Do You Have a Winning Lineup for Outdoor Graphics?

Now more than any other time of year, outdoor signage and graphics are front and center and in demand. We hold outdoor graphics to higher expectations in terms of durability and longevity, but also in photo and color reproduction and overall strength and visual appeal. We gathered some of our customers’ favorite outdoor products for a variety of applications. Check out this list to find your tried-and-true choices, as well as some new products that you’ve yet to discover:

Although it’s not technically specified for outdoor use, our customers have found that LexJet TOUGHcoat ThriftyBanner can take the heat … and the rain. Photographer Carl Caylor reproduced football player images, shown above, and displayed them on the field in frames attached with BannerUps for an entire football season. “We had a few games with really nasty weather, and they really held up great,” he says. “The ThriftyBanner got wet, but after the game we hung them up to dry, and everything was fine. It was amazing for a product that’s not really rated for outdoor longevity.”

LexJet Simple Adhesive Vinyl SUV is a tried-and-true outdoor self-adhesive option. It can be used to cover up eyesores, like Spectra Imaging achieved quite stylishly by covering a generator and finishing it with a film laminate for extra outdoor protection, pictured here. Another self-adhesive favorite is LexJet TOUGHcoat AquaVinyl PSA, a go-to choice for durable outdoor signs, like those used for election season yard signs when paired with Coroplast or foam boards. And don’t forget that LexJet now carries a full line of Avery Dennison films and laminates made specifically for long-term outdoor use for vehicles, transit and marine graphics, as well as floors, windows and walls.

Need a lasting window option? We’ve got dozens of window graphics choices, but if it’s a retail space and you want to see through the graphic, a favorite option is LexJet Simple Perforated Window Vinyl (70/30). Because 70% of the surface area is printable, you get great graphic reproduction and color punch with the added benefit of not obstructing the visibility through the window. Compatible with solvent, eco-solvent, UV-curable and latex inks, it’s designed to mount on the exterior of the window and will cleanly remove from the glass within the first year of installation.

Try LexJet Production Display Film SUV for banner stands. If you’ve got a customer request for banner stands that’ll be used outdoors, this is an ideal option for you. Our Production Display Films were a huge success when they launched, and it’s not hard to see why — this true lay-flat option won’t curl on the sides the way some material will, especially when they’ve been displayed for some time. The solvent option means you don’t have to apply a laminate top coat, and it’s super versatile. LexJet Production Display Film SUV is ideal for trade shows when you don’t need it to stand up to the outdoor elements.

If you’ve got dye-sublimation capabilities in your facility, a high-end, durable solution is ChromaLuxe EXT, made specifically to be used outdoors and guaranteed to last up to and beyond three years. These metal panels create stunning, high-end signage or décor with the vivid color reproduction we expect from dye-sub transfers. Stay tuned to our blog for more information and real-life examples featuring ChromaLuxe EXT!

Tip of the Week: How to Install Perforated Vinyl on Windows

 

ljtotw-fbLooking for a way to turn ordinary windows into prime advertising space? This video illustrates how easy it is to install LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl with a 70/30 perforation pattern.

With this tip, we show you how to install and trim the perforated vinyl to perfect, exact sizing in an inset window. We recommend laminating this vinyl with a pressure-sensitive laminate, such as LexJet Optically Clear Cast Gloss Laminate to protect the integrity of your print.

LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl is compatible with thermal and piezo inkjet printers using water-based dye and pigment-based inks. Questions? Give us a call at 800-453-9538.

Let’s Drive: Identity and Privacy with Perforated Window Graphics

LexJet Perforated Vinyl

When Legacy Nissan in London, Ky., built its new showroom a few years back one of the primary design features was glass. Visibility is crucial for car dealers; they want people to see what they’re selling inside.

The only problem with that visibility is, well, visibility. The upstairs conference room above the showroom offers no privacy. The owner of the dealership looked into glass walls with dimmers so they could “tint” the windows for privacy on the fly, but that proved to be too cost-prohibitive.

LexJet Perforated VinylThe solution was perforated window vinyl, which allows you to see out of the windows, but not in. Plus, it offers additional branding, also crucial to car dealers who want to cement their identity, showcase a particular car, or both, at the point of sale.

