Event Signs - More color for less...

Yes, it is possible - more color for less than you paid in the past!  How is this possible?  Technology is making the printing and sign world more economical.

Fifteen years ago or so, a sign similar to what you see pictured here would have cost approx. 3 times what is would today, and the imaging would not even come close to what today's technology can provide.

The sign pictured here was a quick-turn project for us that needed to be produced on a rigid material yet be lightweight, low cost, able to withstand rain, and above all have sharp, smooth color imaging.  Seems impossible that all this could actually be produced at one time.  This was right up our ally.  We have a material that we use especially for this type of application.

As you see in this image the sign stands nice and rigid and displays the fine print and color gradations brilliantly.  The secret here is in the sign substrate and our really awesome direct to substrate color printing.  No gluing laminated posters to fragile art boards or vinyl sticker applications to plastic sign boards.  This printing process that we use is clean, resilient and cuts out all those expensive old school steps.

With direct printing, the right substrate, and a creative thinker, troublesome event signage is a thing of the past... at least it is at Big Idea.

Funny Sign

Here is a picture of a funny banner we discovered.  I can't help but wonder what is on the other sided of this ...



MDO - Still a great choice for signage

 Pictured here is a before shot of a clients exterior  main building sign.  What you don't see is that this business is right off a major highway - thousands of passersby everyday.  What you do see is a sign that is failing.  Not only is it much to small for the needed viewing distance, it is not clear what this business actual does or it's name.

Upon a few conversations with our client, creating a logo, generating layout concepts, and material selection, we finalized on what you see below.

Wow! It is pretty darn crystal clear what this business does now.  The new sign is not only easy to read, it cleans up the store front and emanates a professional quality that DK's hold true with their craftsmanship.

This 4' x 20' sign was produced using our MDO sign grade wood coupled with 3M pressure sensitive vinyl.  Many would have produced this using direct digital printing rather than vinyl.  Sure,  digital would look awesome today, but 4 years form now we would have an unhappy client returning wondering why his graphics faded.  Now, nothing is safe from the sun's UV rays, but the 3M vinyl, for this application, will give us the longevity our client is looking for.

Working through the design process is standard stuff in this industry.  It's the added forward thinking and secondary details that we get involved with on projects to ensure each client receives the right product for their needs. 

Transforming visions into brilliant identity. It's what we do.

Corporate Portraits at Big Idea

One of the more unique service we offer here at Big Idea is our corporate portrait photography.  This covers a pretty wide swath of imagery including product images, employee's, business development, and virtually any imagery used to help promote a business in print or online.  It really is diverse!

Illustrated here is a image taking on a recent shoot for professional walleye angler, Eric Olson.  This shoot was done on location out of our clients home marina on the Mississippi River out of Red Wing, MN.

The purpose of this shoot was to produce some cool imagery to be used on his personal website. and too provide his sponsor, Bank Brewing Company, with professional quality images of the boat wrap that was recently completed.  The sponsor brews walleye chop beer, a local growing micro brew.  If you look close you can see the boatwrap background is an image of a frothy beer.  Oh, and yes, Big idea also designed the boatwrap too!

You can find Eric fishing the National Guard FLW walleye tour.  Stay tuned for more great info on walleye chop beer and Bank Brewing Company in the weeks to come.  We will have some exciting things to post about!

Value Proposition, with value!

Hopefully your business has a #valueproposition in place.  If not, well, that is subject for another posting.  If so, displaying the proposition to your clients and visitors can be done several ways.

Our client was looking for something bold, clean and easy to read.  This was not only too be viewed by clients and visitors, but as a reminder to the employees... we had a Big Idea. What you see here is the result of some creative collaborating with our client to produce an eye catching wall display version of their Value Proposition.  The project would be displayed in a strategic location to accent wall space and present the proposition elegantly.

In producing this project we had to watch a tight budget and  yet create some display signage that was still full of some WOW.  What you see in this picture is the use of 3 different mediums: digital direct printing, CNC cut dimensional lettering and 3M matte white vinyl wall lettering.  The combination of these three mediums along with proper sizing not only adds some interesting depth to the project, it reduced the overall project cost in materials and installation time.

The client loved it so much they ordered two!

J. Walkers - AM Heart Association HeartWalk 2011

Hot off the press...literally!

If you watch FOX 9 news you may have caught a special report last night as to what this project is all about.  This is year 2 for Big Idea's involvement with this cause.  We created the team name and the cool logo design for this great team that will walk in this weekends American heart Association HeartWalk.

Check out this link to read more about the report.

Go J. Walkers!

