SunDance brings home 41 PAF Awards!

The 2017 Florida Print Awards brought in nominees, attendees and representatives of the printing industry from across the state. The theme of this year's event was "Back to Print" - with a focus on excellence in the printing industry in Florida.

SunDance took home 41 PAF Awards, including 14 Best of Category, 18 Judge's Awards, 8 Awards of Excellence, and 1 Trophy for Best Printer's Self-Advertising. We also earned 3 Certificates of Merit in the national awards. The Certificate of Merit awarded by the judges for those who have achieved an extremely high level of quality in printing and design. We are so proud of the entire SunDance team for their continued hard work and dedication to producing the highest quality projects for our clients.

"The theme of this year's event was Back to Print," said JohnHenry Ruggieri, Managing Director. "It focused on excellence in the Florida printing community. We are so proud to be recipients of so many awards. It's a reflection of the dedication, talent and expertise of the SunDance team, who work hard every day to produce the highest quality projects for our clients. These awards will be proudly displayed in our facility, along with our awards from previous years."

Scratch Offs

Scratch off tickets are an intriguing way to engage your customers. Response rates from games such as scratch offs are impressive. This is due to the fact that the receiver of a ticket takes possession of a potentially valuable prize. As one of the most effective forms of promotion, scratch offs are an experience where everyone wins.

Scratch Off Promotions & Games

Reward your clientele with scratch off cards which uncover news about your business, including new items, deals and giveaways. Incorporating discounts and coupons can capture new customers while rewarding your loyal following.

Fast food restaurant chains such as McDonalds have utilized this technique for decades to huge success by requiring the player keep collecting the losing items for an even larger prize.

For promotional events such as expos or trade shows, distributing scratch off cards with coupons to participants will make your organization stand out and will likely reel in new business.

Direct Mail Scratch Offs

Contrary to popular belief, direct mail has been enhanced by online marketing. Direct mail is phenomenal at persuading people to visit your company webpage, urging them to purchase online all the while gathering data including email addresses and traffic information from visiting prospects. Adding a scratch-off to a mailer is an ideal way to motivate customers to interact with your mailers. Scratch-offs create enthusiasm and intrigue which help make your piece and ultimately your brand more valuable.

Scratch Offs for Employee Incentives

Scratch off cards are an unbelievably powerful approach to lift company morale and culture. Offering paid time off, cash rewards and other corporate perks is a simple approach to demonstrate you value and respect your employees.

Scratch Offs for Fundraisers

Scratch offs for fundraising is one of the most financially beneficial methods available to any organization needing to raise money. Your organization can acquire a number of cheap or even free prizes to include on the tickets. By selling the tickets, you can cover the costs of the prizes and printing, leaving the remainder as margin for the fundraiser.

Scratch Off Gift Cards

Gift cards can be produced in a number of ways from cardstock to plastics. Many popular standard amount gift cards have a security area that covers the barcode or other sensitive information. Think iTunes and Starbucks gift cards, or even prepaid Credit Cards. This ensures the cards will remain effective and have a longer shelf life. The options are limitless though and you may find another use for the scratch off area on your gift cards.

Returning Customer Scratch Off Campaigns

Some establishments offer scratch offs during the checkout process. Some require you to come back to the establishment to scratch off the prize area. Others are more realistic and have a number of different offers from a percentage off their next purchase to free with purchase or BOGO options as the prize.

Get A Sample Now!

SunDance has created a sample Scratch-Off Card set to show you the possibilities. Request your sample today to get an idea of all the things you can use a scratch off for in your promotions.

SunDance Featured Again on 60 Second Fold Of The Week

Our friend Trish Witkowski from foldfactory.com featured one of SunDance’s creative pieces again! In her #397 Fold of the Week video, Trish shows the layout and design behind this eye-catching pocket folder, including dimensional die cutting, spot UV, soft touch coating, and of course SunDance’s signature style. We are thrilled that you love our new pocket folder design as much as we do!

