Signs of the Times - September 2013 - (Page 66)

Celebrating Football Without Helmets Founded in 1884, the Gaelic Athletic Assn. (GAA) has promoted and supported such traditional Irish sports as Gaelic football, a fastpaced cousin to rugby, and hurling, which resembles field hockey. The organization stipulates that all athletes maintain amateur status (in a strict sense, not in the loosely interpreted “amateur” status of collegiate U.S. athletes). The association wanted to bolster its presence at Dublin’s Croke Park, a legendary Dublin playing field and GAA headquarters that celebrates its centennial this year. Hired through a branding agency, Dublin’s Artisan Solutions fabricated a GAA sign shaped in a traditional Celtic cross. The shop prepped the GAA sign using SolidWorks and CorelDRAW, and fabricated its backing mold from CNC-router-cut fiberglass. To create the shape, they pulled a sheet of flexible MDF over the ribs and coated the mold with wax before putting fiberglass netting over the form and brushing resin into the surface. After the signface dried, they removed the mold, filled it with resin and rubbed it down repeatedly until the desired finish was made. To decorate the face, Artisan Solutions applied water- based paint, which, once cured, was topped with two layers of lacquer. To accentuate its shape, fabricators airbrushed the sign in the shop’s paintbooth. Next, the shop welded an aluminum frame, which it secured within a larger, TIG-welded frame mounted on the exterior wall. The Champions’ Field The University of Arizona, long a baseball contender within the highly competitive Pac 12 and nationwide, wanted to promote its 2012 national championship with a series of digital graphics installed within Hi Corbett Stadium, the team’s home field. A university purchasing manager invited Metromedia Technologies (MMT), a NYC-based, digital-print provider with nationwide production facilities, to bid on the project. After having won the job, MMT gained access to a digital library of team photos, action shots and various U of A logos to be incorporated within the sign. The job involved more than 50 individual pieces – wall graphics, window graphics, pole wraps and other applications – and encompassed approximately 3,500 sq. ft. of vinyl, according to MMT’s Abhi Vyas. MMT produced the job with an array of vinyl materials – rigid-mounted, flexible-face vinyl; self-adhesive material; perforated window film and other substrates – that it printed on an Epson Stylus Pro GS 6000 solvent-ink printer and a Gandinnovations Jeti 3300 grand-format printer. The national-champion and player-photo window graphics were printed with Clear Focus Imaging’s ImageVue® perforated media, which is coated with 3M’s Scotchcal™ 8914 optically clear overlaminate. MMT produced door graphics using 3M’s Controltac with Comply media, which is protected with a Scotchcal 8520 matte-finish topcoat. “With so many pieces to be installed with so many different visual elements, it’s inevitable that there will be challenges,” Vyas said. “You just have to knowledgeable about materials and inks, be open with the customer, and be flexible.” 66 SIGNS OF THE TIMES / SEPTEMBER 2013 / www.signweb.com http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - September 2013

Signs of the Times - September 2013
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Who Uses the Phone Book?
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Commercial
Lighting Techniques
The Moving Message
Technology Review - DGS 3D POP store system
Technology Review - KIP C7800 poster printer
Design Matters
New Products
When the Cheering Starts
Enter the ST Intl. Sign Contest!
Starting at the Bottom
LED Lamps for Box/Cabinet Signs
The Aria’s 260-ft. Pylon Sign
Industry News
Advertising index
Editorially speaking

Signs of the Times - September 2013