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/health/target-field-to-host-heart-walk-jun-1-2011

Retractable Display Banners

Pictured here is a display banner campaign we produced for Hazeltine Golf Club - each at 3' x 7' tall.  The banners, in retractable aluminum stands, are part of a display campaign to be used at events and trade shows.

We used a combination of supplied photos and images taken by our staff here at Big Idea.  Coupled with some creative verbiage and these banners become effective marketing tools.

The stands used are one of our favorite retractors.  They come with a solid base, sturdy vertical supports and two means of attaching the banner to the stand.  Most stands use only a two sided tape.  Our stands combine a two sided tape and a pressure plate to allow options and extra security.

Custom Yard Signs

Pictured here is a custom yard sign we recently produced.  The sign is produced using our state-of-the-art print system and a unique aluminum exterior grade 3mm sign board.  

The frame is one of our standards that you will not see very often as most sign makers stick with the standard square or rectangular frames.  A simple change in sign shape can really have an impact and help your image pop out from the rest.

Oh, this frame system does not use screws!  A lot of frames require the sign to be screwed to the frame, leaving screw ends to scratch sign surfaces when transporting or storing.  Screws are also notorious for rusting and leaving those awful rust streaks on your signs.

Our panels simply slip into place with this unique design.  We have about a dozen or so different shape frames available for your next sign project.

Photo of the Week

The yellow moss road 

© copyright -  Big Idea

A truly biodegradable banner

Pictured here is an event banner that was produces for last weeks St Patrick's day celebration held in Downtown St. Paul, MN.  The banner was a whopping 20' long and prominently displayed on a Private party tent.

what is unique about this banner is not the size, or the vibrant printed colors, or even the discreet way it was hung.  what makes this banner unique is actually within it's environmentally friendly make up.

We call this banner materials our Bio13.  It  contains no toxic materials and more than 80% of the content of this material is derived from sources other than petroleum. 

What sets this material apart from other "Green" materials is that the BIO13 will decompose when properly disposed of in a well managed landfill. When exposed to the darkness, high heat and moisture of a landfill, this material attracts microbes that break down the PVC and turn it into dust. 

There are lots of banner options available these days.  If you are looking for a "greener" solution then our BIO13 is perfect for those projects requiring high print quality, durability and truly recyclable.

Photo of the Week

Event Signage and Displays

Conference Signage is a big part of what we do here at Big Idea.  Pictured here in the background is a popular display stand that has been featured here at Big Idea for the last year.  There are tons of stands like this on the market today.  For this style we use only one - it's a quality thing. 

This particular compact unit is very versatile.  The image you see is a full color, single sided digital printed vinyl banner.  Notice how rich the terra cotta look is.  No post processing of the image either - came direct from our client.  The stand is a retractable unit that can adjust from 29" to 83" in height.  It utilizes a unique stand that conveniently is stored along side the display during storage.  On top of all that we supply the unit with a durable carrying case.

This system is I deal for the company that has a display that needs to be mobile and easy to set up.  Stay tuned as we will have pictures up soon of a current display system in the works.

Fishing For Knowledge has a new look!

Shown here is a logo we recently completed for Fishing for Knowledge, a group that was created by the Finlayson / Giese Sportsman's club and the Hinckley / Finlayson school district. Their goal is to share their love for the outdoors with others through education.

The folks at Fishing for Knowledge came to us looking for assistance with some of their identity issues. After a few discussions and review of their current program, we proposed a new strategy and direction for the group. The challenge for Fishing for Knowledge was trusting in us that our proposal of a new logo would improve their image. The identity we developed was based on creating a professional image that was bold, easy to reproduce over a wide range of print and electronic mediums, and visually appealing to both youth and adults.

We successfully accomplished the task.  The logo is currently in full use.  This simple design was very cost effective in producing vehicle graphics. The simple colors are breeze for screen printed and embroidered apparel.  The bold look allowed the groups banner to be easily identified from a great distance, and the clean look of the logo looks great on the various social media outlets available.

Reflections from a photo shoot

Here is a fun shot from one of our corporate portrait photography projects.  If you know corn you should be able to even tell what time of year this was shot.

Our Corporate Portrait Photography will take us just about anywhere and to just about any situation or climate.  The problem with going just about anywhere is getting out of photo-mode while in transit - almost impossible.  Quite often we see something that just can't be passed up, leaving us to pull over and shoot. This is why we always allow plenty of time from point A to point B.

In this case we could not pass up on some interesting scenery. I believe this was point A5 on this particular excursion.  Stay tuned for what was actually shot by the photographer.