Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 25, 2015
For this Pendleton business,
rebranding is a family affair
For some businesses,
changing a name and com-
ing up with a new market-
ing strategy, or rebranding,
would probably be done in a
staid business environment.
For one Pendleton business,
though, the process was
strictly a family affair.
Originally known as
Rapid Print when it opened
27 years ago, this down-
town Pendleton print shop
has been under ownership
of the Sykes family ever
since. What’s changed is
that the two Sykes brothers
as well as production and
customer service. “It’s just
a give and take rather than
one person being in charge
of everything. He has his
strengths and I have mine.”
The symbiotic relation-
ship seems to work well
both for the brothers and
the business. So well, in
fact, that Pendleton custom-
ers soon knew the brothers
better than they did the
company name.
“Everybody’s already
been referring to us as,
‘You’re the brothers, right?’
Sykes brothers Andrew (left) and Chris hold up the logo
designed by their sister, Allison Hayes. -Photo by April Sykes
grew up and took over.
David Sykes of Hep-
pner started the business
in 1988. It was a time
when home copy machines
weren’t common and dot-
matrix printers ruled the
scene, the heyday of the
quick printing business
into which customers could
walk in and get 500 copies
printed while they waited.
“I got the idea from my
brother-in-law who worked
in a Portland quick-print
shop,” Sykes says. “And I
thought, ‘Hey, that would
work in Pendleton.’”
Sykes started up the
small print shop on SW
Emigrant and, appropri-
ate to his vision, named it
Rapid Print.
Times changed, though.
Rapid Print morphed into a
family-centered business
when Sykes’ son Chris
Sykes came on board in
1998, followed by brother
Andrew Sykes in 2006.
Despite their obvious dif-
ferences, the brothers, who
both live in Pendleton, say
they balance each other
well.
“I’m more scatter-
brained and running from
here to there, and he’s more
into the numbers and fig-
ures and making sure ev-
erything is done on time,
so that helps out a lot,”
says Chris Sykes, 36, who
handles in-house printing,
advertising and sales. “I
needed Andrew. He fills in
the gaps that I didn’t have
while I was working here
alone.”
“There’s certain bound-
aries that you have to have,”
adds Andrew Sykes, 34.
Andrew, who holds a de-
gree in fine art from Cor-
nish College of the Arts
in Seattle, says he fills the
role of business manager,
Everybody always referred
to us that way,” says Chris
Sykes.
It wasn’t only the fam-
ily-centered nature of the
business that changed. As
personal computers became
more prevalent and home
printers more sophisticated,
Rapid Print became less
about quick printing and
copy jobs and more about
quality, specialty printing.
“We provide full ser-
vice custom printing—
pretty much anything to
market or to run your busi-
ness, from business cards to
flyers, forms and brochures.
We also do graphic design,”
says Andrew Sykes.
David Sykes says the
change in the perception of
the business, and the idea
that it was time for a name
change, was driven home to
him recently when he hap-
pened to answer the phone
for the print shop. The cus-
tomer, he said, didn’t know
the name of the business.
“He said, ‘Is this the
print shop run by those two
brothers?’” Sykes recalls. “I
realized, that’s how people
knew this business, not by
the name, but by the two
brothers.”
With that, the idea of
rebranding Rapid Print to
Sykes Brothers was born.
Rebranding, says Chris
Sykes, is like “a start-over
when you’re changing your
company.”
“Rebranding is when
you want to change and go
in a different direction as far
as how you’re perceived by
the public,” he says. “Your
name’s not getting out there
or it’s not what your com-
pany is. We didn’t need to
say Rapid Print. We’re a
family business. We needed
to get that out there. When
you rebrand, you’re getting
it out there.”
With the need to “get
it out there” came the need
for a new look, especially a
new logo. While the Sykes
family could have gone a
dozen different directions
for that new look, they
chose to keep it in the fam-
ily; the brothers called on
their sister, 33-year-old Al-
lison Sykes Hayes.
Hayes got a bachelor’s
degree in art from the Uni-
versity of Oregon and now
works as Senior Graphic
Designer for Pelicon Iconic
Services, based in Manhat-
tan Beach, Calif. She got
her start, though, work-
ing for their father, David
Sykes, at his newspaper in
Heppner.
