TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Month’s SBI Trivia Question Stumper:
Where was the world's first neon sign put on display?
For the answer, scroll to the bottom of the newsletter.
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Industry News
[[HOT TOPIC]] USSC Sign World USA Comes to Atlantic City Next Week
The United States Sign Council opens its annual event in Atlantic City, New Jersey is just a few days, and this year promises another can't-miss educational and networking event for sign professionals.
Taking place December 4 - 6 at the Atlantic City Convention Center, the show will offer three days of informative seminars, instructional hands-on workshops, and a show floor with hundreds of companies exhibiting their newest products. (For an eye-catching environmental story about the Convention Center itself, click here: "The Atlantic City Convention Center Solar Panel Project is the largest single solar array on top of any one roof space in North America.")
And of course, there's the crowd favorite Bullpen, spotlighting some of the best signmakers on the market today as they show of their skills in action. There will be pinstriping panel jams, the exclusive USSC large panel sign painting competition, dramatic wood and foam carving, full scale vehicle striping and decorating, airbrush wizardry, and vinyl decorating on various surfaces.
Stop by to meet your favorite Sign Builder Illustrated staff member (find us at Booth #901), and remember to check out as many seminars and workshops as possible. A few we recommend:
Thursday, 11 am to 1 pm: LARGE SURFACE SIGN VINYL APPLICATION (hands-on). Instructor: Kevin Conheeney and Jesse Gioulis, Co-Sign Design. Learn the "wet" method of achieving wrinkle-free floating of vinyl sections on large sign faces plus practical tips on vinyl cutting, weeding, and inlaying of complex copy.
Thursday, 2:00 to 3:30 pm: THE ROAD TO PROFITABLE VEHICLE WRAPPING. Instructor: Ward Schneider, Schneider Graphics. Although the market for vehicle wraps is hot, the road to a successful vehicle wrapping business is riddled with potholes. Learn from an experienced owner of one of the country's leading custom wrapping shops how to avoid the obstacles toward profitability and ensure a successful future.
Friday, 8:30 to 10:30 am: DIGITAL PRINTING FOR THE SMALL COMMERCIAL SIGN SHOP (hands-on). Instructor: Butch Anton, Superfrog Signs. This session is designed to help those who have gotten into digital printing or want to get into digital printing. It will cover how to get started, what equipment is needed, inks used, printing problems, profiles, and settings plus how to print on specialty films such as chromes and reverse printing. Students will be required to complete two hands-on projects during the workshop as well as various samples.
Friday, 11:00 am to 12:30 pm: LIGHTS OUT. Instructor: Richard Crawford, USSC. A discussion of how to use the latest USSC research on lighting to gain approvals when a town bans internal illumination. Learn what type of lighting is best for optimum legibility plus all about the latest USSC research focusing on lighting and how you can use this research in your sign business.
For a full list of all seminars, workshops, exhibitors, social events, and show schedule for the USSC Sign World USA 2008, go to www.ussc.org/main_signworld.html.
And of course, as we do every year, we have to recommend the best place in Atlantic City for a good meal during the USSC show, Dock's Oyster House. Check out the menu and make a reservation at www.docksoysterhouse.com (and tell 'em Sign Builder Illustrated sent you!)
Gilmore Group Creates "Urban Branding" Spectacular Marking Walgreens' Return to Times Square
Pharmacy industry leader Walgreens marks its retail return to Times Square at 8:00 pm tonight with the official lighting of the largest-ever "Spectacular" outdoor digital video signage to grace the Great White Way. Conceived and designed by branding and design firm Gilmore Group, and constructed by D3, New York City, Walgreens One Time Square sign wraps three sides of the landmark soaring 17-stories (212-feet-high) in a continuous display of video and animation produced by 12 million LEDs and numerous giant plasma video screens.
"In designing Walgreens One Times Square spectacular, our goal was to achieve the pinnacle of urban branding, to tell the public that Walgreens has returned, and to send a message to Wall Street that this traditionally quiet company has very aggressive plans," said Arthur Gilmore, President and CEO, Gilmore Group. "The fastest way for Walgreens to drive home the point is to become the dominant brand presence in the center of the media universe--Manhattan's One Times Square, at the corner of Broadway and 42nd Street."
As the largest individual out-of-home advertising medium, Walgreens' One Times Square sign will deliver (1,600,00 impressions daily) content 20 hours a day, 365 days a year, in an endless loop of paid advertising, Walgreens' branding and promotions, and Times Square nostalgia. Each hour of programming will include up to 30-minutes of paid advertising (six minutes maximum per hour per brand), plus Walgreens branding and promotional spots, and animated interstitial material. Four Platinum Charter advertisers have signed multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts. Advertising sales are handled by ABC New Media Services. GG Media, a division of Gilmore Group, will produce Walgreens branding, promotional and related content.
"This special location demanded something completely different than anything ever seen on Times Square," added Gilmore, whose designers conceived giant diagonal video screens that soar from street level to rooftop. "The digital signage runs around the bottom of the entire building and ascends to embrace One Times Square like a giant slash that visually dominates the vista on all sides and makes a bold visual statement that defines the new Walgreens."
