Big Picture - March 2017 - 22

BIG PICTURE

March 2017

Stretching 100 feet
wide and four
stories tall, the
M&M'S store on
Times Square is
tough to miss. But
with holiday
graphics from KDM
P.O.P. - a monthlong undertaking
- it's unforgettable.

for local bars, restaurants, and breweries. Owner Mark Dorey
says their reputation spread quickly through the food and
beverage business once vendors saw what they were capable
of. "They're looking for the next thing so they can be ahead of
the game a little bit," he says. "Traditional neon signs [hanging] in bars are almost coming to an end. People are so used
to it that they don't even notice it anymore."
When it comes to table wraps, the shop has learned not to
wrap around the edges of the table, preferring a slight inset
from the perimeter to minimize wear and tear. The wraps last
at least two years, but Dorey says clients usually want more
frequent changes "to freshen up the look."
Another increasingly popular spot for graphics is cooler
doors. Robinson says he's seeing this quite a bit in convenience stores; Dorey's been able to use the spot to flex some
digital creativity in bars, as well. For example, a local ski
chalet wanted to hide its keg room from view. Eminent used a
white underbase on Mactac Imagin B-free Frosted Window
film to make the graphic pop while allowing the cooler's light
to shine through. Dorey says the key to installing on a cold
surface like a cooler is to leave the door open for a bit to allow
it to warm up and for condensation to dissipate, and then to
use lots of heat to make sure the vinyl bonds well.

A MATERIAL WORLD
Nothing says "personalization" like a graphic on a piece of
reclaimed wood, or "seasonal" like a magnetic-receptive
campaign that can be changed out in a matter of minutes. If
a retailer is looking for something unique, there's a good
chance they can be won over with something as simple as
the substrate. Consider these examples:

Fabrics: Walk into any imaging tradeshow and you're
bound to hear the words "digital textile printing" within 50
feet of the door. Textiles are lightweight, so they're easy to
ship; the prints are vibrant; and the effect is one of luxury.
Retailers are no stranger to the trend.
"Five or six years ago, with wall graphics you either had a
satin laminate or a matte laminate, and that was sort of it,"
says Bishop. But since the explosion of fabric adhesive
wallpapers, Boom has, almost by accident, developed a
reputation for using - and stocking - specialized materials.
They'd pick up one or two rolls of a material, learn how to use
it, and then another customer would request something else.
Suddenly, they were "that company that generally has one or
two rolls of everything." An inventory headache, perhaps, but
when other print shops start calling you for help, you must be
doing something right. Boom prints fabrics on their HP Latex
series printers.
KDM has taken a more cautious approach to exploring
fabric media, but they're certainly not ignoring the trend. The
company has moved away from dye sublimation and is
actively researching a number of latex-printable materials for
some of its clients.
Magnetic-Receptive: "The P-O-P world is temporary by
nature," says KDM's Maureen Gumbert. Seasonal campaigns,
frequently changing prices, and that ever-growing desire to
keep things fresh are all huge motivators for retailers to
consider magnetic systems.
Bishop says they go through so much magnetic-receptive
material - in the neighborhood of 8000 square feet each
month - that they've started sourcing it themselves directly
from China. Many of their customers update their graphics as

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - March 2017