Outlook Group

If you know the name of a printing company that you think appears on the Printing Impressions 400 list, but you're not sure of its ranking, here's an easy way to locate that firm. Simply find the company in the alphabetical listings on this page. In addition to each company's name and headquarters location, a corresponding number appears indicating that firm's ranking on the Printing Impressions 400. ABS Graphics (Addison, IL) 400 Action Printing (Fond du Lac, WI) 353 Adams Business Forms (Topeka, KS) 96 AdPlex Inc. (Houston, TX) 102 Advance Business Graphics (Mira Loma, CA) 153 AFL Web Printing (Voorhees, NJ)

ROSELLE, NJ—While it's nothing like the mad rush of M&A activity the industry saw two years ago, there has been a cautious spate of mergers and acquisitions in the graphic arts sector in recent weeks. Perhaps the most unusual announcement came from Bellevue, WA, where business-to-business Internet company ImageX.com acquired Howard Press, a $30 million privately-held printing company based here, for $1.4 million in restricted stock and $12.6 million in cash, plus $5 million in debt refinancing. This is the fifth acquisition by ImageX in the last 15 months, and a rare example of a "dotcom" company buying a "bricks-and-mortar" operation. Howard Press becomes a wholly

BY ERIK CAGLE One by one, the staff of Printing Impressions paraded past tables of submissions for the magazine's 13th annual Self-Promotion Contest. As the members perused over the quality promotional pieces, the subject of judging criteria was brought up. What exactly makes one submission stand out from another? It's a good question, one marketing departments and creative gurus have long pondered when developing ideas to tout the virtues of their respective companies. Making matters more difficult, the promotions are being created for marketing in the commercial printing industry, the equivalent of chefs being asked to bring a covered dish to a pot luck

With 1999 in sight, the top movers and shakers at the helm of most major publicly held printing companies continue to rank prominently on Printing Impressions' ninth annual executive compensation report, which features 20 of the industry's highest paid executives. Topping the list for the second consecutive year is one of the Top 20's youngsters, 45-year-old David A. Brandon, president, CEO and director of Valassis Communications in Livonia, MI. Brandon's salary and bonus is $2,012,024, plus other compensation of $3,512,568—which places him at the top of the list with a total of $5,524,592 in annual pay for services rendered. Brandon's previous year total compensation