use, and waste. We have implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS) to improve the environmental aspects and impacts of our operations to ensure that our customers receive high quality printing that has a minimal impact on the environment.

Our Sustainability Mission
Portland Color is committed to being a leader in environmentally sound practice in our industry. We will continually explore and implement improved designs, products, and processes to reduce our environmental impact. By so doing, we will benefit our company, clients, vendors, our community, nation, and our world.

Speaking of Home

Congo Women Exhibit

Global Shop Booth, Fleetwood Fixtures

At Portland Color, we print up to 10′ wide on most of our stock fabrics – which also meet the strict fire ratings in all US States and abroad. In most cases our fabrics are made from recycled content and/or can be recycled.  Fabric imagery and branding makes a ton of sense!  We have several hanging and framing systems available in stock or available within 3 shipping days (www.portlandcolor.usvisuals.com).

We also can work with you on larger installations that require engineering a solution to fit your needs.  I highly recommend you consider fabric for you next large format imaging project.  Give us a call today to discuss your needs. Read more about Dye Sub Fabric Printing here.

Large Format Dye Sublimation Printing.

You can also find the following capabilities here at Portland Color.  Direct To Substrate or DTS UV Printing, Lightjet Processing, HP Latex Printing, Wallpaper and Wallcovering Digital Imaging.

]]> http://portlandcolor.com/archives/789/feed 0 http://portlandcolor.com/archives/797 http://portlandcolor.com/archives/797#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:16:12 +0000 Steve http://portlandcolor.com/?p=797 On November 27th 2009, PUMA, global sportlifestyle brand  debuted a unique new retail concept with the opening of their second Chicago store, located in the highly-anticipated Chicago State Street development.  Portland Color produced and installed several wall covering components using our UV and HP Latex printers.  We also performed the installation for this location as part of our enhanced retail installation services.

Located at the corner of North State and Randolph Streets, the two-floor, 8,000 square-foot space is dominated on two sides by towering windows that overlook Chicago’s bustling downtown. Structurally, a glass elevator and an impressive central staircase provide focal points for the space. PUMA also utilized environmentally-conscious building materials whenever possible, including low-VOC paint, PVC-free fixtures, and drywall made from recyclable materials, along with a green energy-management system.

Here is a video of the launch – courtesy of PUMA and Worthington Films .  Enjoy!

Bloomingdale’s is partnering with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) through April to celebrate Earth Month. The partnership will be executed through various in-store and online events, visual elements, loyalty programs, special philanthropic merchandise and marketing materials.  Portland Color was awarded the print campaign creating in-store visual elements using Craft Paper and Earthboard.  A real green approach that was embraced by Visual Directors nationwide.

“Bloomingdale’s is committed to charitable giving and we are proud to be raising funds and awareness on behalf of the NRDC,” said Anne Keating, senior vice president of public relations & corporate philanthropy at Bloomingdale’s. “They have tackled the most serious environmental threats of our generation, and emerged with innovative, enforceable solutions making them a perfect partner for this cause.”

Bloomingdale’s will be creating Little Green Boutiques in stores across the country, featuring exclusive merchandise such as a green water bottle, reusable tote bag and sustainable umbrella. A portion of the proceeds of every item in the shops benefits the NRDC, including 10% of the proceeds from the sale of the Little Green Card, an electronic gift card that can be purchased at any denomination. As an added surprise, shoppers will be treated to a special matchbook seed packet takeaway at registers as a reminder to take care and give back to our environment. Green merchandise and gift cards will also be available online at www.bloomingdales.com.

In addition, Bloomingdale’s ensures that shoppers across the country will be stimulated with green animation this month. The NRDC film, “Acid Test, ” narrated by Sigourney Weaver, coming attractions from Disneynature’s film “Oceans,” and celebrity testimonials on how to green your life with easy steps from the NRDC will be playing at our “Good Deeds” walls throughout store locations. Shoppers will have the opportunity to obtain tickets to special screenings for “Oceans” through special in-store and online promotions.

During the much-anticipated “Friends & Family” festivities, green certificates will be handed out to shoppers who use their Bloomingdale’s credit card. The certificates will encourage customers to come back during the month of April to celebrate the environment with Bloomingdale’s and redeem their gift with purchase, spotlighting “Simple Steps,” an initiative of the NRDC consisting of easy, realistic tips that can make a real difference, whether a person has a minute, a morning, or a month.

Green is the new black for designers at Bloomingdale’s. Rogan Gregory, of Loomstate, and Rob McKinley, co-owner of the Surf Lodge in Montauk, NY, collaborate to launch a sustainable surf collection exclusively sold at Bloomingdale’s, proceeds from the collection will benefit the Surfrider Foundation. Online, the retailer will host a contest with famed handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff. Entrants will design a unique reusable tote bag by logging onto www.bloomingdales.com/design and submissions will be whittled down to 50 favorites based on user votes. A panel of style experts from Bloomingdale’s and Rebecca Minkoff will select a grand prize winner who will receive a $3,000 shopping spree at the upscale department store and whose winning design will be sold exclusively at bloomingdales.com. The entrant with the most votes can also win $1,000 shopping spree!

Lastly, in an ongoing effort, Bloomingdale’s does its part to reduce their carbon footprint with the completion of the first installment of solar power rooftop panels in the Bergen County, NJ store; additional installments to roll out in other stores over time.