"Producing content for Walgreens One Times Square poses some interesting challenges," said Gilmore Group managing director Greg Tribbe, who expects to create about nine minutes of original content monthly over the coming year. "We have to craft messages that will stop people in their tracks so we took inspiration from the traditional billboard style along with a healthy dose of influence from 'Blade Runner' and 'Minority Report.' "Since passersby will engage and dis-engage with the content in an on-going manner, the animation cannot follow traditional advertising story cycles. Instead it must cover the entire story idea at a glance and be visually stimulating enough to get people to look up and hold their attention."
DigiFab Systems Wins DPI Product of the Year Award for Textile Media
DigiFab Systems, a manufacturer of pre- and post-press digital-printing equipment, CAD - RIP software and pre-treated textiles, won the Digital Printing and Imaging Association (DPI) 2008 Product of the Year Award in the Textile Media category. Winners were announced at the recently held SGIA Show.
DigiFab Systems was given the award for its inkjet printable Cotton Canvas product line for the wide-format printing market.
"This award is the recognition of our strong position in inkjet printable fabrics and fabric coating technologies gained through many years of development," said Marty Silveira, sales manager for DigiFab Systems. "We believe that fabric printing is going to significantly impact and drive the digital printing market in 2009 and for many years after."
The DPI Product of the Year Award recognizes the pre-eminent products in the field of digital graphics--those products that have clearly provided new definition of the industry's technology for 2008 and beyond.
DigiFab Systems is a innovative developer and manufacturer of software, supplies, and equipment for the digital printing industry. Recognized for its groundbreaking processes and patents for pre-treating fabrics to ready them for use in digital printers, DigiFab Systems is continuing its innovation in the sign and graphic arts sectors. The product lines currently include pre-treated fabrics, CAD - RIP software for textile and graphics applications, heat presses, steamers, and printers. DigiFab Systems has headquarters in Los Angeles and conducts business globally.
Lightweight Banner Material Helps Decrease Environmental Impact
As part of LexJet's ongoing effort to provide responsible and dependable products that measurably reduce the wide-format printing industry's environmental impact, LexJet introduces 3R DuPont Tyvek SUV, which is compatible with solvent, low-solvent, and UV-curable printers.
"LexJet's core environmental philosophy is to provide our customers with products that can be re-used, recycled, or reduce the amount of waste and the by-products of that waste," says John Lane, LexJet's vice president. "In turn, LexJet customers are able to provide their customers with real, responsible, and practical solutions when an environmentally-friendly solution is specified as part of a graphics program."
LexJet 3R DuPont Tyvek SUV, which will begin shipping in January 2009, was specifically developed to provide the industry with a truly sustainable inkjet-printable solution that incorporates the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The base Tyvek material also adheres to DuPont's sustainable manufacturing standards.
This new material is extremely lightweight and uses 70 percent less material than similar banner materials and is just as durable. Its weight is only 142 g/m2, which reduces environmental impact across the supply chain, from manufacturing to shipping to disposal. In stark contrast to LexJet 3R DuPont Tyvek SUV, the leading "green" banner material weighs in at more than 500 g/m2.
Compared to typical scrim banner material, LexJet 3R DuPont Tyvek SUV is extremely durable, making it ideal for graphics that can be re-used repeatedly for a variety of trade-show, outdoor signage, and display applications. It also features a nice photographic finish for vivid, eye-catching graphics.
LexJet 3R DuPont Tyvek is made of 100-percent recyclable high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which is accepted at most local recycling facilities. As part of the launch of this product in early 2009, LexJet will also provide alternative recycling programs that will ensure the material is recycled and re-used to create other products through the recycling process.
For a great sustainable solution, partner LexJet 3R DuPont Tyvek SUV with LexJet's new Bamboo dECO Banner Stand. The new banner stand is constructed out of bamboo, a highly renewable and abundant organic source, and offers the same high performance as other similar banner stand products for repeated use and long-term displays.
SGIA Announces 2009 Workshop Schedule
SGIA (Specialty Graphic Imaging Association) released the 2009 schedule for its hands-on, information-packed workshops, which are held primarily at SGIA headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. From basic screen printing methods to advanced finishing techniques, the workshops meet the wide range of specialty imaging processes.
Next year's workshops are:
Intro to Digital Printing (February 26 - 27): Learn about the latest digital technologies and production workflows that can add value to your current business.
Color Management for Specialty Imaging (March 5 - 6)(August 13 - 14): Discover how an effective color management system can reduce costly redoes and improve production efficiencies.
Special Effects: Enhance Your Textile Prints (March 18 - 20): Consumers want more "bling" for their buck. Explore the techniques that help you fulfill this growing demand.
Screen Making: Basic to Professional (April 20 - 24) (December 7 - 11): Take your screen printing operation up a notch with the screen making skills and methods you'll acquire from this class.
Graphics Four-Color Process: Controlling the Variables (June 2 - 5) (November 3 - 6): It's a complex printing process, but masters of the four-color process gain an edge over the competition.
