TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Month’s SBI Trivia Question Stumper:
The Walgreen Company is building the largest sign ever constructed in Times Square. How big will it be?
For the answer, scroll to the bottom of the newsletter.
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Industry News
[[HOT TOPIC]] More "Green" Signage Initiatives
SBI Update is always happy to promote the companies in our industry who are doing the right thing and pushing environmentally-friendly "green" programs and putting them out there as viable options for sign builders. That said, take a look at two organizations doing just that:
HP Unveils New Environmentally Friendly Printer
HP recently unveiled its environmentally friendly HP Designjet L65500 Printer at drupa 2008. The printer offers print service providers a versatile system that can produce a range of applications on a variety of materials, including point-of-purchase displays, wall murals, vehicle graphics, transit signage, and much more. The printer is the first to feature HP Latex Printing Technologies, including HP Latex Inks, and reduces the impact of printing on the environment.
The water-based HP Latex Inks provide many environmental benefits including odorless prints that emit low levels of volatile organic compounds. In addition, the inks are non-flammable and non-combustible, and are not characterized as hazardous waste.
"From HP's perspective, environmental matters are growing in importance and we want to make sure that we are providing the best solutions for both our customers and the environment," said Santi Morera, vice president and general manager of large format printing commercial solutions for HP's Imaging and Printing Group, according to a press release. "The HP Designjet L65500 Printer with HP Latex Inks offers print service providers a compelling new alternative that will allow them to expand the variety of outdoor and indoor applications they can offer to environmentally conscious customers while also improving their overall printing atmosphere."
HP's environmental benefits expand to its 14 new large-format media, five of which are recyclable substrates. This media, coupled with the HP Designjet L65500 and HP Latex Printing Technology, work together to provide optimal results with every print. In addition, a new HP media surface-treatment technology produces a wide color gamut, and makes it possible to achieve both durability and vivid image quality on materials that typically do not print well with solvent inks.
HP's two new technologies, HP Wide Scan Printheads and the HP Optical Media Advance Sensor, increase the productivity and image quality of the HP Designjet L65500 Printer even more. For example, the HP Wide Scan Printheads enables consistent, high-quality output at breakthrough print speeds: approximately 800 square feet/hour for outdoor-quality prints, and 400 square feet/hour for indoor-quality prints.
HP is currently working with RIP software vendors to develop ways to tie in the HP Designjet L65500 Printer with software customers are already using. The company will also be launching a "Registered Developer Program," which will enable customers to choose from a variety of substrates for new and existing applications. The printers will be available in early 2009.
Nexxus Becomes an Energy Star Partner
Nexxus Lighting, Inc. recently announced that it has become an Energy Star Partner. Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that helps consumers save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.
Nexxus joins thousands of other retailers, manufacturers, and utilities who have already joined Energy Star. The announcement comes after a recent press release introducing its new Array Lighting line, which features the world's first 95 lumens per watt LED lamps. The lamps are environmentally friendly as they incorporate recycled plastics and packaging, while also using 80 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs. Nexxus will attempt to have these new lamps certified by Energy Star.
"Based on this new partnership, Nexxus will be testing its new Array Lighting LED lamps to achieve Energy Star certification," stated Zdenko Grajcar, Chief Technology Officer for Nexxus Lighting according to a press release. "This partnership enforces Nexxus Lighting's commitment and initiatives to increase energy savings for our customers and protect the global environment. The guidelines for Energy Star Certification as it relates to solid state lighting (SSL) have been established and by utilizing our patent pending Selective Heat Sink (SHS) technology we feel we will not only meet the standards, but exceed them."
Nexxus' Selective Heat Sink technology lowers thermal resistance and results in the lowest power, high efficacy LED lamps on the market.
-- Ashley Bray
SEGD Names Award Winners Following Last Month's Conference
The Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD), the global community for people who work at the intersection of communication design and the built environment, announced the presentation of several awards follwing the organization's successful conference last month.
Ronald Shakespear, founder of Buenos-Aires-based Dise-o Shakespear and father of environmental graphic design in Argentina, was named the 2008 SEGD Fellow. Fellows are selected for promoting the highest values in environmental graphic design, and significantly contributing to the direction and growth of the field.
