LexJet brandUP: Supporting Ringling College Students’ VR Game at SXSW

South by Southwest, or as it’s more commonly known, SXSW, is a convergence of creatives across the interactive, film and music industries held annually in Austin, Texas. Marketers exhibit brand roll-outs and new products and applications to attendees.

One brand activation at the 2019 festival featured a group of talented students from Ringling College of Art + Design. About 35 students, studying graphic design, game art, illustration, motion design and business of art and design, launched “Wet Dog Corp.” a futuristic, arcade-style virtual reality game that takes the player through various levels where dirty dogs on conveyor belts are waiting to be cleaned.

“Wet Dog is a zany, fun VR dog washing game that some of our Game Art seniors made in collaboration with Flight School. We thought it would be a fantastic idea to debut the game at SXSW at their Gaming Expo,” says Jamie DeRuyther, a Game Art and Virtual Reality Development faculty member at Ringling College. “It really kind of blossomed into this really, really amazing marketing campaign.”

To attract people to the VR game, the Ringling team wanted to personalize and brand as many eye-catching items as they could. From water bottles to banners to vehicle decals, the Wet Dog logo was everywhere. “It’s real-world stuff with real clients in a real product in real time,” says Jeff Schwartz, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

Tallie Malka, majoring in business art and design with an emphasis on marketing, stresses the importance of brand identity. “Branding this company [Wet Dog Corp.] and promoting what we’re doing is what I want to do for a career,” Malka says. “Every touch-point that these people have, they know our brand. That’s why we have branded water bottles, branded everything.”

The students of Ringling and the professionals at LexJet joined together in a collaborative effort to design the graphics, choose the right media, and print the images needed for the project.

LexJet provided the media and offered tips to create many of the large-format printed assets for the experience including banners, displays, vehicle graphics, target boards and water bottles. Here’s a peek into how the students brought Wet Dog Corp. to life:

  • Because the team set up outside, they chose HEYtex Mesh for the eye-popping graphics printed on 60/40 pattern, providing see-through visibility.
  • Easy-to-read graphics printed with LexJet Production Display Film SUV were displayed with banner stands and strategically placed throughout the booth, providing directions and hints to gamers. This durable film was selected because of its excellent image quality and water-resistance.
  • Vehicle branding is one of the easiest, but most important marketing opportunities. The Wet Dog team rented a van for the event and created temporary door and hood graphics using HP Optimal Gloss Air GRP. This calendared vinyl offers a gray, repositionable adhesive and is perfect for fleet and flat-paneled vehicle graphics.
  • In addition to the VR game, a carnival-style game was created with images of dogs printed on HP Prime Gloss Air GP and then installed on backboards. The calendared vinyl with a gray, permanent adhesive is a print service provider’s best asset. This versatile product can be used for indoor and outdoor signage, menu boards, stickers and decals, and many other applications.
  • Using the HP Latex 335 Print and Cut, labels were printed on HP Prime Gloss CP allowing the students to personally brand the water bottles in the booth, on demand. The calendared vinyl with clear adhesive is perfect for stickers, decals and other graphics on clear or light-colored substrates.

The Wet Dog Corp. experience garnered over 900 visitors in a single day. To see more about this successful brand activation as well as see the products in action, click on the video above.

If you are interested in these or other products from LexJet, give us a call at 800-453-9538 or visit LexJet.com, today.

March Offer: Pick 3 HP Media Rolls & Get 1 of Them Free

Starting this Wednesday, choose three rolls from a select list of eligible HP large format media products, and you’ll get a check by mail for the price of the least expensive roll.

You’ll find a wide variety of products that you use every day, including:

Stock up now and be ready for your next retail, event, decor or trade show project. Limit two rebates per customer/address. To get all the details and terms and conditions, and to request your rebate, go HERE.

To be eligible, all products must be purchased together on one receipt. Allow six to eight weeks for delivery of your rebate check.

Reaching the Finish Line with Inkjet Printed Graphics

Special Event Graphics

Revolution3 Triathlon (REV3) is a growing, dynamic series of 12 triathlons and adventure races held across the United States. REV3 started about five years ago in Connecticut and continues to add new races every year from Florida to Portland, Ore.

Triathlon GraphicsMost of the races are Olympic-REV half-REV triathlons, with one full-REV (2.4-mile swim, 26-mile run, 100-mile bike) and an adventure race. More styles of events are on tap for 2013 and beyond, such as family fun runs and glow runs before the big events. The events also support various charities, including Run Across America, Ulman Cancer Fund, Team RWB and Multisport Ministries.

