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Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Deck the Walls and LexJet Team up for Extreme Home Makeover Wall Mural

Printing wall murals for Extreme Makeover: Home EditionThe last time we talked to Chris Knight, owner of Deck the Walls in Joplin, Mo., he was doing his part to help replace priceless keepsake photos residents of the town lost during the horrific day an EF5 multiple-vortex tornado brought vast destruction to Joplin this past May.

Knight got another chance to donate to the cause when Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EM:HE) came to town to build seven homes for seven families. Knight volunteered on the website to help if any printing was needed for the project.

However, it wasn’t the website inquiry that attracted EM:HE to his print shop. EM:HE project manager Bill Crowley happened by Deck the Walls and noticed the sign on the shop’s truck. So, he walked in and discussed a project at one of the homes that seemed to be right up Deck the Wall’s alley, a Denver Broncos wall mural in Home 7 (Knight doesn’t know which family will be in Home 7).

“I wish it was Kansas City,” Knight sighs, “even though they’re not playing well either. Extreme Makeover had the Denver Broncos contact us and send us some images and the Extreme Makeover crew ended up choosing the bird’s eye view of the stadium so it looks like you can walk into the picture.”

Applying custom inkjet printed wallpaper to a wallLexJet donated a roll of LexJet Velvet WallPro SUV to the cause, which Knight printed on his Epson GS6000 low-solvent printer, which he bought from LexJet in late July.

“I love the new Epson printer and it’s helped expand our business into other commercial work with banners, adhesive backed vinyl and the WallPro. The WallPro printed great; it looked like it did on the monitor to the printer. When I bought printer I also got the Onyx RIP software to go with it so I can be more accurate with color management,” says Knight.

The image was printed in two 48” panels with no overlap and installed by professional paper hangers who volunteered for the project. Though it may seem out of place in Missouri it will surely make someone devastated by the tornadoes happy.

The episode of Extreme Home Makeover: Home Edition featuring Joplin is scheduled to run later this fall on ABC. For more information about the project and the families, go to www.joinextreme.com/joplin.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Disaster Recovery: How One Print and Frame Shop is Helping with Joplin’s Recovery

JOPLIN, Mo. – This small Missouri town still looks like a war zone almost two months after an F5 tornado tore a one-mile wide by six-mile long swath of destruction. Recovering from such devastation, if it every really happens at all, is extremely slow and piecemeal.

Tornado damage in Joplin, Mo.According to Chris Knight, who owns Deck the Walls in Joplin, 300 to 400 truckloads of debris are being removed from the town daily. Knight says that only a portion of the debris has been removed so far and the goal is to get it all out by Aug. 7, a tall order indeed.

 “If you thought you saw a war zone on TV doesn’t even come close to what it’s like when you’re actually standing there. There are no landmarks; I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s horrific and heartbreaking,” says Knight.

Though Deck the Walls was spared the brunt of the tornado’s destruction they lost thousands of dollars in framing equipment when a storage shed at the edge of the tornado’s path was reduced to matchsticks.

Still, Deck the Walls decided to do something, anything, to help with the town’s recovery. Despite the financial loss and the inevitable loss of regular business during the recovery, Deck the Walls is in the process of replacing the treasured photographic keepsakes of countless citizens and has printed memorials for many of the more than 150 people lost in the storm. Recovery is not only physical, but emotional, and re-printing lost memories is one way to help heal those wounds.

Re-printing portraits lost in the Joplin, Missouri tornadoWorking in concert with local photographers, Deck the Walls is re-printing the portraits lost in the storm. With donated print materials from LexJet, those photos are slowly but surely being replaced.

“We’re trying to help as much as we can, even in a roundabout way. We got three rolls of Sunset Select Matte Canvas and a roll of Sunset Photo eSatin Paper from LexJet to replace those prints. A gallery wrap canvas doesn’t do much good until they have a place to hang it, but as they rebuild they’ll have they’re portraits back,” says Knight.

If you’re looking for a way to help the residents of Joplin recover from the tornado, here are some resources to check out:

World Vision: Go to www.worldvision.org, call 888-56-CHILD (24453), or give a $10 donation by texting TORNADO to 20222.

United Way: Call 417-624-0153.

Salvation Army: To donate to the The Salvation Army’s efforts, visit www.salvationarmyusa.org and click on the donation page. You can call 1-800-SAL-ARMY and donors can text JOPLIN to 80888 to make a $10 donation. And you can mail a donation to Joplin Tornado Relief: The Salvation Army, 3637 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo. 64111.

Facebook: Go to www.facebook.com/joplinmo for updates and other ways to help.