Gary Anzalone of Precision Signs (Amityville, New York) and George Lim of Jacobs Carter Burgess and Tangram Design (Denver, Colorado) were presented with Angel Awards for promoting the highest values in environmental graphic design and significantly contributing to the direction and growth of SEGD.
The Texas Medical Center was presented with the Insight Award for consistently commissioning environmental graphic design programs that significantly enhance or promote opportunities for the field and environmental graphic design education, and demonstrating a long-standing commitment to recognize the field.
This year, for the first time, the winners received awards designed by Massimo Vignelli and fabricated by Design Communications Ltd.
Exceptional Expo booths also received awards:
Best Booth: Graphtec
Best Fabricator Booth: Skyline Design
Best Materials Supplier Booth: SH[i] Folia
Best New Product: Mega Media Concepts
Best Artisan Booth: Marcel Machler
The Expo Award batons were designed and fabricated by Poblocki Sign Company. All the winners accepted their awards at the SEGD 2008 Annual Conference & Expo, which took place May 28-31 in Austin, Texas.
"Get Smart" With Signage
Warner Bros. has teamed up with ten marketing partners to promote its new movie, Get Smart. Hamilton Watch, Anheuser-Busch, Visa, and Swiss Army Knife are among the partners that have signed up to promote the movie. Subway, Vespa, and PepsiCo's Sierra Mist are also onboard, and have launched extensive signage campaigns to promote the movie.
Sierra Mist is offering a new flavor called "Undercover Orange," and the soda's label features the movie's two main characters, Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) and Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), along with the phrase "Get Smart In Theaters."
Similarly, Subway is offering a 32-oz collectible cup promoting the movie, and it is also launching an extensive "Get Smart, Eat Fresh" campaign that will feature point-of-purchase signage, and an instant-win game and sweepstakes. The sweepstakes is a joint effort by both Subway and Vespa Scooters, and features such prizes as a Vespa GTS 250 scooter, and a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger. The game is advertised on both the Subway and Vespa websites, as well as on signage and counter cards at both locations.
"We went for quality as opposed to quantity," Gene Garlock, senior vice president of worldwide promotions, told Brandweek of Warner Bros.' choice of marketing partners. "The object is to build buzz and use other people's money to help supplement and boost our own marketing budget."
Get Smart is not the first heavily promoted film, and the trend has been seen with other recent movies such as Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. So what leads companies to jump onboard with these movies? The ability to reach more people if the movie promises to be a blockbuster is definitely one reason. According to an article in Advertising Age, Paolo Timoni, president-CEO of Piaggio USA, which sells Vespa scooters, claims that he believes 20,000 to 30,000 people will take a look at his scooters as a result of his company's advertising efforts.
Companies also promote movies in order to be associated with the content and message. "There are a lot of different kinds of comedies out there," Michelle Cordial, director--brand management at Subway, told Advertising Age. "This [Get Smart] is a smart comedy. We like to think of our customers as being smart."
Whatever the reason, companies don't need to "get smart" to the advantages of creating signage that promotes a movie while also promoting their own products.
-- Ashley Bray
ISA Gets New Location and Brand
The International Sign Association (ISA) changed its location and refreshed its brand identity when it moved to 1001 North Fairfax Street in Alexandria, Virginia on May 27.
The new headquarters boast of many "green" features, including low energy fluorescent and LED lighting and glue-free carpeting. ISA hopes to promote environmental awareness with the new location. "Early on, the group collectively agreed the office relocation was a perfect opportunity for ISA to make a statement on behalf of the larger industry, in essence to say, 'We are the face of the sign industry, and we care about environmental issues that are affecting businesses on a global level,'" said ISA President and CEO Lori Anderson, according to a press release from ISA.
ISA also revamped its brand identity with a more versatile logo that better reflects the sign industry and can be used in print and online. "Throughout the re-branding process, our goal was to collaborate with our members and the board to develop a logo that would reflect the industry's flair for innovation and also be representative of all segments of the multi-faceted sign industry," said Laurie Kusek, ISA's director of communications and marketing, according to an ISA press release. "The finished product is contemporary and straightforward, yet it maintains a cutting-edge feel."
