What did the job entail?

The apprentices were tasked with designing a piece of collateral that they felt would attract young school leavers into print and were responsible for choosing the theme, design, paper, style and finishing of the 4pp brochure. After much debate and discussion, the apprentices settled on the theme ‘The biggest industry you’ve never thought of…’ and worked together to decide what information should be included in the brochure. They decided to highlight the job opportunities that the printing industry offers and explain why apprenticeships are a great route to a career.

How was it produced?

Buckingham-based BCQ Group printed and coated the brochure on a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 75 using Regency Silk 350gsm paper. It was then matt laminated using an Autobond laminator, put through the firm’s BCQ Touch Scodix digital surface enhancement device and creased using a Heidelberg Cylinder. 1,000 were printed in total with 500 of those mailed out by BCQ to schools across the UK, ready for the start of National Apprentice-ship Week. 

What challenges were overcome?

The apprentices found that they had to work to a tight deadline; they had only seven hours to decide everything and put the brochure’s content and design together. Deciding exactly which content would be most engaging was another challenge, according to Liam Walton, lithographic printer at Galloways. “There was so much we could have got in the brochure but I think the main challenge was finding what the critical information that was needed was, and how to try and make that into something that would be aimed at school children.”

What was the feedback?

Walton said: “I think the final product looks great. In National Apprenticeship Week there are bound to be a lot of different brochures for a lot of different industries and I think we’ve created one that does stand out and will hopefully grab the attention of school children over other brochures.”