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LexJet Reviews: A Deep Dive into General Formulations’ High-Performance Solutions
Posted on by Jennifer Corn Posted in Technology & Products
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LexJet Reviews: A Deep Dive into General Formulations’ High-Performance Solutions

For this edition of LexJet Reviews, C.J. Forker takes a closer look at some of the most popular adhesive vinyl products from General Formulations.

From windows to cars to hard-to-stick surfaces, there’s something in the General Formulations family that can help you create colorful, vibrant displays and graphics:

General Formulations 270 WindowMark™ Perforated Film 70/30 – For privacy and pop, 270 WindowMark is the way to go. Offering 70% coverage, this flexible film provides one-way viewing and vibrant window advertising. It is cleanly removable for up to a year, allowing you to change your images seasonally or yearly. For added protection, pair it with General Formulations 242 Clear Cast Vinyl.

General Formulations 230 AutoMark™ Wrap Vinyl and 333 AutoMark™ DRIFT® PW Wrap Vinyl – For fleet and vehicle graphics and decals, these two solutions are high-performance calendered vinyls with an air-egress liner for easy installation. GF 230 AutoMark is the more conformable of the two and the best alternative to cast vinyl. It can handle moderate curves and does well over rivets.

The slideable adhesive and liner system on GF 333 gives DRIFT its name, allowing the installer to position and reposition the media until it’s time to engage the adhesive on the PSA film.

General Formulations WallMark® HTR – Designed to be both high-tack and removable, the WallMark HTR products are perfect for difficult surfaces like zero-VOC paints, and it’s still cleanly removable for up to a year.

Available in five different textures – Matte, Canvas, Leather, Stucco, and Sand – WallMark HTR is perfect for retail and general signage, wall graphics, and window graphics.

General Formulations 285 RoughMark™ – For tricky surfaces, 285 RoughMark offers an opaque film with a high-tack removable adhesive. It’s an excellent choice for brick, concrete, cinder block, and low-energy surfaces. The high-tack adhesive is cleanly removable for up to six months, while the vinyl is durable for up to five years for outdoor graphics.

General Formulations 255 OptiMark™ Clear Gloss Vinyl – This optically clear vinyl is perfect for graphics with less than 100% ink coverage or for printers with white ink capabilities, like the new HP Latex 700W and 800W Series. Create eye-catching retail and window graphics with this 3-mil clear calendered vinyl.

To learn more about these General Formulations solutions, visit our LexJet Reviews library, give us a call at 800-453-9538, or visit LexJet.com.

Posted on by Jennifer Corn Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Putting it to the Test: HP Optimal Gloss Air GRP is “a Winner”

Recently, Scott Kaiser and his installation team at Sunrise Signs in Gloucester City, N.J., received a roll of HP Optimal Gloss Air GRP from LexJet. Before using any new product for a project, Kaiser says they like to push the material to the extreme. “Any time we try out new material, we torture it to see what it’s going to do,” he says.

So how did the Optimal fare? “We tortured it and it stood up great,” Kaiser says. “We stretched it and it didn’t white out, which can sometimes be an issue with latex inks. I also like the repositionable quality, and it really does take to those rivets!”

In the video above, you can see the intense testing of the Optimal laminated with HP Gloss Polymeric Overlaminate which includes stretching, overstretching, heating, rolling over rivets and repeated repositioning. Not only is an installer looking to see how well the color sits on the material, but checking performance on different surfaces is also important.

“We put it on some rough surfaces on that truck. It’s an old, beat up box truck and it was in terrible shape,” Kaiser says. “We wanted to see how it does when problem areas arise. We lifted it back up and reheated it to see if it went back to its shape. It did.”

When it comes to fleet or box truck graphic installations, there can be some challenges. “He (the installer) was putting some graphics on a super smooth trailer, and he liked working with it, but for another trailer, there were lots of rivets.”

Although there were many rivets on one of the jobs, Kaiser says the vinyl held tight. “They just had to work a little bit slower through those areas, but the vinyl held, and the rivets look tight.”

Kaiser says that he will continue to use the HP Optimal Gloss Air GRP protected with HP Gloss Polymeric Overlaminate for trailers and box trucks. “I’ve used other well-known brands before, and I think the HP Optimal had great success when compared to the other products,” he says. “Our installer even put it on his own trailer.”

Whether testing against the rigors of installing on a less-than-perfect surface or overstretching it to look for white-out conditions, Kaiser and his installer put the Optimal Gloss Air GRP through its paces, and both have declared it a “winner.”

If you are interested in learning more about the performance of the Optimal Gloss Air GP – or any other products in the HP Adhesive Vinyl line – call a LexJet specialist at 800-453-9538 or visit LexJet.com today.

Posted on by Jennifer Corn Posted in Technology & Products
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Looking for Cast Vinyl? LexJet and Avery Dennison Have You Covered

When it comes to vehicle graphics, Avery Dennison is one of the most recognizable brands on the market, and LexJet offers one of the most diverse products in the Avery Dennison line: MPI1105 SuperCast. 

The MPI1105 series — designed for use with latex, solvent and UV-curable printers — is ideal for irregular surfaces, including compound curves and corrugations, meaning it can be used for full or partial wraps on vehicles, fleet branding or for boat wraps and graphics (Easy Apply, only). The SuperCast products must be partnered with Avery Dennison’s line of cast vinyl laminates to provide the highest level of protection from the elements.

