Our History
In 1960, Bob Deveau and a partner bought a company, in which they both worked, from Alice Cameron. Her husband Jack had passed away suddenly and Alice felt she couldn't continue. Bob and his business partner dug deep and came up with the money to do so and proceeded to own, operate and try to grow this business.
Screen printing in the early 1960's consisted of "hand base" screen printing and rack drying. Technology was not at the forefront of this type of printing, but there was a need and customers seemed to like the work effort, quality and integrity that these 2 men brought to the table. The business continued to grow and soon, semi automatic, 1 colour presses came around with heat dryers and the business flourished.
In 1978/1979, Bob and his partner were at a crossroads as to where the business was heading. The partner opted out and Bob proceeded to buy out his share of the business and move the location to Scarborough, which would allow for expansion into the much larger pieces of equipment and what new technologies would be upcoming in the future.
The stay in Scarborough was approximately a 10 year run that saw many new advances in the "Screen" business. There were larger 1 col. presses, Banner presses and Cylinder presses, which were automatic, smaller sheet fed presses, which allowed Cameron to print on supplied Litho sheets for applications such as remoistenable glue for mailers, Scratch and Win game cards, (new at the time) spot varnish and others. Again, Bob saw an opportunity in real estate and purchased another location in Scarborough and where Cameron stands today, in 1991/1992.
This was a wise move, because press purchases were constant, and with the coming of UV inks and dryers, he knew he had to be prepared for an onslaught of new technologies and progress. Once inside the new 35,000 square foot facility, the possibilities were endless. Sooner, rather than later, multi coloured, UV, In-line 4 and 5 colour presses made their way to North America and Cameron, along with a couple of other Screen companies, similar to them, got into a very exciting time in the print game in the GTA.
It was a game changer for Cameron, because, up until this time, Screen Printing had always been considered the low end of the graphics arts world and print was usually restricted to basic designs and "easy" work. 4 colour printing was a challenge, as printing 1 colour at a time and hoping when the last colour went down, that it was "ok", is something, anyone who lived it can attest to. So many factors were in play in order to be "good". Don't kid yourself, Cameron and a few others were very good and it was a craft many had tried to master, yet not many succeeded. The In-Line, 4 colour machines had 1 gripper take the sheet through the press, printing 1 colour, drying that colour and so on down the line.
In Bob's eyes, it was magic. Now, Art directors and Creative teams started to rethink the way they designed certain campaigns. In those days, campaigns were using all forms of printing as well as TV to push products. Cameron's ability to now print on basically any Substrate and do it to the vision of creative directors in support of all the Litho, etc, opened the doors for even more expansion and growth. Soon after the 4 colour was bought, a 5 colour was purchased as well. It should be noted here, that Cameron's mission statement was/is to be a leader in the purchasing of new technology and has done that from the beginning.
We feel it is paramount to being successful and growth is absolutely necessary in an industry such as print, in order to provide our customers the best they deserve. Screen printing is still relevant today, and will be as long as Cameron is around. As with all industries, and the print industry is no exception, new, innovative, technology continued to come into play. Digital printing started to make it's way into our world in the late 1900's, early 2000's. In coming Digital flatbed printer and roll presses, direct to plate for Screen and Litho printing technology, which ultimately caused an end to an entire sector of print, the film industry was coming to an end.
This new digital era offered alternatives to traditional print that the world had never seen. High quality, (some challenges early on), and the likes of variable data, the ability to change runs on the fly and basically eliminate a lot of the upfront work in order to pull a print. The consensus around Cameron at the time was to get into this new game; Many upstart companies were already in and we felt a need to explore this technology for our customers and the future of our business. The old adage of do what you do best, we felt was not an option. The times were changing and the decision to jump in was made. Being who we were and having little knowledge about the digital world, caused us to start up a subsidiary company to compliment Cameron's already core business and reputation.
However, it failed miserably and it was back to square one. Not to be defeated, 2 major occurrences happened in the years of 2008/2009. Cameron bought an Agfa MPress and acquired the expertise of an existing company to join the Cameron team along with some of their equipment. These 2 events saved Cameron and pushed us down a path that over the last 15 years, saw major spending, growth and the rise of Cameron to become a leader in the Screen/Large Format print world.
In 2008/2009, what we call an arms race developed in the digital flatbed, roll press world. It seemed everyone had the latest, greatest, fastest, and best quality press available and choosing who to partner with would be key for us in order to best align ourselves for the future. We developed a strategy of purchasing equipment from multiple manufacturers and pitting them against each other for the right to have us buy their next great machine. This strategy has worked well for us, and Cameron has purchased a press or other device at least every 2 years since the early 2000's. To be able to do this, we have had to maintain a solvent, successful business and have been fortunate enough to be able to do so up til now. The goal is to keep it going, and continue to be the stand alone, innovative, reliable, honest and one of the hardest working shops in North America.
This story is nothing without the mention of the staff at Cameron. My father and I can not begin to express how blessed we have been over the years with people who continue to work along side us every day, weekends, and holidays in order for us to continue to be able to provide the service we do for our customers. It is a family business in the truest sense of the word, but the family is way larger than my father and I. We have had numerous employees be with us over 40 years, their kids are now working here, multiple, 30yr, 20yr and an influx of good young people who want to grow with us. This team/family is unbelievable. I maintain, in the many places I'm asked to speak about the printing industry, etc, that, anyone can buy a press and put ink on paper, but without said team, you are nothing. All I hear about when people leave our place after a tour or press check, is what an unbelievably great vibe emanates from inside these 4 walls.
My father and I are most proud of that, bar none.
That is our story. My father left home in Cape Breton Island as a 15 year old kid, had a work ethic, then a vision, then a plan. He's done a hell of a job, I believe, and I will continue to try and uphold the high standard of Cameron that was set over 60 years ago.