-- Ashley Bray
LED Illumination Inventor Hailed for Improving on Light Bulb
Famed inventor Dean Kamen recently presented the 35th Annual National Inventor of the Year Award to Dr. Ihor Lys of Color Kinetics (now Philips Solid State Lighting Solutions) at the Old Patent Office building in Washington D.C. Kamen said Dr. Lys "stood on the shoulders of giants" such as Thomas Edison and improved on the best known invention of all -- the light bulb -- by developing a breakthrough technology for increasing the efficiency and lowering the cost of light emitting diode (LED) lighting systems. Dr. Lys co-founded Color Kinetics in 1997. The company had an initial public offering in June 2004, and was acquired by Philips in 2007 for close to $1 billion.
Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation, the sponsor of the National Inventor of the Year Award, issued a release on June 2 describing the Lys invention. Lys received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. He was selected as America's most outstanding inventor for 2008 in the competition with other inventors who have patented or developed inventions in the past four years.
Kamen, who presented the award on behalf of the foundation, is a tireless advocate for science and technology. He has developed healthcare and other important inventions including the revolutionary, 2-wheel Segway personal transporter, and holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents. He finds a "world of ideas" more exciting than a "world of stuff."
According to Kamen, intellectual property rights are critical to the creation of technology that can advance our lives. He said Dr. Lys is a great example of a brilliant inventor who took existing light emitting diode technology and other devices and "put it all together" in a new energy-saving invention. He called Dr. Lys a leading "technology hero" who deserves great recognition from society for his contributions.
SOURCE: Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation
New Appointments
Alliance Metals
of West Chester, Pennsylvania, named Martin Bullen Director, Inventory Management. Martin will manage inventory operations while reporting directly to President and CEO Jim Geddes.
Schr仕er Lighting USA
announced Brian Keilt's appointment as Eastern Regional Sales Manager. Schr仕er Lighting USA, the newest of the 40-member Schr仕er Group G.I.E. located in 36 countries on four continents, is marketing the Schr仕er brand in the fields of public lighting, floodlighting, tunnel/transit lighting, industrial and urban lighting. Keilt is responsible for overseeing the firm's sales force in the eastern section of the U.S. In addition, he will work with the specification lighting community, including lighting designers, architects, engineers, departments of transportation, and municipalities, to fulfill their commercial outdoor lighting needs, specifically in the area of public and urban lighting, tunnel and transit lighting.
Meetings and Events
JULY
July 16 - 20: The Mid South Sign Association's (MSSA) Annual Summer Convention, Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa, Florence, Alabama. For more information, go to www.midsouthsignassociation.org.
July 29 - 30: ISA Supplier and Distributor Conference, Hilton Lisle Hotel, Naperville, Illinois. Visit www.signs.org/tradeshows for more information.
Sponsored Links
DPSBanners.com --
DPSBanners.com offers large format digital printing on vinyl banners, mesh banners, magnetic car sign and flatbed printing on foam board, Gator Board, Coroplast and more! Wholesale to the trade, best prices! Order Online! 1-888-790-2665. www.dpsbanners.com
Quality Manufacturing Inc. --
A wholesale industry leader in formed faces. Specializing in LARGE 3-D plastic forming and special shape illuminated UL-approved signs. 800/243-5473. www.qualitymanufacturing.com
This Month's Trivia Answer:
The new Walgreen sign, expected to be unveiled this fall in Times Square, weighs 250,000 pounds and will be covered with 17,000 square feet of LED (12 million LED bulbs in total), and is some 341 feet tall.
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For in-depth coverage of these topics and other
sign industry topics, check out
www.signshop.com
ATTENTION ADVERTISERS and SUBSCRIBERS:
Coming up in the July 2009 Readership Survey issue of
Sign Builder Illustrated,
feature articles on:
Digital Printing Media
Dimensional CNC Routing
Gold Leaf Applications
LED Channel Letters and Sign Cabinets
HDU Sign Banks
Vehicle Graphic Vinyl
ATTENTION ADVERTISERS and SUBSCRIBERS:
Coming up in the August 2008 Readership Survey issue of
Sign Builder Illustrated,
feature articles on:
Dimensional Engraving
Fluorescent Lighting
LED Message Centers
Vinyl Magnets
Tri-face Installation
Vinyl Application Fluid
Contact your ad sales representative to reserve your space today.
