Big Picture - April 2018 - 18

BIG PICTURE

April 2018

EYES ON THE PRIZE

Graphic Trends
provided printed
signage and
graphics for six
downtown Los
Angeles locations
for Nike leading up
to the 2018 NBA
All-Star game,
including a
takeover of The
Westin Hotel
[above]. The hotel's
windows were
wrapped with white
interior-mounted
CAD-cut vinyl
and 3M IJ35 vinyl,
output on the
shop's EFI Vutek LX3
Pro and HP Scitex
FB10000.

ever-ending social media posts. Emails
constantly dinging into your inbox. The latest
podcast now streaming. Today's consumer is
overwhelmed with status updates, news,
information, advertisements, and notifications,
not to mention the growing reign of e-commerce.
While headlines throughout the past five years have
declared brick-and-mortar retail another alleged casualty of
the millennial generation, the data show another story. While
79 percent of Americans report making purchases online, only
about 15 percent make online purchases on a weekly basis,
according to a 2016 report from Pew Research Center. And
two-thirds of online shoppers actually prefer buying from
physical stores, especially when purchasing something for the
first time. US shoppers value the in-store experience of asking
employees questions, comparing prices, and being able to see,
feel, and try out the item they're interested in buying.
Though consumers may prefer shopping in a store, their
purchasing decisions ultimately come down to price. Email
blasts, Twitter and Instagram feeds, Google ads, and myriad
other mediums constantly bombard shoppers with steals and
deals. How can a brick-and-mortar retailer break through?
With so many distractions vying for a customer's attention,
retail and point-of-purchase displays have to be more than

eye-catching. They have to be absolutely riveting.
Sure, an artfully arranged display may grab a potential
customer's attention for a few seconds. But taking a display
to the next level with digitally printed graphics is a surefire
way to truly captivate passersby. And the more off-the-wall,
the better.

MAKE IT POP
Brian O'Leary, business development manager for Los
Angeles-based Graphic Trends (graphictrends.net) says
customers are becoming more and more open to "experimental stuff." An example? One client started out asking for a
display with some standard PVC and Falconboard prints, "but
then all of a sudden, they wanted to get a bunch of old-school
30-inch TVs, bust them up, and have them hanging [from the
ceiling] from the actual power cords." Smashed up TVs are
certainly not your typical display material.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg for Graphic Trends.
Another P-O-P project in the works involves floating snowflakes, hanging printed champagne bottles, and dimensional,
holographic vinyl backdrops. A footwear client has ordered
window graphics that transform each window into a finish line
for a running shoe. A job in progress for a mobile phone
company has the team incorporating printed PET floor

http://www.graphictrends.net

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - April 2018