Depending on your application, you can choose from DOL1000Z Series, DOL1300Z Series or DOL1400Z Series laminates:

While the MPI1105 products are great for vehicles, you can also use them for outdoor signage or tradeshow graphics.

For more information about the Avery Dennison portfolio of products, call 800-453-9538 and one of LexJet’s sales specialists can help you choose the right product for your needs.

Posted on by Jennifer Corn Posted in News & Trends, Technology & Products
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Avery Dennison and LexJet: Together at Last

Two of the biggest names in digital print media have joined forces. Avery Dennison has been at the forefront of digital graphics and vehicle wraps for decades, and has now partnered with LexJet to distribute its vast Graphic & Specialty product offering. From ultra-conformable vinyl for highly textured surfaces to car wraps designed to add color or effects to any vehicle, the Avery Dennison line will bring new opportunities to LexJet’s customers.

  • Digitally Printable Films
  • Overlaminate Films
  • Application Tools

Avery Dennison products make installation a breeze and this partnership will provide LexJet customers limitless creativity for indoor or outdoor event signage, wall décor and floor graphics, as well open opportunities in the fleet and vehicle graphics market.

With free ground shipping and 24/7 ordering on lexjet.com, customers will be able to easily find what they need, when they need it.

If you have questions about products or availability, please call 800-453-9838 and a LexJet sales specialist will be available to assist you.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Making an Impression, Leaving a Trail at Muddy Feet Graphics

Advertising with bus graphics

Muddy feet certainly do leave an impression and the muddier the feet the more impressions you leave. That’s Todd Dofflemyer’s philosophy, figuratively speaking of course, where the mud his company gets its feet dirty with is the diversity of products it offers its customers.

Dofflemyer, owner of Muddy Feet Graphics in Harrisonburg, Va., has an extensive history in the commercial printing world; he was instrumental in bringing one of the world’s largest commercial printers into the digital world from analog back in the 1980s. When he struck out on his own less than two years ago, he combined his experience in innovation with a studious view of trends in the graphics market that has helped Muddy Feet Graphics grow quickly in a short time.

Advertising with fleet graphics on vehicles
Muddy Feet Graphics used Simple Flo Wrap Vinyl, laminated with Simple Flo Wrap Gloss UV Laminate for an easy and ecomonical fleet project.

“We call ourselves a graphics company and not a sign company since we can put a logo on just about anything,” says Dofflemyer. That’s why printing t-shirts is an important component of Muddy Feet Graphics’ business. Though it represents only about 20 percent of the company’s production, it feeds the large-format graphics and sign side of the business and vice-versa.

Muddy Feet Graphics does not screen print, but instead goes direct-to-shirt with an AnaJet direct-to-garment inkjet printer. This process allows short, on-demand, custom runs that t-shirt printing has been trending toward over the past few years.

“I’d rather find a hundred people who need ten shirts, rather than ten people who need 100. People don’t want to keep a lot of inventory and potentially waste shirts, so we can customize their order so they don’t keep as much in stock,” says Dofflemyer. “When someone comes in to pick up a banner they see us making t-shirts and vice-versa, so the more things you have that are similar but not the same, the more opportunity you have.”

Another area where Muddy Feet Graphics is making inroads thanks to its logo-on-everything approach is vehicle graphics. Vehicle wraps have been slower to arrive on the scene in Virginia than hot spots like California and Florida, but once local customers saw the advertising value of it, more jobs began to roll into the shop.

“If it’s $2,500 for a vehicle wrap and you spread it across four years, the average lifetime of a fleet vehicle, it comes out to about $50 per month. Then, compare that cost and the overall effectiveness of a moving billboard to other media with less visibility and the price is easier for the customer to accept,” explains Dofflemyer.

Another trend that Dofflemyer has noticed and responded to is the more temporary nature of the requests that come through the door. For a recent bus wrap, Muddy Feet Graphics used a removable vinyl for the body of the bus and LexJet Simple Perforated Window Vinyl (60/40) for the windows.

“We used a removable vinyl for the bus project since the message will change regularly, and we used the LexJet window perf because we were having problems with the other window perf we were using.

Printing wall murals for bedrooms
Todd Dofflemyer, owner of Muddy Feet Graphics, says he's found the perfect wall mural material in LexJet Simple WallCal (6 Mil).

No matter how long I let it sit it was transferring to the unprinted area of the window perf and we found the LexJet material applies easier and I don’t have a problem with the ink drying,” explains Dofflemyer. “Now it seems that everybody wants a message that’s tailored to today that could change tomorrow.

You used to see a lot more metal real estate signs, for instance, but you’re seeing more step stakes. In this economy, that house will sit there for awhile so they want to change the message a lot. Everybody needs to be more aggressive so that message needs to change more.”

And that’s good news for everyone in the large format graphics market. Additionally, Dofflemyer has noticed that clients are including a QR bar code on more of their printed pieces to take advantage of smart phone technology. A banner can serve a dual purpose of getting a quick look-at-me message with a QR code that takes the curious to a website with more in-depth information.

“Digital graphics can be distributed in all kinds of ways and we’re finding that more and more of them are simply avenues to your phone,” says Dofflemyer.

With its focus on blending printed and purely digital technologies and being ever cognizant of what its customer base needs as progress makes its forward march, Muddy Feet Graphics is poised to make good on its tagline: Make an Impression, Leave a Trail.