10 Customer Print Projects that Inspired in 2019

From floor-to-ceiling murals to thought-proving graphics for a children’s art center, LexJet customers printed some awesome – and awe-inspiring – images in 2019. Here are a few examples of what our creative and innovative customers designed throughout the year:

University Brings Football History to Life with Extreme AquaVinyl When it was time for the University at Buffalo to celebrate 100 years of football history, Kris Miller turned to LexJet for help designing the 35-foot by 10-foot mural that was the centerpiece graphic. “I’m not a professional installer, so whatever I use has to be easy to work with and install,” Miller says. READ MORE

Mixing Up the Painting Process with Canvas & Coating Combining oil painting and wide-format printing, San Francisco photo retoucher Leonard Gordon has his Surrealist-style artwork printed on Sunset by Fredrix Canvas, then protected with Sunset Satin Coating. Then he added additional texture with oil paints. “That’s what’s giving the painting depth. It’s all about bringing out the color of the print itself,” he says. READ MORE

GeoJango Maps: Bringing the World (of Maps) to Everybody Debbie Dennison at GeoJango Maps is excited to share her passion for maps with the world. Using HP Everyday Instant-dry Satin Photo Paper on their HP printers, Dennison and the team did a tremendous amount of research before deciding which products to use. “We’ve done a lot of testing with different inks, printing methods, and materials, and we’ve found the right ones. The customers are thrilled with the results,” says Dennison. READ MORE

New Exhibit Takes Flight with Floor-to-Ceiling Murals Inspired by an over-sized book by James Audubon, Nel Fetherling at the Field Museum in Chicago wanted to “go big” for an exhibition showcasing Audubon’s 19th-century work. Fetherling and her team printed six 14-foot x 75-inch wall murals as well as one for the entryway using LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric. “The colors were so brilliant,” Fetherling says. “Our designer was skeptical, but after we printed it, she said the colors were almost better than the actual illustrations.” READ MORE

What They’re Saying: HP Optimal Gloss Air GRP – ‘It Really Shines’ Husband and wife team Rick and Connie Rhind Robey, of SpeedPro Imaging in Silver Spring, Md., had the opportunity to use HP Optimal Gloss Air GRP and HP Gloss Polymeric Overlaminate on storage spaces of downtown Kensington, Md., businesses. “I loved the high-quality look of the images,” Connie says. “It’s important that the final piece looks great and the artist loves it. It really shines in the high-end market place.” READ MORE

C’est Magnifique! Turning Antique French Postcards into Wall Art Photographer David Humphreys was tasked with turning old French postcards into 5-foot by 8-foot canvas murals for off-campus housing at Louisiana State University. Knowing he would need a 60-inch wide printer to accommodate the width of the images. Humphreys bought a Canon PRO-6000 and he’s pleased with the results. “The printer is incredible. It’s user-friendly and did a beautiful job,” he says. “Now I’m doing a lot of larger images for other people because of the 60-inch capability.” READ MORE

Artist Jonathon Romain Creates a Colorful World for Children Jonathon Romain and his wife purchased an old school in Peoria, Ill., to build the Romain Arts & Culture Community Center where they hosted their first summer program where kids could talk about issues that affect them and then create murals to present to the local school superintendent. “Each one of the children received a smaller framed copy of images to take home to their family and friends,” he says. READ MORE

Sunset Photo Metallic Paper Beats Aluminum for Gallery Exhibit Hollywood director Blair Hayes wanted to create a new exhibit called Light of Future Past, from his movie-site images. He originally set out to print them on brushed aluminum for a sleek, modern look, but the bright gallery lights bounced off the aluminum and muddied the colors. Turning to Chris Glassman at Casual Graphics for suggestions, they settled on Sunset Photo Metallic Paper. “They stated to me that if it weren’t for Casual Graphics, the show would not have happened due to the lighting issues,” says Glassman. “I must state that if it wasn’t for the LexJet media, I wouldn’t have been able to provide a cost-effective alternative solution to aluminum prints.” READ MORE

Bringing Children’s Books to Life with Wall Decals John Etienne of Wall Adventure, offers activity books with matching fabric wall decals that are ideal for children’s spaces. He prints the decals on LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric on his Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-Series PRO-4000S. “My customers love the products. The colors on the fabric are bright. The combination of printer and fabric is working well,” he says. READ MORE

Real Color Design Partners with EPSON for Marvel-ous Results Alex Costa, of Real Color Design in Torrance, Calif., works closely with Marvel, WB, DC Comics and other studios. With a customer base like that, there is no margin for error. To meet the demands of qualifying as an authorized print resource, Costa and his team work with a fleet of EPSON printers. “We’ve been with Epson since the beginning,” he says. “Currently, we use the SureColor F6200 (dye-sub), SureColor S80600 (solvent) and SureColor P10000 (aqueous)”. READ MORE

Do you have a story you’d like to share on the LexJet blog? Email us your projects and you could be featured in 2020!

What They’re Saying: HP Optimal Gloss Air GRP – ‘It Really Shines’

Husband and wife team Rick and Connie Rhind Robey are the owners of SpeedPro Imaging in Silver Spring, Md. Recently, the SpeedPro headquarters in Denver asked for volunteers to test one of the new HP Adhesive Vinyl products from LexJet. The Robeys responded and brought in a roll of HP Optimal Gloss Air GRP and HP Gloss Polymeric Overlaminate.

The first project they created with the Optimal and Gloss laminate was a wall mural. “Wall graphics can be tricky with the new paints,” Rick says. “We did a test with the Optimal and it was a go. It went up well and stayed up well. It was a great start.”

“We’ve been using another product, but it’s kind of pricey. The Optimal has the same characteristics and maybe even a little better holding power,” says Rick. “I’ve been using it [Optimal] based on what the 40C can do: vehicle decals, flat surface, even subtle rivets. One customer was so thrilled, he’s sending us another job.”

While the Optimal is perfect for walls, vehicle decals, and other outdoor signage, there was an opportunity to use it in an unorthodox manner in Rick’s hometown of Kensington, Md. Some of the stores in the downtown area planned a storefront-style appearance on the back of the buildings.

Local artists were commissioned to create art that would decorate these “storefronts” and Rick and his team printed the artwork on Optimal, laminated it with Polymeric Gloss and installed it to hide storage space from street view. 

“I loved the high-quality look of the images. Each section was designed by a different artist. It’s important that the final piece looks great and the artist loves it. It really shines in the high-end market place,” Connie says.

The artwork has generated a lot of interest on “Antique Row” in the quaint downtown area. “The pieces have garnered a lot of attention, it speaks to the work of the artist, the work of the printer and the material,” she says. “With this job, there’s no marketing message to hide behind. It’s showcasing art. And this product really shines.”

Connie, who is also the Marketing Director, says that they are delighted to have a product like this for customers. “It’s fun to find a product that we like so much. We are excited to use it moving forward.” Rick agrees, “the graphics go on and stay on. That’s important. We’ve gained a lot of confidence in the product and will recommend it to other SpeedPro locations.”

If you are interested in trying any of the products from the HP Adhesive Vinyl portfolio, give us a call at 800-453-9538 or visit LexJet.com.