Legacy Nissan’s Missy Reid turned to LexJet, and the dealership’s personal customer specialist Brian Wilson, for help with the project. Reid says she ordered the wrong type and wrong size of perforated window vinyl the first time around: it was designed for solvent printers (she has an aqueous Epson Stylus Pro 9900) and it was too wide. Wilson promptly set her up with 36″-wide (to fit her printer) LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl (70/30).

“He knows I’m very green working with this material, so he took care of me and steered me in the right direction because that can be an expensive mistake to make. Brian took the guesswork out of it for me,” says Reid. “We’re thrilled with the print quality and it’s holding up nicely. When the customer walks into the showroom, it’s front and center with the car and the logo. This printer is brand new and this was the first time I worked with the perforated vinyl. We’ve been exploring other ways we can use it and we’re finding a lot of different applications.”

The graphics were printed and applied in three different sections: the door, the logo and the image of the Nissan 370Z. The graphics were applied vertically on the door in one panel (34″ x 84 1/4″) after the hardware had been taken off, and the other windows were applied horizontally in two 36″ x 155″ panels and one 16″ x 155″ panel.

“We basically chalked it up and wallpapered it on. We have a team of people who work with window tint and decals anyway, so they’re experienced with that. They didn’t have any trouble at all; everything is aligned and it’s pretty perfect,” says Reid. “We approved the new logo in March, and the conference room canvas is helping us show it off. This is helpful because it provides an inexpensive way to achieve some high-impact wow factor, even though we’re slowly phasing it in everywhere else. It’s much more fiscally and environmentally responsible to launch a visual identity with a display like this than to throw away several thousand license plates and dealer decals.”

Perforated Vinyl on a Windshield
“Eyebrows” for the Nissan Altima printed on LexJet Perforated Vinyl (70/30) touting the Altima’s award for Best Retained Value by Edmunds.

Reid adds that she’s been using the printer for event signage, showroom windows and window stickers at the top of the windshields for what are called “eyebrows.”

“The Altima won an award from Edmunds for Best Retained Value and we put that on every Altima. Because you can see out through it, you don’t even notice it when you’re driving it, so it doesn’t hinder the test driver’s visibility,” says Reid.

Reid adds that they plan a much larger window wrap for Legacy Nissan’s used car building. “We’ll wrap that top to bottom as well because it has a lot of windows,” she says.

Simplifying Sales and Sidestepping Sign Restrictions with Perforated Window Film

Sears Auto Center Window Graphics by AW Artworks
Nothing fancy here, but these window graphics, printed on LexJet Aqueous Perforated Window Vinyl (70/30) by AW Artworks, get the word out about all of the services this Sears Auto Center provides.

On-premise signage is arguably the most effective way to get the word out about your business to a mobile audience, especially given the fracturing of media through this, that and the other app and social media.

Many businesses struggle with restrictive sign codes or shopping center guidelines that make it difficult to stand out from the crowd. In the case of a Sears Auto Center in Madison, Wis., the mall in which the center is located doesn’t allow much outside of a main ID sign.

The Auto Center tried various types of banners and even a large Michelin Man blow-up, all of which had to be taken down per the mall’s signage rules. So the Auto Center’s owner turned to Andy Wredberg, owner of AW Artworks, based down the road in Sun Prairie, Wis.

Though this type of project is not in AW Artworks’ wheelhouse, as Wredberg puts it, he wanted to help and try something outside his wheelhouse, which is primarily fine art and photo reproductions.

“They had some mismatched vinyl lettering on their garage doors and wanted something more attractive to draw more attention to the variety of services they offer,” explains Wredberg. “I talked to Rob Finkel at LexJet and he recommended LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl (70/30), so we ordered a sample and tested it on the window. We ordered a roll of it, laid it out, printed it, sprayed it with a clear, water-based poly and installed it today. It went on easily and it looks sharp. They wanted to be able to see out and it provides some shade inside as well.”

Car Window Graphics
With the leftover window perf material from the Sears project, AW Artworks produced these popular stickers for the back windows of cars for Wisconsin-proud people. Andy Wredberg reports that they’ve sold about a dozen of these.

Now this type of project is squarely in AW Artworks’ wheelhouse, and Wredberg plans to use it on the studio’s sidewalk-facing windows to promote this additional product line. Based on similar window promotions AW Artworks has done in the past for banner stands and canvas wraps, AW Artworks should see more of this type of work in the future.