STOUFFER'S 'YOU CAN COOK' PROJECT

Congratulations to Wing, a division of Grey Advertising group, for bringing home a Bronze Cannes Lions Award for their Stouffer’s 'Cookbook You Can Cook’ project. The cookbook also received two shortlist awards at the prestigious 2017 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. We are proud to have the opportunity to partner with Wing to execute their unique vision of an FDA-friendly cookbook, featuring food-safe ink and ‘cookable' paper. SunDance took on the challenge of creating an in-house “clean room” and worked around the clock with live-streaming access to stay in constant communication with the agency. We are so excited to see the team's hard work pay off!

At SunDance, we love when our clients come to us with their biggest ideas and challenges, and we appreciate that Wing trusted us to help execute this award-winning cookbook. Here’s to many more award-winning projects in the future!

Hard Rock International

SunDance was tasked with developing a set of high-quality, adjustable binders, along with a presentation box to hold the binders and additional contents of the project. We also needed to include envelopes and folded cards that would hold a USB drive. All components of the project needed to come together to create a cohesive and easy-to-use package.

Saddle Stitch Binding

Saddle-Stitched Binding

Saddle-stitched binding is the simplest and most basic booklet binding methods. In the saddle-stitching process, large sheets of paper are folded in half, cut and stapled along the spine for a magazine-like appearance. This type of binding is often used for comic books, product manuals, small catalogs, promotional booklets and show dailies.             

Saddle-StitchingBasics

Saddle stitching is the ideal solution for smaller sized run and jobs—typically with a 64 page count or less. Books with a larger number of pages will be too bulky and won’t lay flat when stitched in this way. Saddle-stitching works best for jobs that require a quick turnaround. Creating a saddle stitched book is more cost-effective than perfect-binding—making it the preferred technique for binding booklets, magazines, reports, programs, brochures, planners and even comic books.

Why Saddle-Stitching?

The saddle-stitching technique is the binding process of choice when timing is key and a quick turnaround is an absolute necessity. Offering the quickest turnaround time, a saddle-stitched bound book can be produced within hours. This process beats PUR (perfect binding) turnaround times as there is no curing needed—so the job can be turned around in hours, not days.

Here are a few considerations to keep in mind when considering a saddle stitching for your booklet.

Advantages of Saddle Stitching

• Quickest binding option available
• Lowest cost
• Techniques like gate-fold and fold-outs can be used
• Ability to self-cover or use a separate cover stock

Limitations of Saddle Stitching

• Not designed for long-term, heavy use
• Limitations on paper variations
• The spine is not printable
• Documents larger than 64 pages won’t lay flat
• Design adjustments for creep is necessary on higher page counts

Saddle-Stitched v. Perfect Binding

Saddle Stitching

With this method, sheets are cut, folded, and stapled twice along the spine for a magazine-like appearance. This means that the crossovers easier and more visible. Saddle-stitching works best for booklets of 64 pages or less. This style is ideal for smaller runs, or variable content that needs to be customizedduring the production process.Saddle stitching is ideal for booklets or brochures with a short lifespan, like magazines, small catalogs,event programs, marketing booklets and comic books.

Perfect binding

With perfect binding, the pages of the book are not folded. Instead they are assembled together and glued along the spine along with the cover. When the adhesive dries—this takes only seconds—the pages are secured firmly in place. With perfect bound books, the crossovers require more attention as they are not completely visible when the book is open.Perfect binding is ideal for pieces that will be used heavily or for a long period of time.

Saddle-Stitched Dailies

SunDance is the local leader at printing convention programs, sometimes referred to as a "Show Daily" or "Show Dailies." These show dailies serve as an itinerary for your conference or trade show and can also serve as an advertising platform. At SunDance, we have lightning-fast turnaround timesto ensure your job always gets delivered on time. We are also the closest full-service printing facility to the Orange County Convention Center—allowing us to offer same day delivery throughout the Central Florida!

SunDance Knows Saddle-Stitching

We know that your saddle-stitched piece has to be done right and delivered on time, every time. SunDance runs flexible shifts around the clock to make sure we are here to serve you when you need us.When time is short and you need to come through for an event, reach out to us! SunDance will keep your event running smoothly and make sure your printed and bound materials exceed all expectations.

Robo Mud Run

Our SunDance team completed the 2017 Robo Mud Run — a 10k challenge course with 52 obstacles, hosted by the St. Cloud Police Department to benefit the We Dare To Care Foundation. This year’s course included a rock climbing wall, rings over a mud bog, horizontal mud crawls, and a 100-yard swim. Extreme team building for a good cause — it’s a win-win!