Direct to Garment Digital (June 11 - 12): Should your apparel printing business go digital? This course will answer your questions and make you more comfortable handling these cutting-edge devices.
Laminating & Finishing: Profits in Post-Print (June 25 - 26): Find out how finishing options can make you an invaluable print shop to your customers and a one-source destination.
Textile Printing: Basic to Professional (November 16 - 20): If you've hired new employees, educate them on the correct textile printing methods from the industry experts with this basic to advanced course.
Register and learn more for this course and other educational opportunities at SGIA.org, Keyword: Events.
New Appointments
Permlight for Signs
, a leading provider of brilliant LED lighting for signs, announced that William "Bill" Hamm has been named vice president of North American sales. Hamm will be responsible for managing all aspects of Permlight for Signs sales, including managing and enhancing relationships with existing customers and establishing new partnerships with distributors, sign companies and major retail accounts.
Meetings and Events
DECEMBER
Dec 4 - 6: USSC Sign World USA will be held in the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. For more information, call 212/785-1922, or visit www.ussc.org.
Sponsored Links
Radocy Inc --
For over 50 years, Radocy Inc has been a sign industry source for telescopic cranes that are user friendly, cost effective and dependable. www.radocy.com
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
This Month's Trivia Answer:
The first public display of a neon sign was of two 38-foot long tubes in December, 1910 at the Paris Expo in France.
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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 December 2008 USSC Sign World USA issue of
Sign Builder Illustrated,
feature articles on:
Digital Printing Hardware
Dimensional CNC Routers
Digital Signs
LED Channel Letters and Sign Cabinets
Flexible Magnets
Aerial Platforms and Cranes
Cedar and Redwood Sign Blanks
Vinyl Cutters/Plotters
ATTENTION ADVERTISERS and SUBSCRIBERS:
Coming up in the January 2009 issue of
Sign Builder Illustrated,
feature articles on:
ADA Installation
Digital Printing Growth Management
Dimensional Monuments
LED Message Centers
P-O-P Installation
Vinyl Tools
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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Tetra Power White
LED Lighting System GE Lumination introduces the new Tetra Power White LED System for channel letters that is now 89% brighter at less than half the cost per lumen. Tetra Power White delivers an impressive 66 lumens of brilliant white light. Perfect for large backlit and reverse-halo applications. To learn more, call 1-888-MY-GE-LED or visit: www.lumination.com
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Use Fewer Modules
With Brighter Results ChanneLED 5 offers simplicity and flexibility while providing bright, vivid and uniform illumination for face-lit channel letters, sign cabinets, cove lighting, and an endless array of low-voltage applications. ChanneLED 5 features brighter LEDs, wider viewing angles, rugged module design, easy installation and a warranty of up to 5 years. Available in red, white and warm white. For more info, click on: www.SloanLED.com
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Ultraflex Eco-Friendly Options Ultraflex Systems, Inc., shows innovative spirit and environmental responsibility with BIOflex biodegradable PVC front-lit sign media, BIOmesh biodegradable mesh, and PolyeLite recyclable lightweight (4.5oz) durable polyethylene (UV printing) for billboard/banner applications. These eco-friendly products are amongst over 30 offerings including Frontlit, Backlit, Blockout, Mesh, Wallscapes, Carpet and Rigid medias. For more information, call 973/627-8608 or click: www.ultrafleXX.com
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Stimpson Fasteners: Made in the U.S.A., Shipped Worldwide Stimpson Company, Inc., has developed 3,800 different styles of eyelets, grommets, and washers to meet the requirements of our customers. Established in 1852, we are celebrating our 156th year in business and ship over 3 billion parts annually. Please call one of our Customer Service Representatives at 877-765-0748, or click on: www.stimpson.com
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Mimaki's JV33 is the perfect wide-format solvent inkjet printer for those who want to stretch their budget without cutting performance. The JV33 has taken the best of the JV3 and made it better with 54" and 64" models for all types of applications. It's fast, it's solid and it's loaded with features. 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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Rapid Tac Inc. is turning 21!! The original and still the best in the application fluids and adhesive removal products, we would like to show our appreciation by offering discount and promotional coupons this year. Look for our promo mailers and new product information in your mail box soon! Click here for free videos: www.rapidtac.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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EconoChannel's Rapid Service offers Next Day turnaround on cabinets and formed faces, 2-Day turnaround on painted cabinets, 3 & 5-Day turnaround on channel letters, and 10-Day turnaround on decorated pan & embossed faces. Save yourself the headaches and give EconoChannel a call at 800-991-2669. Restrictions apply, please call for details. www.EconoChannel.com
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Sunfire LED Sunfire LED provides innovative LED lighting solutions to the outdoor sign industry. Our NEW modules, sl-20x, feature 12 VDC constant voltage technology and IP68 waterproof certification that make them perfect for any indoor or outdoor application. Contact us today to try them yourself. Call (800) 959-7890 or visit: www.SunfireLED.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 2008
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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Times Square Spectacular