Specialty Fabrics Review April 2022 - 34

With fabric you have
all these different
characteristics
and attributes that
can really give our
customers a chance
to be unique.
Jeff Nonte
TVF
so it was an easy transition for us into
banner vinyl and all the different types
of PVC substrates that can go along
with that.
" With textiles, print services
providers can achieve a really upscale,
professional graphic with rich colors
and high resolution, " he says. " Textiles
are becoming increasingly more
popular for event, trade show and
retail signage. "
EGD IS A GROWTH AREA
In addition to retail and event
signage, textiles are fertile territory for
environmental graphic design (EGD),
a multidisciplinary field using graphic
design, architecture, art and lighting
to enhance the user experience in the
built environment. Examples include
wayfinding systems, digital signage,
wall and floor graphics and backlit
displays in airports, museums and
corporate settings.
" Fabric has become a lot more
prominent, " says Brian Hite, principal
and cofounder of Image Options,
a Foothill Ranch, Calif., company
specializing in brand experiences,
designing, fabricating and printing
customer projects for corporate, retail
and trade show customers. " We've been
in fabrics since 1999, so we started out
printing fabrics with the electrostatic
transfer process and now we are all
large format digital, direct and dyesublimation
up to 5 meters wide. "
Hite says that over the past several
years, the company has placed a
greater focus on developing the EGD
division of the business. " We were
predominately event, exhibit and
retail driven for many years with some
corporate interior signage. But we're
doing a lot more interior work now.
All of the work is corporate and store
interiors and installations. It's not your
typical home goods type product. "
The EGD and production side of
the business has been a growth area
for Image Options based in part on
changes brought on by the pandemic.
" With as commoditized as much of
ABOVE: Fabric is being used these days for
applications unheard of not that long ago. This
platform for a Super Bowl event uses fabric
supplied by TVF of Carmel, Ind.
LEFT: TVF's Supernova fabric is used as part of
the SEG frame. " Over the last decade, the market
has continued to transition from PVC banners to
textiles for soft signage, " says Jeff Nonte, TVF
vice president. Photos: TVF
the print market has become, and the
fact that our core business of events
and trade shows has been so depressed
with the impact of the pandemic, the
environmental side of the business has
stayed relatively strong and is growing, "
says Hite. " They're not going to cancel
a $100 million office build because
they're contracted out several years
ahead of time. That money is already
allocated, and even if it will not have
occupancy right away, they're going
to complete the space. "
34 SPECIALTY FABRICS REVIEW / April 2022
Specialty Fabrics Review April 2022

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