“I was a little concerned at first because we don’t normally do this type of application. I thought installation would be beyond my skill set, but I just pulled the release liner off a couple of inches to get it started, smoothed it down and was really easy. It only took about an hour,” says Wredberg. “It’s very readable from far away. They’re really a full-service auto center and I don’t think a lot of people realize the capabilities they have, so this will help them.”

Printing Window Graphics with Curb Appeal

Printing point of sale window graphics

It started with a question: “Do you want to try this stuff?” The stuff in question was LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl (70/30), and the “stuff” worked like a charm.

Printing window graphics on perforated window vinyl“We started printing window graphics about a year ago, and the first store we installed still looks fantastic. The graphics haven’t started peeling or fading. They’re only supposed to go up for about six months, but we’re way past six months,” says Margot Layland, art director for Best Brands Inc. in Nashville. “When you drive by these stores, that’s the first thing you see. We found that the brighter the colors and simpler the design the better off it is; you only have two seconds for someone to see them. Now everybody and their brother wants them.”

Best Brands Inc. specializes in wine and spirits distribution, and the window graphics Layland creates are providing a lot of additional brand exposure and recognition.

Window graphics for point of sale advertising“When they put posters on the inside of the windows, which is how they’ve always done it, they tend to bend and crack in the sun, not to mention the glare on the images. What our customers like is that not only does it provide shade in the windows, but you really get to see the product branding,” explains Layland.

The vinyl allows images to be viewed from the outside, while those inside can see out through the graphics. The graphics are typically printed in panels on the company’s Canon iPF8000 and installed by Best Brands’ display specialist, who attached the vinyl with painter’s tape, levels it, matches up the seams, peels off the backing and smooths it down.

Branding and advertising with window graphics“They’re relatively expensive and they take some time to install, so the people who are paying for these are the suppliers, like Jim Beam. We call the supplier and let them know the cost for each window. If the supplier wanted to do, say, 75 of them, they couldn’t possibly know all the exact window sizes, so each one has to be custom made,” explains Layland. “Some of the windows are as large as 8′ x 8′, so that’s why we try to make it as easy on our display specialist as possible by printing them out in panels.”

For best results, Layland suggests printing at a higher resolution to maximize the impact at the point of sale, and to let the graphics dry for at least 24 hours before trimming and installing them. “Because the vinyl is perforated, it can get kind of inky when you handle it, so I let them dry for a day or two before I cut them out,” she says.

LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl is one of several inkjet printable materials Layland has tried based on recommendations from her LexJet customer specialist, Chris Piersoll. “Chris is delightful. He’s great about showing us products we can utilize with our printer and he’s been right on the money with everything. And, whenever I need something or have a question, he’s always there to help. If I leave a message, he always calls back quickly, 20 minutes max,” adds Layland.

Window Perf-ection: Hitting the Right Note with Window Graphics

Printing promotional window graphics for a bar

If you’ve got windows, use ‘em. At least that’s Billy Owen’s attitude, and it helps that Grellner Sales & Service’s accounts like what Owen creates on their windows. “Window perf is real popular with our accounts and they come to us because we do a better job for them,” says Owen.

Using perforated window vinyl for promotional graphicsOwen, who is Grellner’s graphic designer, designed this tour de force, musically-themed window graphics project for The Neptune in Warrensburg, Mo., just east of Kansas City and west of Grellner HQ in Sedlia, Mo.

If you haven’t guessed already, The Neptune is a live music bar on Warrensburg’s Pine Street. Owen perfectly captured the atmosphere with an inviting combination of guitars, amps and stage. The branding is subtle yet clear enough to put those brands in the minds of patrons as they walk in.

The biggest challenge, from a design and application standpoint, was the large, multi-paned area to the side of the main entrance. Owen says he took a picture of the space and measured it from pane to pane, as well as each divider between the panes.

Owen then set up a template into which he poured the design so that he knew exactly where the breaks came in the panes according to his measurements. Once printed on a Canon iPF8000S, everything fit perfectly, says Owen. “I love this printer, and the material is awesome as well,” says Owen.

Owens used LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl (70/30) for the project, as well as a previous project highlighted here at the LexJet Blog for Fisher & Browns Speakeasy completed earlier this year.

“They haven’t asked for any replacement pieces at the other window perf project so I assume it’s holding up well,” says Owen.