Covering All Bases: Applied Graphics Keep Evolving
If you remember the days when you could leave the house and go places—least of all to trade events—you may recall that the number of surfaces and objects that can be festooned with graphics has been increasing seemingly exponentially—and sometimes in spectacular directions. For example, in our April print edition, which should be hitting mailboxes in the next couple of weeks, I wrote about a British company that gold foil-wrapped a luxury yacht:
Furthermore, when the International Sign Association’s Sign Expo takes place in August, it will feature not just the traditional vehicle wrapping contest, but a showcase of wrapping in general.
“People are wrapping just about everything,” says Jeff Stadelman, Marketing Manager for Mactac. “They’re wrapping for fun and bringing in branding, or for blending into a specific environment.” So, yes, cars, boats, refrigerators, as well as windows, walls, floors—you name it—are all good candidates for applied graphics. But, as I have written before, it is interior décor that is seeing a lot of the action these days. “The newest trend is transformative graphics for space re-utilization,” Stadelman adds.
New materials are constantly hitting the market, and they can all perform differently on press, or even during installation. As a result, the relationship between consumables supplier and print services provider has become a highly consultative one.
“As we are always bringing out new products, our thought leadership puts us in a great position to help our customers,” says Wayne Colbath, VP of Sales, USA, Drytac. “Some ways we deliver assistance to our customers is through our sales and product management team, white papers, educational seminars, videos, and partnering with industry experts. We have a fundamental belief that our success is directly tied to our customers success.”
Drytac offers a wide range of materials for an even wider range of surfaces. Two new materials in particular are ReTac Woodgrain, a woodgrain-embossed vinyl, with Drytac’s ReTac adhesive applied to the back. “The printable woodgrain texture gives you the ability to create unique looking environments, that is easy to apply, reposition, and remove,” says Colbath. “It won’t damage underlying surfaces when removed and even sticks to low-VOC paints. The vinyl comes with numerous fire ratings and is phthalate free.”
Polar Chrome is a printable PET satin reflective film with a permanent adhesive applied to the back. “This non-PVC products unique look allows you to create stunning graphics where a traditional looking print won’t do. Incorporating the unique face stock, amazing images are achieved that typical white printable materials can’t match,” adds Colbath.
Virtually all substrate manufacturers also serve as consultants.
“Mactac works closely in a consulting manner to help our customers achieve their goals in the best and most reliable manner possible,” says Mactac’s Stadelman. “We have a very experienced team of product managers and lab R&D professionals we use every day to help solve the most difficult applications to get the right answers to our customers. We also have a team working with the printer OEMs and other equipment manufacturers to make sure we are recommending, or developing, the right products for fit-for-use applications in our many different business units. We even develop custom products for many of our customers to fit their very specific job needs. In addition, Mactac develops performance guides and ICC Profiles for perfect printability. We have an extensive library of ‘How-to’ instructional guides and videos, all easily accessible on the Mactac website.”
Some new materials Mactac has released recently include New MDot Floors, and easy-to-install floor graphic material; upgraded StreetTRAX outdoor floor graphics media (“The only print-and-stick outdoor media certified by the National Floor Safety Institute NFSI for safety even when wet,” says Stadelman); a new version of BFree window material; GVC929v2, an economical slide-able vehicle wrap; and PERMAHOLD, a new line of adhesive tapes for the wide-format graphics and signage industry.
Décor and environmental graphics are hot applications for wide-format graphics providers, and restaurant interiors are a popular subset of décor (if you remember restaurants). In my home town of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., a new café and brewery called Walt & Whitman recently opened in a building that until a few years ago was the longtime home of the local newspaper, The Saratogian. Saratoga’s Grant Graphics produced the wall graphics for the eatery using a Mimaki CJV300 solvent printer/cutter and Drytac ReTac Smooth 150. The graphics were, appropriately, both newspaper- and horseracing-themed (the Pink Sheet is Saratoga Race Course’s guide to daily races during racing season).
Hotels are also a hot market for applied graphics installations, especially those that cater to families or are based on movie or TV franchises. The recently opened Cartoon Network Hotel in Lancaster, Pa., hired sign company Graphik Masters to decorate the interior using characters from Cartoon Network shows, and they—and Cassel, the installers—used Drytac’s ReTac Smooth 150. (Alas, as of this writing, the Cartoon Network Hotel is closed due to the COVID-19 crisis.) One of the features of this material—which is an important one for many applications—is not only that it boasts ease of installation, but also ease of removal. After all, a lot of these graphics are not meant to be permanent, so the ability to remove them without damaging the wall or other surface is vitally important.
Commercial interiors have been the traditional market for these kinds of graphics, but one that may become more substantial is the residential market.
A Mactac customer recently had an interior décor project that seems appropriate these days: a homeowner converted their living room into a home office, and wanted to use a window film to add privacy (specifically from the kitchen) while simultaneously letting in ample amounts of natural light. The customer approached Kitchen Concepts, a kitchen and bathroom remodeling company, who then partnered with The Visual Edge Signs & Design, a Centennial, Colo., sign and display graphics provider, who applied Mactac’s IMAGin B-free Frosted Window Film to the interior doors.
This is a good example of some of the unique partnerships that graphics providers are undertaking, as a lot of this kind of work does not come in via traditional printing channels. And while residential applications have been a small subset of environmental graphics, I suspect that will change, especially if the work-from-home trend/demand continues. After all, we’ll all need a compelling background for those Zoom conference calls.
The secret to success—and it’s probably not that much of a secret—is to have an intimate understanding of the substrate options, how they perform not just on press but on yourpress, and, most importantly, the environment in which a particular graphic is being installed. Not just the surface (stone vs. brick vs,. drywall vs. glass, vs....) but also whether it is indoor or outdoor, is it in direct sunlight or shaded, will it be subjected to extremes of temperature, will it get rained or snowed on, etc. Even indoor graphics can differ in environmental conditions. So constant education is vital.
“Pay attention to what’s new and what’s happening,” advises Mactac’s Stadelman. “Keep up with other shops, attend appropriate trade shows, and interact with your customers.”
And above all, don’t be afraid to experiment. In fact, it may be necessary. “Large-format graphics and signage have grown into consistently for the last 25 years,” says Drytac’s Colbath. “With any industry, as it matures, it can become more difficult to differentiate yourself from your competitors. The PSPs who survive and thrive in the face of competition are always pushing the envelope. They are typically early adopters of new ideas—technology, applications etc.”
And don’t be afraid to use social media—or the trade media like WhatTheyThink—to showcase or highlight unique projects. I love to hear about these kinds of projects.
