Constructing a Legend out of Cloth | LexJet Blog
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Constructing a Legend out of Cloth

Lizza Studios designed and printed a banner on LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth for each decade Sordoni Construction has been in business. Photo courtesy Sordoni Construction Services.

Sordoni Construction is an icon in the northeast, so it was only natural that it would select fine-art reproduction and printing icon Bob Lizza to help celebrate Sordoni’s 100th anniversary. Lizza was charged with designing and rendering a fitting photographic tribute to the company’s 100 years of excellence with something equally excellent.

As the photos that accompany this description attest, Lizza was able to exceed expectations and deliver a literal show-stopper for the big event. Held in a giant tent at one of Sordoni’s properties, Lizza decided to present a brief history of the company in photos on a backlit cloth.

“From the very beginning I thought it would be nice to either backlight or up-light the images since they would be displayed inside the big tent in low light,” explains Lizza. “We came up with a unique application on LexJet’s Water-Resistant Satin Cloth. I’ve used the material before, but never backlit, and it turned out fantastic.”

Sordoni Construction provided Lizza with about 150 different images spanning the company’s full 100 years. From those, Lizza narrowed it down to about 15 images per decade. Each decade of the company’s history would be represented by a 60-in. x 90-in. Water-Resistant Satin Cloth banner printed on Lizza’s Epson Stylus Pro 11880.

One of Lizza's backlit prints at Sordoni Construction Service's 100th anniversary event. Photo courtesy Sordoni Construction Services.

“With the prototype I created, I came up with a formula that took into account the neutral and sepia tones of the earlier photos through the introduction of color in the photographs around the 1960s. There was a very consistent color theme and contrast between the subtle black-and-white neutral backgrounds, rich sepia tones and color,” explains Lizza. “There were two keys to this project: The scanning and the design. With our Cruse scanner we were able to pull out all the detail from the photos – some of which were only 5×7 – and reproduce them at a large scale.”

Instead of using a typical retractable display, Lizza went with square aluminum trusses like those used to hang lights at a concert to give the display a construction-like feel. “When you walked into the tent the prints just glowed and they were the first things you saw. There were people around them all night looking at them,” says Lizza. “It was really a landmark project in my career given the prominence of the company and the family. They’re just a great company to work with from start to finish. They were very efficient and easy to work with.”

Lizza Studios also printed a 65-foot long banner for the event on its Epson GS6000 solvent printer.

Lizza also printed a 65-foot-long banner for the event with his Epson GS6000 solvent printer on LexJet 13 oz. Matte Banner. The banner was hoisted high in the air on a crane to unfurl the giant Sordoni logo.

Regan has been involved in the sign and wide format digital printing industries for the past two decades as an editor, writer and pundit. With a degree in journalism from the University of Houston, Regan has reported on the full evolution of the inkjet printing industry since the first digital printers began appearing on the scene.

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