Our Team

Alice and Gene Maro left a family printing company in Chicago in 1985. As AlphaGraphics franchisees for twenty years, the Maros and their business became known for their personal approach to printing—knowing and liking their customers, and treating each job like it was their own. In 2012 Graphic Ideals was born; in 2013, we lost Gene.

A magna cum laude graduate of Arizona State University, Alice is the President and Internal Coordinator. She is especially proud of the large City of Phoenix projects, including the light rail and Sky Harbor Sky Train, that we continue to work on. It is very important to Alice that Graphic Ideals contribute to our great community, both in the work we produce and the lives we lead.

Relationships are a top priority for Alice, and she maintains many through memberships in professional organizations, such as the ADOT Professional Services Task Force, Associated Minority Contractors of America, Women Supporting Transportation, Phoenix Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, and Local First. “It is a great feeling to know that you are a part of a team that is helping Phoenix to become an even greater city.”

The only printer Gene and Alice ever hired, Andy Barber is our printer since our inception in 1990. Not only does Andy run both of our presses, he is also the supervisor of the bindery department.

Even as a high school student in Oklahoma, Andy knew what he was interested in and was able to tailor his education toward graphic arts. As a Senior in high school, Andy began his printing career and has never looked back.

He loves to run our large digital four-color press, in addition to being a Cardinals fan and home improvement, genealogy research, and American history buff. Andy has a dog.

Account Executive and Sales Manager for Graphic Ideals, Carl Edmiston is often the “face” of the business. Carl’s roots sprouted more than 30 years ago when he worked as a blueprint machine operator in Tucson, Arizona. Rising quickly through the ranks, Carl moved to Phoenix’s Astro Blueprint and Supply in 1984.

Now in his seventh year at Graphic Ideals, Carl says, “I like working at Graphic Ideals because of the team of great dedicated people that work together to get the orders completed and to the customers with the best quality on time.”

A member of Associated Minority Contractors of America and Arizona Construction Career Days, Carl is particularly locked in to our construction clients. Available at your convenience, Carl is committed to providing outstanding customer service.

A fan of golf and basketball, Carl enjoys both playing and watching. He and his wife enjoy the company of two dogs.

A 15+-year veteran of the family printing business, Jason Maro is Graphic Ideals’ large-format specialist.

Operator of both our Hewlett-Packard large-format inkjet printer and our Rastek flatbed printer, Jason says, “They are both amazing machines that always make the customers’ jobs look very professional.” Our inkjet printer outputs photo-quality prints onto paper, canvas and other substrates, while our flatbed printer provides beautiful detail on vinyl, foamcore, Ultraboard, metal and wood.

“I am truly blessed to work with some great people here at Graphic Ideals,” Jason says, and he’s not just referring to his co-workers, as we believe our customers are the best, also. Jason and Alice share Dolly, a Shih-Tzu.

A native of California, Lena Flores moved to Arizona in 1993. As Graphic Ideals’ Production Manager/Lead Estimator and general all-around genius, she has a combined work experience of more than 25 years in print manufacturing and client services. She oversees all production operations of our company, ensuring the smooth flow of work through our plant.

With her extensive background in providing printing solutions for clients, Lena believes that printing is a fine balance of skill and art. Printing is not cookie cutter; rather it’s specific to each individual and project.

Lena has a working knowledge of the many services Graphic Ideals provides, from prepress through finishing, and is driven to satisfy the requirements of our clients and deliver on our commitments. “I love working at Graphic Ideals; we are like family. I take pride in taking care of our clients and doing all that is possible to give them a quality product they can be proud of. I love a good challenge and learning something new every day. Ask anyone, I’m great at putting out fires.”

When not at the business center, Lena is usually enjoying watching her Arizona Coyotes or spending time with her beautiful nieces, nephews and two dogs, whom she absolutely adores!

A long-time delivery driver in the Phoenix area, Steve Cota has been with Graphic Ideals for 13 years. He enjoys making his rounds and checking on his “peeps,” the customers with whom he makes contact daily.

Steve likes meeting new people and keeping in touch with our clients. Steve, indeed, is also often the “face” of Graphic Ideals.

An avid sports enthusiast, Steve enjoys watching football, baseball and basketball. Although he has no pets of his own, Steve gets in plenty of “face time” with his sister’s dogs.

Vince is an experienced Graphic Designer with a demonstrated history of working in the printing industry since 2007. He is well versed in Adobe Acrobat, graphics, logo design, print collateral design, and Adobe Creative Suite. He is a strong arts and design professional with a Associates Degree focused in Graphic Design from Art Institute of Phoenix.

“Our customers range from walk-ins with a sketch to executives with professionally designed documents in print-ready files. It’s all the same to us: We’re going to produce for you a clean, crisp, on-time printing job that will be top quality and at a reasonable price.”

In his free time, he enjoys the outdoors which include golfing, hiking, bicycling and spending time with his family and friends. He was born and raised in the Midwest (Northwest Ind.) and loves his Chicago teams (Da Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks & White Sox).