As the premier e-newsletter for the sign industry, SBI Update encourages readers to send feedback on what you like, what you'd like to see, and any other comments you might have. To do so, send an e-mail to Managing Editor Chris Ytuarte at cytuarte@sbpub.com.
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© 2008 Simmons-Boardman Publishing
345 Hudson St., 12th Floor • New York, NY 10014
212-620-7200
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Steel Art Company
"Exclusively to the Sign Trade"
Letters and Logos Waterjet cut or Channel Style. All metals. Standard and Custom Finishing. LEDs, Raster Braille in Metal, Etching.
Most solid cut ship in 8 - 10 days.
....at the start..consider the finish...STEEL ART COMPANY
www.steelartco.com
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The ValueJet 1608-64" is MUTOH'S new and exciting ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY Hybrid Printer solution using Mutoh's Patented Intelligent Interweaving Print Technique. The ValueJet 1608 uses Mutoh's NEW MUBIO INK! The MUBIO INK is the only ink-jet ink recognized by the EPA Design for the Environment program! Visit:
www.mutoh.com
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Ad-Tech International, Inc. For wholesale only, same-day quotes, 800-327-0150 or sales@adtechintl.com. Ad-Tech delivers within 180 miles of Atlanta (common carrier elsewhere) on sign faces, cabinets, computer printed graphics, LED channel letters, tri-face, banners, flex-face, 3D, floor graphics, Duralite EPS foam, and more! For more information, click here:
www.adtechintl.com
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Nova Polymers introduces WorkFlow Manager, a new software package that streamlines photopolymer sign production to save you time and money. In the time it takes to read this advertisement, you can create 200 unique ADA compliant room signs with WorkFlow Manager. For more information on WorkFlow Manager, visit www.novapolymers.com or call 888.484.6682.
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The new Mimaki JV5-320 Grand format is fast and functional. Advanced print heads make it capable of producing high quality, close-view graphics for many outdoor and indoor applications. The media range includes specialty substrates, textiles and vinyls to name a few. The UISS function supports constant printing without running out of ink. For information, click here: Mimaki USA
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Lower your costs and outsell the competition! ABC Sign Products' sign frame systems can be built with about half the labor, less training and higher quality than steel sign frames. With ABC's diverse line of frames systems, build every size, shape for any application and outsell your competition. See more at:
www.abcsignproducts.com
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The new KomAlu aluminum clad sheet from Kommerling is ideal for outdoor applications and will effectively display your message for at least 5 years. KomAlu is available in several sheet sizes and has film masking on both sides for added protection. To learn more, click on:
Kommerling
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In an effort to help our clients stay one step ahead, EconoChannel now offers Econo Rapid Service to meet the on-demand needs of our industry. Next Day Shipping for all stock inventory, 5 Day and 10 Day Guaranteed Shipping for non-stock products. To receive a free catalog, call 800/991-2669. For more information, click on:
www.econochannel.com
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Sign Builder Illustrated:
The How-To Book Vol. 1 Learn secrets to fabricating neon, illuminating with LED, sandblasting signs, applying paints, cutting and printing vinyl, and more in this 288-page, full-color reprinting of Sign Builder Illustrated's trademark How-To articles. To visit the How-to Book Web site, click on: SBI How-To Book
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Sign Builder Illustrated
Buyer's Guide 2007
Published twice per year in March and September, the Buyer's Guide lists manufacturers, distributors, and sign companies that comprise the industry in the U.S. and Canada. SBI Buyer's Guide
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Sign Builder Illustrated presents:
Vehicle Graphics 101 Check out this special SBI supplement for all the information you need to get started, get good, and get profitable in the world of vehicle graphics. From wrap schools and required tools, to marketing your skills and paying the bills, this How-to supplement has it all. Check out the digital version here:
Vehicle Graphics 101
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Sign Builder Illustrated
Goes Digital With live hyperlinks to video clips, advertiser information, and other features, SBI Digital offers the newest online technology with the familiar layout of a hardcopy issue. To view an example, click on:
SBI Digital Magazine
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SEGD Awards
