By Olivia Cahoon
Part 1 of 2
Print service providers (PSPs) offer trade show signage to promote exhibitor brands and attract attention. Displays include backlit walls, private meeting rooms, casings, tabletops, banner stands, and pop up displays.
Along with attractiveness, ease of use and costs are important qualities to consider. In part one of this two-part series, we discuss trade show signage and a PSP who creates trade show displays.
An Awesome Shop
Awesome Graphics began in 1994 with two employees who serviced a small community in Rutland, VT. Out of an 800-square foot attic, the company offered interior large format printing and displays.
Awesome Graphics now produces table clothes, retractable banner stands, pop up booths, flags, banners, custom displays, and life sized cut outs from their 2500-square foot building. With six employees, the company offers interior and exterior signage, vehicle wraps, trade show displays and graphics, window treatments, and wall covering that they ship across the US.
Over the last 22 years, Awesome Graphics has adapted their services for their client’s needs. “We realized that affordable trade show displays were an under serviced area. We had years of testing the best displays and finding the ones that we can put our name on and knew they would stand the test of time,” says Tami Napolitano, VP, Awesome Graphics, Inc.
The PSP uses the Roland Soljet XR640 that features two gold-plated 8 channel piezo inkjet heads with 180 nozzles per channel for speed and quality. The printer is capable of automatically contour cutting printed graphics after printing. “Roland offers the most capabilities with its print and cut feature and has a wide array of available materials,” Napolitano says.
She adds that the shop also owns the Epson Stylus Pro 9890 and uses it for items that require the highest resolution possible. “Some of our favorites include photographs on canvas as well as fine art reproduction,” she says. The Stylus Pro 9890 uses the eight color Epson UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta. The printer can handle media up to 24- or 44-inches wide in roll or cut sheets.
For media Awesome Graphics uses Ultraflex smooth opaque vinyl. “We love printing on Ultraflex smooth opaque vinyl for retractable banners as they wear well and do not curl on the edges,” says Napolitano. Ultraflex’s vinyl is made with a low-curl formula and is intended for high resolution graphics. “The smooth vinyl finish gives the banner a beautiful image quality as well as blocking out light and reflection,” she adds.
For larger wall coverings Napolitano says the company uses DigiScape because it provides ease of install and also creates beautiful image quality. DigiScape is a latex-saturated, non-woven wallcovering that is tear-resistant. It is reinforced with synthetic fibers for durability and has a white surface.
For full panel pop up booths Awesome Graphics uses polyester poplin material and dye-sublimation. Polyester poplin is a soft fabric that is wrinkle-resistant. It’s commonly used for events and promotions because it is durable and drapes well. Napolitano says that the material and dye-sublimation makes the graphics look vibrant and it folds easily for transport.
Supplementing Signage
Recently, Awesome Graphics was approached by repeat customer Forefront Equine for a trade show display job. Forefront Equine creates dietary supplements to meet the needs of horses and dogs. The company needed to display multiple products at a trade show, including merchandise and product information.
Napolitano says that the customer’s main goal was to meet their deadline and stay within a budget of $3,000. The PSP created five pieces of signage for the booth. The pieces included two retractable banner stands with LED lights that displayed the customer’s product information, a front podium that converts into a case with a printed graphic, a tablecloth with the company’s logo, and an Echo 10-foot Curved Booth with LED lights as the center display. The Echo Curved Booth is made for durability, portability, and travelling ease.
To create the signage, Napolitano says that they used the Roland Eco-Sol Max 2 inks, available in CMYK colors with metallic silver, white, and light black. The inks are scratch, UV, and water resistant. Besides the company’s logo, the shop printed artwork including pictures of horses.
Napolitano says that the finished signage had great image quality and the entire project took two weeks to complete. She adds that it was easy to setup all of the pieces and to transport the case that converts into a podium. There were no challenges associated with the job and overall, the client was very satisfied.
Show Displays
Awesome Graphics began creating trade show signage to give their clients the best displays they could provide. “We were looking for models that would function beautifully, last long, and provide our clients with ease of set up, while making their business shine,” says Napolitano. In part two, we take a look at a PSP who incorporates digital displays into their trade show signage.
Click on the link above to get more information on the vendors mentioned in this article.
Dec2016, Digital Output DOTS1612