REV3 collaborated with KRT Architectural Signage, Warrenton, Va., to build a superstructure at the finish line for all of its events. REV3 art director Jay Bussiere created the concept and KRT built the structure, including a built-in LED timer.

Bussiere also worked with his LexJet customer specialist, Jaimie Mask, to bring not only the finish line structure graphics to life, but the banners and other signage as well.

A Frame Graphics
The A-Frames along the route are printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat AquaVinyl PSA.

“We recently purchased a new Canon iPF9400 wide-format inkjet printer. I did a search for vendors online and found LexJet’s website,” says Bussiere. “It was impressive the way I could narrow down my search and find what I needed easily. LexJet’s site is intuitive, and I appreciate that, being a web designer as well as an online customer. Then, Jaimie gave me some recommendations on inkjet materials for use outdoors.”

Given the type of printer Bussiere purchased, Mask recommended LexJet Extreme AquaVinyl w/ PSA and LexJet TOUGHcoat AquaVinyl PSA for the structure. Bussiere protected the graphics with LexJet Performance Gloss Vinyl Laminate (3 Mil).

He also used LexJet TOUGHcoat Blockout Scrim Banner, LexJet TOUGHcoat ThriftyBanner, LexJet 11 Mil Blockout PolyGloss and LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene for various event signage.

The structure and the signs will travel from event to event. The photo here shows the finish line from a triathlon in Knoxville, Tenn. “The finish line structure is quite massive; you really can’t miss it,” says Bussiere. “And, with quality materials from LexJet, matched with custom REV3 graphics, the finish line and expo area become a beacon for athletes and passersby alike.”

For more about REV3 and upcoming events, go to rev3tri.com. And, check out the video recaps of the Knoxville event in the videos embedded below:

REV3 GLOW RUN – Knoxville, TN from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.

REV3 Triathlon KNOXVILLE Pro Recap 2013 from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.

Printing for Dew Downtown Flagstaff: Year Two for Nackard Companies

Graphics and signs for special events
Dew Downtown Flagstaff was a huge success and Nackard Companies, a regional beverage distributor, pitched in with most of the signs and graphics for the event. Photo by Rick Eselgroth.

When you organize a big special event for the first time it’s a nail-biting white-knuckle ride from concept to completion. While the inaugural year may appear to be the most difficult, an event’s sophomore year may actually be the most difficult, particularly if that first event was successful.

In the case of Dew Downtown Flagstaff, success from its first year would breed a more ambitious approach to the second annual event, which took place earlier this month. One of the key players in both the inaugural and sophomore events was Nackard Companies, a regional beverage distributor, and its always-busy print shop.

Signs and graphics for a special event
Nackard Companies' print shop, led by Steve Lalio, also produced signs, table tents, flyers and banners for surrounding bars and businesses.

Nackard Companies P.O.P. shop manager Steve Lalio was knee deep in signage in the months leading up to Dew Downtown Flagstaff since his shop was in charge of most of the event graphics. As the event grew from last year, so too did Lalio’s responsibilities.

Dew Downtown Flagstaff brings terrain park skiing and snowboarding down from the mountains and into the city of Flagstaff, Ariz. The main event takes place on San Francisco Street in Flagstaff with a series of rails and jumps all the way down, including the centerpiece of the competitive ride, two super-sized Mountain Dew can course obstacles created by the Nackard Companies print shop.

While both “cans” were printed on and wrapped with LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene, one was laminated and the other given a polyurethane coating. It was a test of sorts for future events: which would take the abuse as competitors hucked, slashed and crashed into and onto the cans?

In the end, the polyurethane-coated graphics fared best, but were still sufficiently marred that the can can’t be used again at next year’s event. Ultimately, there is no way to make the graphics ski/snowboard-proof as competitors slice and dice their way through the obstacles. However, if you know of a better way to protect the graphics from the ravages of snowbound competitors, let us know about it.

Printing specialty graphics for an event
The Mountain Dew can that was part of the ski and snowboard course on San Francisco Street in Flagstaff printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene by Nackard Companies' print shop.

Nackard Companies produced a variety of banners, window signs and other event signage for the main venue as well as the various special event and promotion tents, such as the areas promoting Mountain Dew Kickstart and New Belgium beers, and surrounding bars.

For the bulk of the graphics surrounding the event, Lalio printed LexJet 8 Mil PolyGloss Banner, LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene and LexJet TOUGHcoat Self Adhesive Water-Resistant Polypropylene, laminated with either LexJet 3 Mil Gloss UV Premium Low Melt or LexJet 3 Mil Luster Standard Low Melt, depending on the application.