Italy - A pub at a trade show? Absolutely, if it is Roland Pub, or, better, an Imagine Roland Pub!

During Viscom Italia 2009, Roland devoted a section of its booth to a real pub, with plenty of examples of creative applications, including furniture, a desk, a fridge and other objects.

The key point of this initiative was that all the applications were created by the technology craftsmen of the Roland community, assisted by Giovanni Re.

Each craftsman created a particular object, personalizing it with the new Roland Imagine graphics from illustrator Marc Rogalski. Through a platform shared on the Web, each craftsman explained what he meant to do and detailed his workflow. In the end there were a dozen different applications embracing all aspects of visual communications: signs, plates, wrapped furniture, personalized chairs, sublimated dishes, glasses and cutlery, cloths, bags, engraved medals, wrapped fridges, wall coverings, backlit boxes, posters, curtains, jackets, canvas artwork, as well as customized clocks, bottles, ashtrays and many other items.

Craftsmen then gathered at the Pub during the show, livening up the area and explaining the applications to visitors. Some of the applications were even created during the trade show.

Roland Academy’s Training Center offered multiple sessions of various training courses, ranging from the use of color profiles to how to become digital artists.

Because of these efforts, visitors had the opportunity to not only see Roland’s products but also to check out actual applications and to talk with other Roland owners, which is very valuable when planning an investment in the purchase of a visual communications peripheral.

At the end of the show, all participants were awarded a certificate. The Imagine Roland Pub can now be seen at the Roland DG Mid Europe Creative Center.