Palatial Prototypes: Creative Firm Turns Ideas into Royal Reality with VP-540

Nagoya Castle, one of the three most famous castles in Japan, is known as the Golden Castle because of its golden statues of fish, called the Golden Shachihoko. ark Design has its office near this historic landmark in central Japan.

ark Design provides its clients with a full range of services, from planning and design through final production. At the outset, most of their jobs were brought to them by advertising agencies or press-printing companies; ark Design typically did not contact clients directly. However, the firm recently changed its approach to be more sensitive to its clients’ needs and product evaluations.

“An output machine is essential for us to transform our ideas into a physical reality,” said Mr. Yusuke Gama, president of ark Design. “We chose the Roland DG VP-540, which can produce a wide variety of applications. We especially appreciate the Print & Cut feature. We create designs for apparel such as T-shirts, as well as decals and stickers. The VP-540 can automatically contour cut even complex shapes that would be very hard to cut manually. We are also very satisfied with the VP-540’s quality and speed. Furthermore, the VP-540 can print on a wide variety of media, not only on adhesive PVC, but also backlit films, tarpaulin, and apparel media.”

“We can immediately produce prototypes from our designs with the VP-540. These prototypes help us to communicate more smoothly with our clients, allowing us to show them our ideas on the spot.”

ark Design’s clients are primarily local service shops such as restaurants and sports gyms. The promotional needs of its clients depend upon each shops’ business situation, competitors, sales points and location. ark Design carefully analyzes each client’s situation and suggests the best promotion tools for their business.

“We can immediately produce prototypes from our designs with the VP-540. These prototypes help us to communicate more smoothly with our clients, allowing us to show them our ideas on the spot,” said Mr. Gama. “Now we can suggest more impressive and unique promotion tools for them. The VP-540 is an essential tool for our business style.”

Recently, ark Design suggested that a client, a restaurant, consider offering cushions for bridal couples to increase business from wedding parties. The cushions are made of tarpaulin with unique graphics and photo portraits.

“We are developing relationships with companies from a variety of industries,” said Mr. Gama. Our client requests are more wideranging now. For example we’re designing the entire promotion plan for a spa resort and designing web site content for a consulting firm. We are pleased with our current steady rate of growth and look forward to hiring more staff. As part of our social action program, we offer a free art workshop for kids. We want to continue to contribute in this way to help children enjoy art now and in the future.”