SunDance Loves Daytona Beach

SunDance is dedicated to serving our customers throughout the Central Florida area. While we have clients across the globe, we have a special place in our heart when it comes to helping our local businesses thrive. Over the years, we have partnered with a number of clients in Daytona Beach and Volusia County to bring their creative visions to life in a variety of industries including higher education, boat manufacturing, insurance and healthcare/hospitals.

What sets SunDance apart from our competitors is our unwavering dedication to customer service. Our team we will do whatever it takes to make your vision a reality. Whether you need a simple direct mail campaign or a large-scale, multi-faceted project, the SunDance team will make your success our top priority. We are able to effectively support and execute your job with our broad range of services all offered in our centrally located facility in Central Florida — including high-end commercial printing, direct mail, environmental interior design, large format printing, creative design, mailing, fulfillment and more.

Are you ready to experience concierge-level customer service for yourself? We would love to partner with your on your next project, and we are confident once you’ve joined the SunDance team, you won’t look back! Give us a call, let us show you around, and see for yourself why SunDance is the premier print communications partner of choice in Daytona Beach and beyond.

See examples or our work in Daytona Beach:
Bethune Cookman Univeristy Teledyne Oil and Gas
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SunDance Postal Cheat Sheet

Keep up-to-date with USPS rates and requirements with SunDance’s Postal Cheat Sheet.

We’ve created this handy piece to give you the most relevant USPS postage information at your fingertips. From sizing requirements to pricing charts, this double-sided reference sheet offers a quick and easy overview of USPS Marketing Mail, Marketing Nonprofit, First-class Pre-sort, and more.

Request your own complimentary Postal Cheat Sheet today!

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SunDance Honored with Three FSEA 2017 Gold Leaf Awards in Annual Event

Orlando, FL (12 June 2017) - SunDance (sundanceusa.com), an Orlando-based firm offering design, print and mailing services, today reported that it was the recipient of three prestigious Foil & Speciality Effects Association (FSEA) Gold Leaf awards, chosen from more than 300 entries from around the world across 36 different categories. The 24th Annual Gold Leaf Awards were presented at an Awards Banquet during the IADD•FSEA Odyssey on May 17-19.

Since its inception in 1992, the Foil & Specialty Effects Association has worked toward industry awareness and growth. It serves as a resource and educational platform for decorating technologies, including foil stamping, embossing, cold foil technologies, specialty coatings, laminates and laser cutting.

"We are again honored to have received these awards," said JohnHenry Ruggieri, Managing Director. “I especially want to congratulate our creative and production teams, who again have excelled on behalf of our customers, our company and the industry as a whole. You can be sure we will again enter the competition next year, and I am sure we will have more stunning examples to submit.”

FSEA Gold Leaf awards are a means of recognizing exceptional performance in three categories: Design, Execution and Level of Difficulty. SunDance submissions garnered awards for Most Creative Use of Foil and Embossing—Folding Carton for a playing cards box; Most Creative Use of Special Diecut for the Cirque Do Sundance/Holiday Invite; and Most Difficult Use of Foil Stamping/Embossing – Greeting Card for the SunDance 2017 Holiday Boxes.

The Details

• Cirque Do Sundance/Holiday Invite (Gold Award) was hand-folded and glued, and featured a special accordion die cut for the insert as well as double aqueous coating. It was produced on 80-lb. gloss cover (bright yellow envelope). In addition to the award, this unique mailer garnered rave reviews from recipients!
• SunDance 2017 Holiday Boxes (Silver Award) included a die-cut gift bag with a white fabric handle. The gift bag also had die-cut slits in the front for insertion of a wooden spoon. The gift bag contained a holiday card that featured red foil lettering, embossing and an accordion-style die cut. It used 100 lb. dull cover stock, foil from Infinity Foils and dies from Universal Engraving.
• Continental Deck of Cards (Bronze Award) is a die-cut playing card box that features embossing and silver foil all over the carton, a belly band that is also embossed and foiled, and a deck of playing cards inside. It used UV Ultra li 17 smooth white paper stock, foil from Infinity Foils and dies from Universal Engraving.