“Before we had com-
puters, I used to paste up the
paper with my dad. I had to
make sure everything was
lined up and sometimes,
when we got the paper
back, I could see that I
hadn’t gotten everything
lined up,” Hayes recalls. “In
high school I used to take
photos once in a while for
the paper.”
Hayes, who now works
extensively with company
branding and logos, says
she was happy to put her
expertise to work for the
family business.
“It was really fun be-
cause they were actually
pretty easy-going com-
wanted to make sure it was
right for Pendleton, too,”
she adds.
Hayes designed 15-20
logos during the rebranding
process. In the spirit of fam-
ily cooperation, the Sykes
used the democratic process
to make a selection, with
voting rights given to par-
ents David and April Sykes,
brothers Chris and Andrew,
Hayes and husband Matt,
and sister Camille Sykes,
31, who also has a degree
from the U of O in multi-
media design. The winning
logo is now displayed not
only on signs and print
products, but also on a large
area rug in the Sykes Broth-
ers lobby.
Chris and Andrew
Sykes say they enjoyed
working with their sister
during the design process.
Andrew, with his own art
degree, says he appreciated
it from a design standpoint,
while Chris Sykes seems to
stand in awe of his sister’s
talent.
“Allison…got her con-
fidence from our mom and
her creativity from our
dad, just to be able to put
it down and go for it. I just
wish I could get in her mind
sometimes because she’s
so creative with stuff like
that,” he says.
The brothers say the re-
branding process has gone
well, with positive feed-
Allison Sykes Hayes sits at her desk at Pelicon Iconic Services
in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Hayes is the creative force behind
the new image of Pendleton-based print shop Sykes Brothers
Printing. -Contributed photo
pared to normal clients I
have. They were pretty
open to any ideas I had,”
says Hayes. “It was always
nice to talk with them dur-
ing the week, too, a nice
little reprieve.”
Hayes says she used
the same design process
she would for any other
client, sketching ideas and
trying to capture the spirit
of the company, though she
admitted to having a head
start with this project.
“I knew them and what
they were looking for and
what they represent. Know-
ing about Pendleton kind
of helped that process. I
Irrigon cheerleaders take second at state
The Irrigon Jr./Sr. High School cheerleaders took second place in the 1A/2A/3A State
Championships held in Portland on Feb. 14. The team also took first place in its division on
Feb. 15 in the Oregon Cheerleading Coaches Association Championships.
Top Row: Ariana Miranda-Walls, Brenna Bowman, Yessenia Gonzalez, Claudia Guzman,
Angel Stanger, McKenzee Wilson.
Bottom Row: Krizia JJ Escobedo, Yulisa Cardenas, Emily Cain, Brenda Olson, Baylea
Jo Vandecar, Jasmine Aguilar, Amelia Resendiz. Not Pictured: Head Coach Brandi Verley,
Assistant Coaches Julie Escobedo and Jeannie Bowman, Co-Coaches Cheryl Costello and
Lisa Pratt–Contributed photo
back from customers and
the Pendleton community.
Chris Sykes points out that
it isn’t the company that has
changed, but only the name
in front of it.
“We changed our name
to who we are. The com-
pany was nameless and
faceless. Now it represents
who we are,” he says. “The
next generation’s in here
working on this.”
The Sykes brothers are
third-generation printers.
Their grandparents Myrtle
and Earl Sykes for many
years owned a newspaper
and printing business in
Reedsport.
HES shows Colt
Compassion with
Pennies for Patients
The Heppner Elementary Students collected their pennies
(and nickels, dimes and quarters, too) for the Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society Pennies for Patients program. Leukemia
and lymphoma are types of cancer, and the pennies that were
collected will help people with the disease to live a better life
and—hopefully—find a cure. HES was able to show its Colt
Compassion with a total of $88.50 raised. Pictured (L-R): HES
Student Council members Cody Fletcher, Marlee Mitchell, Der-
rick Smith and Kaden Combe with Kay Proctor and Jessica
Peterson from the Bank of Eastern Oregon. –Contributed photo
Register early for
Remembrance Walk
The Friends Helping
Friends Committee would
like to remind everyone
to pre-register for the Re-
membrance Walk/5K Run
coming up March 14 dur-
ing the St. Patrick’s Day
celebration.
