Nice Check: Distributorship's Diligence Helps Bank Wayne Gretsky and Wayne Kubek have something in common besides a shared first name. Hockey legend Gretsky once said he skates to where the puck will be rather than where it is. Kubek, chairman of Independent Forms Services Inc., is a master of anticipation, too. Kubek foresees customers' needs, often saving them money, time and hassles. A financial institution the Joliet, Ill., distributorship serves recently benefited from Kubek's proactive approach. The owner of the bank, which has nine branches in the Chicago area, died and his wife and daughter became executives. They decided to spruce up the bank's image, in part with a new logo. The bank had been Independent Forms Services' client for more than 20 years. "We do virtually all of the bank-oriented printing, such as MICR documents, roll products and envelopes," says Kubek. In addition, it provides forms management services. Kubek realized a new logo would mean all new documents. Good communication with the client and advance warning allowed him to reduce the bank's inventory of printing with its existing logo. "We were very proactive in eliminating much of the waste," he says. Kubek also offered critical insight about the new logo, a lime-green triangle with the bank's name in gray, that would debut on the bank's envelopes, letterhead, business cards, drive-up envelopes and other pieces. He met with the financial institution's marketing director and the designer from the marketing firm hired to create the logo. The designer presented storyboards, showing how the logo would look on printed pieces. Kubek asked if the designer planned to make adjustments to the PMS colors to accommodate the stocks of the different pieces, such as the coated sheet used for brochures versus the wove finish stationery used for envelopes. "Inks change depending on the stock," Kubek says. "They hadn't given it a thought." In addition, the bank viewed most of the images of its new logo in digital format. The marketing director hadn't considered that the logo she viewed on the computer might not match ones printed on paper. Kubek suggested the client view press proofs to ensure the logo's colors met its expectations. When the bank's top executives learned about Kubek's concerns, they agreed. Kubek scheduled a press check with the manufacturer, C.E. Printed Products, a full-service envelope and stationery house in Carol Stream, Ill. "It turned out to be the best thing we ever could have done," Kubek says. "The bank spent tens of thousands of dollars developing this logo, but until it hit the paper, it was a big guess what it would look like." Kubek, the bank's marketing director and two designers from the marketing firm drove 40 minutes to C.E. Printed Products for the press check. They brought digital artwork, and the manufacturer created plates and printed sample envelopes. "Even though everything had looked good on the computer, on digital copies and on laser copies at the designer's studio," says Kubek, "when the envelopes actually went on press, the screens filled in and the green and gray inks became much darker." The 50 percent screen used on the logo provided very little contrast on the envelopes, printed on Strathmore Ultimate white wove stationery. C.E. Printed Products ran a second batch of envelopes, this time cutting back on the ink coverage on press. However, the screens still filled in. Then the customer service rep and pressman from C.E. Printed Products offered suggestions for backing off the screen to achieve the desired colors. Within 15 minutes, the manufacturer burned new plates with screens remade at 30 percent and printed 100 envelopes. "They showed us again, and everybody blessed the samples and said, 'Thank God we did this press check!'" remembers Kubek. The press check took two hours. It was time and money well spent, says Kubek, who paid for the press check. "C.E. Printed Products was extremely helpful," he says. "That single press check saved the bank a whole lot of problems with their envelopes and other projects. It showed what could happen with digital files." Pleased with the results, the bank ordered 25,000 #10 envelopes, 25,000 #10 window envelopes with inside tints and 75,000 drive-up envelopes. Anticipating problems and organizing the press check was advantageous for Independent Forms Services, too. "It went a long way toward strengthening our relationship [with the bank]," Kubek says. "Upper management normally doesn't get intimately involved with the account. But this gave them an appreciation of what we do for them." And it led to more business for the distributorship. The bank planned a direct mail campaign featuring a letter to introduce its new look and logo. "I said, 'Why don't we print the letter at the same time so you don't have to overprint?'" Kubek recalls. Independent Forms Services supplied the letters and envelopes and worked with a mailhouse to mail 22,000 pieces. The distributorship since has handled three other mailing projects for the bank.