Choosing HEYtex for High-end Outdoor Signage

In the competitive world of business, it’s no surprise that large enterprises demand that their signage applications and designs be top-notch and eye-catching. For visual communications company Tone LLC, creating mesmerizing signage is its forte.

Focusing on large-format decorative printing and wall coverings, Tone’s work can be seen across the country, specializing in grand, large, and wide format graphics for construction, event and retail solutions. For Tone’s managing partner Steven Thompson, HEYtex 15 oz. Topaz DS and HEYtex 13 oz. TopazFLX Matte are his go-to option for dazzling and durable outdoor applications.

Tone’s work for French trunk and leather goods manufacturer, Goyard Paris (shown above), is one of its most recent applications featuring HEYtex products. In order to draw attention to Goyard’s new stores opening in San Francisco, Beverly Hills and Miami, Tone created storefront barricades to kick-start the brand’s awareness in the community.

The barricades were designed to feature Goyard’s logo, history excerpts, the grand opening date and even old photos of Goyard’s vintage storefronts from the past. The San Francisco application is designed to look like a high-fashion trunk, which quickly captures the attention of a passersby.

HEYtex offers gloss and matte finish materials with high tensile strength, ideal for the outdoor signage Tone creates. “It’s a nice, thick media,” Thompson says. “The denier count is really high compared to the different vinyl substrates, which is crucial for outdoor signage.”

Combined with an HP Latex 560 printer, the graphics are beautifully finished and scratch resistant – ready for Tone’s various high-end outdoor applications.

Prints That Win: Departing Flight

While stalking birds in the Everglades, Seymour, Wis.-based photographer Steven Kemp captured a Brown Pelican in mid-departure. Birds taking flight aren’t typically viewed as spectacular, noteworthy moments; however, the photography veteran has a knack for capturing the simple moments of life and transforming them into amazing ones.

The Sunset Print Award-winning photo, “Departing Flight,” was naturally exquisite and only needed minimal editing to be a winner. Kemp cropped out the trees and the shoreline in the background and smoothed out the rippled water. He printed the image on LexJet Sunset Production eSatin 250g photo paper, and it was ready for competition.

Prints That Win: Homestead

Veteran Michigan photographer, Kari Douma, has paid many visits to the winner’s circle at print competitions. Ever since her first competition in 2007, she has been capturing numerous show-stopping photographs that catch the judge’s eyes.

Her photograph, “Homestead,” is no exception. She won the Sunset Print Award at the PPA Northeast District in the spring, and was named the third-place winner at the National Sunset Print Awards in November. Coming across the scene captured in “Homestead” happened almost by chance.

An unseasonal spring snow in Montana inspired her to go for a ride in search of the perfect landscape. “We were driving on two track roads out in the middle of nowhere when I saw the scene and captured it,” she says. “I loved it so much that I wanted to come back at sunrise the next morning but I still liked the original one better from the day before.” After some slight editing in Photoshop, “Homestead” was primed to be a winner.

Prints That Win: Elizabeth

One bride’s fairytale wedding portrait turned out to be a winner for Richmond, Virginia photographer, Mary Fisk-Taylor.

Elizabeth Mary Fisk TaylorFisk-Taylor originally captured the 2016 Virginia PPA Sunset Award Winning photograph “Elizabeth” to be displayed during the bride’s wedding reception. “We actually have a studio in the basement of this 30,000 square-foot mansion. We get to shoot there all the time!” Fisk-Taylor says.

The natural light warped by the stunning windows and arches made the editing process straightforward. “I used natural light augmented with a Profoto B1 strobe in a Speedbox Diffuser 70 from XP Photo Gear,” she says. “Lightroom was used to tone down the highlights in the windows a bit and using the highlight slider and a little clarity to add mid-level contrast.”

Prints That Win: Morning on Mormon Row

A few quiet days alone in Grand Teton National Park was highly worthwhile for Sunset Print Award winning photographer, Jaki Miller. Although she is no stranger to the beauty of Mormon Row, an early morning sunrise gave her an entirely new perspective.

“I got there about a half hour before it was even light enough to see and before anyone even got there. I just didn’t want to miss it.” She set up her Fuji X-T1 on a tripod and began to capture the simplistic beauty as the sun started to rise.

The early sunlight was breathtaking, turning the mountains shades of pink and purple. Miller, however, wanted the rustic barn to be the star. She converted the picture to black and white using the Nik Silver Efex Pro and allowed the scene’s true beauty to shine through.