A committee spokes-
person pre-registration
helps everyone on the
morning of the event. As
an incentive, door prizes
will be given especially for
those who have pre-reg-
istered, though there also
will be some door prizes
for those who register that
morning.
Flyers with registra-
tion forms are available at
Murray’s Drug, the Bank of
Eastern Oregon, Lexington
Sinclair, and the Heppner
and Ione post offices.
The event will begin
with a social hour and reg-
istration at 8:30 a.m. with
the walk/run starting at
9:30 a.m.
Pre-registration will
allow for a more relaxed at-
mosphere for participants to
enjoy the spread of home-
made eats and treats put out
by the event planners prior
to the walk/run.
In addition, the social
hour this year will support
another local cause, with
Krispy Kreme doughnuts in
support of the current Hep-
pner Day Care fundraiser.
The committee also
points out the need for
people to get their requests
in early for the special
shamrocks that will line
the route.
“The Friends Helping
Friends committee orga-
nized this walk in memory
of Donna Schonbachler,
but we really look forward
to remembering everyone’s
loved ones,” said a spokes-
person.
The deadline to order
shamrocks has been ex-
tended to March 1, but
shamrock supplies this year
are limited, so anyone in-
terested in having that re-
membrance is asked to get
their request in as early as
possible.
The names of those
remembered on the sham-
rocks will also appear in
the Gazette after the walk.
The Friends Helping
Friends committee says the
response this year has been
good, but they would al-
ways like more support for
the local organizations that
benefit from the proceeds.
This year’s proceeds
will be divided between
the Heppner Volunteer Fire
Department and the South
Morrow EMT Association,
which covers all of South
Morrow County.
Irrigon launches new
housing initiative
The City of Irrigon has
started a new program to
provide a funding incentive
in an effort to create more
residential units within the
greater area, the city an-
nounced last week.
Initial funding will
be $50,000, administered
through the Boardman
Community Development
Association (BCDA).
The purpose of the fund
is to provide aid in in-
creasing owner-occupied,
single-family dwellings in
the Irrigon zip code.
The maximum amount
that can be received per ap-
Morrow County Dis- plicant is $5,000.
To receive the incen-
trict Attorney Justin Nelson
has released the following tive, residents may have
to attend a home-buyer’s
report:
-Jenifer Lee Foster, 27,
was convicted of r Unau-
thorized Use of a Vehicle, 34, was convicted of As-
a Class C Felony, and sen- sault IV – Constituting
tenced to one year driver’s Domestic Violence, A Class
license suspension and 18 A Misdemeanor, and sen-
months supervised proba- tenced to two years bench
tion, subject to 90 sanction probation, probation con-
units with 30 jail units. ditions to include 40 hours
Conditions of probation of community service, no
include 80 hours of commu- direct or indirect contact
nity service and no direct with the victim, anger man-
or indirect contact with the agement evaluation and
victim. An additional count treatment, and 60 days jail
of Theft I was disposed time. Fines, fees and assess-
without conviction. Fines, ments totaled $200.
-Brandon James
fees, assessments and res-
Vaughan,
32, was convicted
titution totaled $2,480.97.
of
Escape
III, a Class A
-Ross Carlisle Vanetta,
DA’s
Report
- SEVEN
training, and must provide
copies of closing docu-
ments, provide a copy of
pre-approval lending docu-
ments, and have home-
buyer training certification.
The property must be
located within the Irrigon
zip code, and applicants
may purchase an existing
single-family dwelling or
construct a new single-
family dwelling, and the
house must be the appli-
cant’s primary dwelling for
three years.
More conditions may
apply; details regarding
the program can be found
by contacting Irrigon City
Manager Aaron Palmquist
at 541-922-3047 or man-
ager@ci.irrigon.or.us.
Misdemeanor, and sen-
tenced to 180 days jail
time; however, jail sentence
was waived and defendant
sentenced to 12 months
bench probation, probation
conditions to include 40
hours of community service
and a written apology to
the victim. Fines, fees and
assessments totaled $200.
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