The Environmental Innovation Awards recognize companies that are making real and concrete contributions to innovation, implementation, and communication of environmental solutions. Five awards will be presented to industry leaders who have developed environmental solutions within the design, production, and delivery value chain for printed graphic communications.

So what did we win?

Environmental Sustainability and Your Processes award, which recognizes a company that is implementing environmentally sensitive processes.  Hats off to Paul Glynn our VP of Operations and the team at Portland Color for their dedication to sustainable practices and for helping Portland Color become the very best place to work.

Seeing Portland – 1970 to 1984

Photographs of a pre-technological, pre-gentrified place

Portland in the 1970s was a city on the brink of being reborn. Nestled between the misguided urban renewal of the 1960s and the boom years of the later 1980s it was a time of gestation and redefinition. A surprising number of young and talented photographers came of age using the city as subject matter for their creative explorations; documenting and making art. Gathered together for the first time this group of photographs expresses a pre-technological, pre-gentrified Portland in both aesthetic and architectural terms. More than mere nostalgic references, they deepen our awareness of time and place.

Initiated by photographer Andy Graham’s rediscovery of a set of transparencies from 1975 taken in the Kennedy Park housing development, the show brings together the work of Tom Brennan, C.C. Church, Andy Graham, Rose Marasco, Joe Muir, Mark Rockwood, Jeff Stevensen, Jay York and Todd Webb. Co-curated by Andy Graham, Anne Riesenberg and Keith Fitzgerald of Zero Station, the show opens on April 10 and runs through May 1 at Zero Station. Opening reception 5 – 8PM April 10^th.

Curator’s Statements

Seeing Portland – 1970 to 1984

Portland in the 1970s was a city on the brink of being reborn. Nestled between the misguided urban renewal of the 1960s and the boom years of the later 1980s it was a time of gestation and redefinition. A surprising number of young and talented photographers came of age using the city as subject matter for their creative explorations; documenting and making art. Gathered together for the first time this group of photographs expresses a pre-technological, pre-gentrified Portland in both aesthetic and architectural terms. More than mere nostalgic references, they deepen our awareness of time and place.

I remember years ago in the midst of winnowing my belongings before a move, coming across a favorite old flannel shirt that had belonged to an almost boyfriend. I was aware as I considered whether to toss or keep, that by throwing it away I was losing that link between the present and the past. Without the shirt it would be harder to remember, easier to forget, all of what it had meant to me to know that person – what it felt like to be me, holding his hand, walking a street in springtime, being 19, a bubble of hope in my chest pushing up from the inside, an impulse towards experience, towards discovery in every step, a lingering innocence. Looking at these photographs is like holding that shirt in my hands. So much floods in that is intangible, inaccessible without a sensory cue. Because they document Portland as it was, these images take us back to who we were when we saw it that way, and the fabric of our history is revealed, opens up like a box of treasures. Savor them and you savor what has come before, catching a glimpse of the mechanisms of memory as they build up and become the past.

If this is not the Portland of your past hopefully these images will help you get to know her more intimately, like hearing stories from a grandparent about what it was like to be young. Perhaps you can’t quite grasp what they mean, but deep in your bones you know it has something to do with you.

Anne Riesenberg

Andy Graham’s Curator Statement

In 1975 I was a student in the Art Department of the University of Portland-Gorham (now USM). I came to Portland in the Summer of 1974, and attached myself to this city that was just beginning to awake. Juris Ubans had the Film Study Center, the only venue for foreign films in Portland, showing 16mm prints of Claude Chabrol movies to an audience of 25 or so in an upper Exchange Street building that was usually home to the Ram Island Dance Center. The Italian bread (the only ethnic bread) was doughy and white. The first Old Port Festival was still in the future. There were few people of color. It was before technology began to change us, before cable TV, when Portland had both a daily morning and an afternoon newspaper.

Greil Marcus’ phrase “the old weird America” was on my mind as I gathered images for this show, originally titled Portland in the Seventies. Portland, when people shopped on Congress St and the Old Port was derelict, had little culture and few aspirations. Urban renewal had knocked some buildings down and built highways through the city, but few people thought about what was being lost to the pressure of development and the unstoppable plan to push Portland into a new, prosperous future. Portland Landmarks focused on the integrity of West End mansions, not downtown or Munjoy Hill.

I looked for other photographers who looked at the city as I had, with warmth and appreciation for both the new and the old. I looked for serious photographers. I looked for technical excellence. All of these images were made using a large negative or positive – 2 ¼, 4×5, and 8×10. They are printed in a variety of ways; some vintage silver fiber prints, some black and white or color inkjet prints, and some c-prints made through a digital workflow. Missing are images made by photographers who may have passed through Portland and recorded it during this time, or photographers like Richard Procopio, whose archive remains unopened.

Part of the fun of this show is seeing the old buildings and the old places, seeing what remains, how it has changed and how it has remained the same. Please comment, append, reminisce, and enjoy. And be encouraged to record the commonplace in our city along with the unusual. None of us photographers expected the role that these images now have in recording the story of Portland.

Andy Graham

www.portlandcolor.usvisual.com

If you do not see what you are looking for, give us a call.  We have other options in stock and ready to ship.

Steve

Over the next couple of weeks you will see announcements about current projects, new materials, trends, thoughts and maybe even a joke or two posted here on our blog.  Feel free to comment, tell us about your experiences with Portland Color, ask for a quote, ask for a job, come in for a tour, stop by for a beer or what have you.  Back to you soon.  Enjoy, Steve