Pictures of the week

We have had some inquiry as to the source of the images we use for the Picture of the week.  All the images displayed on our Picture of the week posts are photos taken by Big Idea staff.  Occasionally we may post some interesting photos of funny signs or other odds-n-ends, but they will not appear as a photo of the week.

Moving forward we welcome any comments you have on the photos and encourage you to share the links to the images.  We also ask when sharing any image outside of our blog or facebook page, that you include the accompanying ©copyright that is listed with the image.

Picture of the week

Can't take the skyway

part of a subway series
© Davin Brandt

Picture of the Week

How can you not like a good baby picture.

©davinbrandt

Picture of the week

"Class 5 to Paradise"

© copyright Davin Brandt

Big Idea - Picture of the week

Standing Out

© copyright - davinbrandt

Big Idea

Reflective vehicle graphics

Here is a great illustration of how reflective vehicle graphics look in both daylight and while illuminated with directional lighting such as vehicle headlights.

Note here that the red and white portions are much brighter while illuminated. This is due to the reflective glass particles within the vinyl film.  The darker the vinyl color the more that color will change while reflecting light. This brings us to the question we often get about reflective black. While there is a 3M reflective black vinyl available, we rarely use it.

Is black actually a color? Well, this is debatable depending on who you talk to. It sure is a color in a paint, ink or vinyl selection. However, color as light is not a color. With reflective vinyl we are dealing with both color and light.

Since black, as light, is not a color, it cannot reflect any color. So,  getting black to reflect really cannot happen. What you will see when black reflective vinyl gets hit with light is various shades of gray all the way to white. This happens because what is reflecting is actually the glass partials within the film.

Back to our picture. The black you see is simply black. As you can see it works just fine as is. Having it brighter, as with reflecting, would decrease the contrast it gives the white against the red. By the way, both the white and the red are reflecting.

Next time you are have a reflective sign or decal need, run it by a professional. They will be able to assist not only with color options but also with the variety of reflective quality films available.

Event badges

Pictured here is a pile of #eventbadges  / cards / tags or whatever you wish to call them.... we like badges.  This fun project was just completed for the Long Island Bulldog Rescue organization out of New York.

The badges size up at 3" x 4" and are a full color (photographic quality) print on our tough 30mil white PVC.  The black lanyards are made of a nice woven nylon cord, super flexible and comfortable around your neck. What is great about these event badges is that they are affordable even at the small quantities often needed by event producers.

Note too that we offer a huge line of lanyards from the simple to the full color logo imprints and everything in between.  The cards are pretty standard in size, but others sizes are available with the option of printing on just one or both sides.

Here is a neat video featuring one of our clients, Larson • King,  produced by KARE 11.

 This segment was featured on the KARE Sunrise morning show as part of the "Top of the Twin Cities" series. Though we were hoping to see a bit more of our photography work on the conference room walls,  you can see a few of them at the 4.05min mark.

A bit on the photos...

Larson • King  hired us to produce a truly unique creative photography project that involves customized images specific to each of their 8 conference rooms.  Each conference room is uniquely named after a street in St. Paul.  The images within each room have all been taken from interesting perspectives from the street in which they were named - I know, cool idea.  Not only did we take some pretty interesting shots, but the way they are being displayed are pretty interesting too, some framed, others not, and some being produce on large format canvas.

By far this one one of the most creative photo projects we have worked on to date.  Stay tuned for a sneak peek into the L•K Street book.  Yup, we are publishing a coffee table book of  the images on the walls as well of the several other images that did not make the cut for wall space, but are worthy of being displayed.  Oh, and one can be seen below in the previous post from May, 3rd.

On a side note, we also are the guys who produced and installed the 3D logo you see on the front of the KARE Sunrise studio desk.

Creative fine art photography - from Big Idea

The real niche that set Big Idea apart from other creative companies is our photography service... and yes, it is done In-House.

Pictured here is a custom photo (from an Iphone) we installed today.  Iphones do a pretty good job in low light by the way.  Anyway, This is part of a conceptual fine art work in progress that involves a very specific theme designed to decorate a corporate workspace.  Though the subject may seem average the unique perspectives, direction and style are creative and inspiring.

 Sure signs are a big part of what we do as it should be since it is a big part of a company's visual identity, but it shouldn't stop there.  This particular client took the time to listen, not only to the offer of adding refreshing accents to drab wall space, but to the value added idea of customizing there display art to help further convey their foundation, ideals and direction.

What you see is a black and white photo we shot, printed, matted, framed and installed, 1 of over 40  pieces in this collecton that beat out the thousands of runner ups. Yes we do it all. From project conceptualizing to final product, this is what makes Big Idea a truly creative company.

Inexpensive Store Front Identity

Pictured here is a before and after display of a recent store front project we completed.  The client was looking for a simple, inexpensive way to market there business to street traffic.

The space under the current can lights is an obvious location for a sign.  Though the space is small for the proportions of the logo, it looks great illuminated under the lights.  Our alternate, more horizontal, version of the logo had bold and large impact, but was not an option as the client wished to keep logo identity identical in all locations.  We get that.

The added accent color bands on the windows brings a bit of life to the brick building.  It also helps define the space this business holds, giving them notice that they fill this building.  The added bullet points are a key element here in answering the public question of what this business does. This is huge for drive by marketing.  How many times have you driven by a business with some unique name, but had no idea who or what they did?

No question what this business does here.  And, they were able to have this produced and installed for a rate that was a fraction of what that black awning cost.

Photo of the week

Graffiti your mom just might approve.

Photo of the week

Mississippi Reflections

©DavinBrandt - Big Idea

The uniqueness of this image is that it was shot on January, 10th  2012.  In Downtown Saint Paul, MN

Photo of the week

"Busy Evening in Saint Paul"

©copyright - Big Idea

Display Signs - a neat trick for seamless displays

Have you ever had a need for a display sign that exceeds a substrate dimension?

Most sign sheet materials come in 8' or 10' lenghts. The exception of which is rolled lexan. When working with signs that need to be seamless, and over the 10' there are few options. Now, add in that the sign needs to be rigid and you just about ruled out all your senseable options. Sure lexan seams to be the first bet here, but it is not rigid and can bow or flex if not supported on all sides evenly.

Here is a solution we created for the project pictured here. First, produce a rigid sign base substrate. In this case we are using a dibond product.  It is super smooth, rigid, easy to fabricate, and lightweight. We then mount the dibond to the wall surface. In this case we used 3M VHB double sided tape - super strong.

Second, we produced our graphic image onto a vinyl film with a special over laminate designed to keep the vinyl rigid. This vinyl is then applied to the dibond surface. The laminate used is the key that holds this project together. Without the special laminate, you would be able to see the seam between the two dibond pieces. Using this special laminate makes our seam virtually invisible, giving us the illusion of a continuous sign header spanning over 16'!