Large format, digital graphics have expanded the reaches of advertising and marketing, making it possible to turn an entire bus, a 700-square-foot wall, a tractor trailer, or even a department store floor into engaging promotions for everything from sneakers to steak tips.
The technology has been evolving over the past five years and has created a fast growing segment of the printing industry. Some estimate it could be a $50 billion business by the year 2001.
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Big graphics, however, aren’t just for ad execs. Designers and architects have used them to create unique architectural accents as well.
To add a touch of nostalgia to the sports pub Legends in Boston’s new FleetCenter, designers used a 10-foot by 70-foot photo mural showing fans watching the Bruins play the Montreal Canadians in the last Boston Garden game. Digital Graphics Inc. of Burlington, Mass., produced the photo mural from a panoramic photograph, printed it in eight separate strips, then installed it around the original, yellow letters that once hung outside the Garden, according to Robert Bekesha, vice president of sales and marketing.
Johnson & Wales University used the same technology to change the look of its buses by “wrapping” them with graphics, as part of an effort to update the school’s image.
“Johnson & Wales was always known for its buses that looked more like prison buses than anything else,” said Judi Johnson, executive director of university communications. “We thought it was such a great idea if we could change the look of the buses and to get a message out at the same time.
“They can have a similar look and all be different, and that’s been as cost effective as anything else,” she said.
Wall murals and bus graphics are created using hardware and software programs that allow images to be printed from a computer disk, instead of creating film and printing plates. In the process, any combination of text and images can be combined, printed on special paper, then transferred onto vinyl, fabric, ceramic tiles and other material.
The results look like what’s designed on computer, but close up the images may appear grainy since they are designed to be seen from a distance, said Robert Falcone, who runs Robert Falcone Design, Inc., an East Greenwich graphic design firm.
Before companies that wanted to use their trucks, buses or vans as moving billboards had to rely on cut vinyl letters, much simpler designs, or hand painted works, which could be more expensive and might not provide a uniform look. DGI created vinyl signs with pictures of steak tips for the 99 Restaurants’ trucks, as well as its own delivery van, which sports a larger-than-life photo of a skydiver.
Also, organizations using banners, which hang from walls or light poles, might have to have them hand sewn, painted, or use simpler graphics.
This relatively new technology, however, eliminates many of those concerns.
“You go to a mall (where they use banners) and you’ll have a tulip; where with our technology you could have a whole 20 foot array of flowers,” Bekesha said.
But even Bekesha agrees that the process is not necessarily the solution for everyone.
It is best for projects requiring limited editions, no more than 250 versions of a specific piece. Larger orders would be done more cost effectively by going to an offset printer.
Some retailers, for example, will use large format digital graphics to produce prototype store posters and displays, then set up a model store and ask employees for feedback, Bekesha said. Once a design is picked they will have displays mass produced using more cost effective printing methods. And small organizations that need just one banner promoting an event would likely be better off visiting a local sign shop for a cut vinyl sign, according to Andrea Reed, director of account services at the East Greenwich public relations firm Ahern to Bousquet.
There are definitely times when using large format digital graphics is a more desirable option, Reed added. For instance, she said, her agency used DGI to produce banners promoting annual Bryant College events and happenings at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. Though they may have paid a little more initially, the new banners are designed to resist fading, endure the elements, be put in storage, and used for six years.
It’s a good idea, she said, “when you can make a one-time investment and say we don’t have to revisit the major signage issue for at least two or three years.”
Such technology has also improved trade show signs, she said, with businesses being able to go beyond enlarging a picture or report cover and mounting it on foam board.
DGI was founded in November 1994 and opened its first satellite sales office in East Greenwich this month. Plans are ultimately to take the 35-employee company national, Bekesha said. Some local quick printers perform similar services to those offered by DGI.
With its growing list of Rhode Island clients, Bekesha said it made sense to have a sales rep here. Among its local customers: the zoo, Bryant and Johnson & Wales.
