Irvine, Calif. - With 2013 expected to be another challenging year economically, more and more small business owners are recognizing the need for innovative creative solutions to help them stand out from the competition. Illustrating this trend are two Golden Image Award winners from the recent internationalSpecialty Graphics Imaging Association (SGIA) Expo in Las Vegas – entrepreneurs that are using advanced large-format printers to differentiate themselves and attract consumers.

Jim Dileva enjoyed building birdhouses and selling them out of the back of his nail salon in East Whitby, Ontario, Canada. Build a Birdhouse was mostly a hobby until one of Dileva’s salon clients asked him to create a birdhouse decorated to look like her favorite cartoon character. Dileva asked a friend in a printing company to print some decals. “The client loved it,” Dileva said. Soon, Dileva was producing dozens of custom designs on his own digital printer and applying them to his unique aviary abodes.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Laker Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest Jr.) and partners were looking to start a new restaurant chain specializing in salads and wraps in the highly competitive Los Angeles area. It was less than auspicious timing for the opening of “Saladish,” as hundreds of restaurants were laying off staff or closing due to a poor economy. So they turned to Gamut Media, a design and printing firm located in Brea, Calif. The result was a botanical-themed interior in addition to window, signage and menu graphics. But the element that attracts customers by the hundreds is the restaurant’s stunning floor-to-ceiling mural featuring a bold, illustrated garden scene.

A common denominator for these two businesses is standing out and driving business through the use of colorful digital printing. And, according to Dileva, it’s not coincidental that both Gamut Media and Build a Birdhouse chose Roland large-format printers for their businesses. Dileva noted that he chose Roland because of the company’s excellent reputation for reliability. “We have had absolutely no problems with our printer,” he said. “It’s sped up our production tremendously and already paid for itself.”

John Kim of Gamut Media said, “The prints from our Roland came out rich and vibrant and, thanks to the Roland’s eco-solvent inks, they can be washed and still standout years from now. The massive wall mural is a signature graphic that makes Saladish both a memorable brand and a truly awesome place to eat.”

Today’s large-format printers can deliver images and graphics of almost any shape and size, in vivid color, with amazing speed, precision and accuracy. They’re also extremely versatile tools, opening up a world of creative opportunities for digital imaging specialists. Nowhere was this more apparent than at this year’s SGIA Expo in Las Vegas, where professionals from around the world vied for coveted Golden Image Awards recognizing industry-leading excellence.

“The things these state-of-the-art machines can do are nothing short of amazing,” said Dileva. “My large-format inkjet lets me print precision graphics with special metallic and white ink effects that really give my customized birdhouses that ‘wow’ factor.”

For information on Roland products, please visit http://www.rolanddga.com.