Bruin Custom Print replaces Game On! in Ackerman Union

Students can bind loose-leaf textbooks and add custom designs to clothing at a new printing center that opened in Ackerman Union on Monday.

Bruin Custom Print provides printing, loose-leaf course material binding and clothing embroidery on the A-level of Ackerman Union. The site replaced Game On!, a video game center that closed Sept. 11.

[Read more: Game On! in Ackerman Union to be replaced by custom printing service]

Patrick Healey, Associated Students UCLA Apparel and Accessories director, said he thinks the printing center will more readily accommodate students’ needs than the gaming center did, which he said was almost never used.

“We were looking to provide a custom service to the campus,” Healey said. “The print center seemed like the right thing to put there because it will be a more productive space.”

Students can bind books for about $3 and order custom sports jerseys in-store and online for about $70. The center is trying to get a more precise estimate of how the center will be used and the cost of labor and materials, so most prices will not be finalized until next week, Healey said.

“Just in two days we are learning from the students coming in about the different types of items people like to see,” said Guy Adams, the Bruin Custom Print manager.

Most of the center’s customers have visited the store to bind their printed course material, Adams said. He added he has also noticed students taking advantage of the T-shirt design services to create basketball jerseys with specific names and numbers.

The interior of the space was redesigned at the end of fall.

“We really wanted it to be as interactive as possible for people that want to express themselves creatively,” Adams said. “Students might want something that isn’t necessarily in (the student store) that reflects who they are and how they think about the campus.”

The center includes a Bruin-shaped whiteboard, on which computer stations can project their designs.

Amber Shen, a third-year liberal arts and science exchange student from China, visited the center to print schoolwork on the extra printers in Ackerman. Because she began studying at UCLA last quarter, she added she did not know about Game On! closing this summer.

“I would use (the Bruin Custom Print center) more than a gaming center,” Shen said. “Usually, I have a lot of documents to print.”

Reid Masaki, a second-year history student, said he was a bit confused when he could not find the bookbinding center previously located in the textbook store.

“It was a little interesting having to come here,” Masaki said. “From my standpoint, I kind of like things (being) centralized in the textbook store. I’m not sure about the students who take advantage of custom-made T-shirts and posters, but I’m just thinking of the more practical way to get your loose-leaf (books) bound.”