Bambi appears on the Kopykat wall

A piece of street art by the artist Bambi has mysteriously appeared on Kopykat's outside wall. It is certainly stopping passers by in their tracks as they admire the work of art and hopefully it gets Kopykat noticed as well! Nowadays a lot of people visit Shoreditch for the art a Banksy is across the road from Bambi's work. so there is plenty to see in the area and guided tours are a daily occurence. Bambi first came to prominence with a striking image of Amy Winehouse on a Camden Town doorway. A listers are now queuing to buy her work with Rihanna, Robbie Williams, Brad Pitt and Angelina having commissioned pieces by her. Bambi wants to stay hidden and keep her identity a secret. Good luck we say to her and keep up the good work!

3D Printing device recognised with James Dyson Award

A special device that 3D prints complex structures that mimic layers of the human skin has been awarded the prestigious James Dyson Award.

http://goo.gl/BBVnxS

VAT and print

Many clients find it confusing regarding the VAT rules with regard some printed items and it certainly can be complicated. So let me try and explain.

Most printing is classified by HMRC as standard rated in effect you must pay VAT on the printed item. So stationery items such as letterheads, compliment slips and business cards carry VAT along with invitations, posters, pocket folders, tickets, greetings cards and postcards.

You will be pleased to know that there are exceptions to the rule. Nearly all booklets, brochures and leaflets are zero rated so you do not pay vat this can be particularly helpful to organisations or individuals who cannot reclaim VAT. If your leaflet contains a 10% off with this leaflet type offer or free entry to an event then it should carry VAT as it can be thought of as a ticket. Leaflets that do not carry VAT should be meant to be read a few times and thrown away. Instruction leaflets are zero rated as it generally accompanies some other service or product.

Finally just to confuse us all even further a leaflet that is encapsulated or laminated is standard rated as the HMRC deems that it is intended to be kept by the recipient. Another pointer from the HMRC is that if thick card is used they believe it has been designed to be retained so again could carry VAT. 

Some printers add VAT to everything then they cannot go wrong but we try to apply it on a job by job basis if you are unsure we will always try to guide you when you are ready to place an order.

Colour Posters

We are finding that more and more companies and individuals are making enquiries about posters. Posters are now being ordered for weddings, birthday celebrations as one offs because it is surprisingly inexpensive.
Generally the most popular sizes are A2 and A1. Most posters for smaller quantities are printed digitally as it is cost effective and has a speedy turnaround time. We can for example often have a client walk through the door who needs a poster almost immediately, it is entirely possible to print within a couple of hours as we have three large format machines available for this type of request.


We have recently installed a mounting machine to enable us to offer a quick turnaround for exhibition type boards. So your poster will be printed on 190gsm silk paper then applied to a 5mm thick board ready for display.

What happens though if your poster request runs into larger multiples? at Kopykat we also have offset print machines so if for instance you need 50 or 100 A2 posters we might suggest offset printing as it is often more cost effective to produce the posters this way than on a slower large format machine. This only works if it is a common content throughout.

So if you are a best man preparing a speech at your mate's wedding why not accompany it with an embarrassing childhood picture of the groom! All you need to do is supply a print ready PDF.

New York New York

We received an order earlier in the week from a technology company based in New York. This involved an 8pp brochure, A4 product sheets and business cards. They sent the artwork over and we processed the order which all went very smoothly. They are due to fly in and stay in the Shoreditch area and exhibit at Excel where we will deliver to on Sunday. Almost immediately after we took the order we received another enquiry from New York. It just shows the power of Google and how the print world has changed with orders arriving from all sorts of different locations.Maybe we should open Kopykat NYC!

Mounting of Posters

We have recently installed a new mounting machine to compliment our poster printing service. Previously mounting was outsourced and this slowed the production process down. We have now improved the speed of turnaround which was fairly fast anyway but now something can often be printed and mounted within a few hours depending on workflow.

Bambi Street Artist

Talking about Bambi one of her images is above if you want to see more of her work
check out www.waltonfinearts.com or follow her on twitter @bambiartist.

Shoreditch Graffiti

Shoreditch has certainly become a lot more colourful over the years with lots of graffiti artists plying their trade. The graffiti shown is just along on the line from our own railway arches. One of our favourites is Bambi.

Bank of England confirms note switch

The Bank of England has announced that the next £5 and £10 notes will be printed on on polymer rather than cotton paper, with the first run scheduled for 2016. The first polymer note to be issued will be the £5 featuring Sir Winston Churchill it will be followed a year later by the £10 note which will carry an image of Jane Austen.

Fighter jet uses 3D printed parts

A Tornado jet has used 3D printed parts using components made on the spot. BAE says this will potentially help slash maintenance costs. The components were successfully used on a Tornado that flew from the defence firms Warton, Lancashire airfield. BAE said they are using 3D technology to design and produce parts that could cut the Royal Air Force's service bill by over £1.2m over the next 4 years