Hill Shorter has strengthened its hold on music merchandise printing with concert brochures and calendars for some of the worlds top pop stars, from U2 to Madonna.


The Birmingham printer produced the U2 tour programme for a concert run that starts in Manchester on 11 August. The total run for
the US and UK tours will be about 80,000.


U2s red brochures came off a five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster 102.
The company has two other Speedmasters and a Solna two-colour litho press.
It has also won a contract for UK print jobs for 50,000 Madonna calendars and 80,000 of Britney Spears.


We are experts in fine art, do limited editions, and are members of the Fine Art Guild, said Alan Hill, joint managing director with his brother Peter.
Some calendars are not so high on quality and we aim to lift it.
If you can give better quality paper or coating it adds an extra dimension.
Hill Shorter has printed runs ranging from 3,000 for Deep Purple material to 180,000 for the Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge world tour, which was translated into several languages, including Japanese.


Alan Hill said the company had been cornering the music sector since 1982 when it began working with local band Duran Duran.
The family printing business is about 100 years old, has a 3.5m turnover and 47 staff.
The group includes a pre-press house called Electrocolour and Connexion, which handles media, marketing and advertising.


Story by Jez Abbott