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tion is gathered for the new
products. There are a few rounds
of proofing where feedback from
different departments occurs.
Approved files are sent to the
printers and the press approvals
are handled by the marketing
team,” Gallagher explains.
As Starline and the industry
have grown, and as technology
has progressed, the production
process has evolved as well.
“Before some of the graphic pro-
grams that we currently use were
available, the layout was done
manually and was very ‘cut-and-
paste’ based,” she says. “The final
product would be a mix of
images on one page and text
information on the other.”
Typesetting photography and
layout once took months to com-
plete; now, graphics programs
allow for digital placement of
images and text on the same
page. “The printing process has
evolved as well, as the move to
digital/web printing has
improved the print colors,” she
adds. “With technology, the
whole creative and printing
process has sped up, allowing
catalogs to be produced in a
shorter time frame.”
When new products roll
down the pike, Starline may
choose to print supplement cata-
logs. “We currently print a main
full-line catalog at the beginning
of the year, and we have two
printed supplement catalogs,”
says Gallagher. “These supple-
ments are smaller in page count
and are used to feature new
products; one at the beginning of
the year, and new products that
we launch mid-year for the holi-
day season.”
But Starline, like its contem-
poraries, maintains an online cat-
alog that features the same infor-
mation as its print product—
with the added ability to split the
contents into product categories,
making smaller catalogs for
clients to view. “On the website
product pages, we do have the
ability to expand on information
that is in the catalog, providing
more details,” Gallagher says.
Starline’s catalogs also bene-
fit from customer input. “We
have received feedback from cus-
tomers and the sales teams
regarding the catalog over the
years and do take all comments
into consideration. Some do fit
well with the creative direction
of the catalog and we have incor-
porated them into the catalogs.”
So what does the future hold
for catalogs? Gallagher says the
idea of moving to a digital-only
format has come up before, but
“the consensus is that print cata-
logs are evolving and the size or
format could change in the
future. An interesting note: for
2016 more of our full-line print
catalogs have been requested and
handed out than in previous
years,” she says.
“There is still a demand in
the marketplace for the larger-
format catalog. Part of this
demand could be that the format
does have the full product infor-
mation and TruColor print tech-
nique compared to the supple-
ment catalogs.”
NEXT Products (UPIC:
nextpro) is one supplier that
believes strongly enough in the
value of print catalogs to invest
in revamping its book this year.
Jeff Batson, CAS, president of
“THE CONSENSUS IS THAT
PRINT CATALOGS ARE
EVOLVING
AND THE SIZE
OR FORMAT COULD CHANGE
IN THE FUTURE.”