Category Archives: Vinyl Banners

Update Your Retail Store’s Signs and Banners for the New Year

The new year is almost upon us! As the past year gives us all a chance to reflect and renew ourselves, now is the perfect time to update your retail store or pop up with a new look, including refreshing your signs, banners and displays. Your existing customers will be surprised and delighted and you may even attract new clientele. Here are a few tried-and-true ways to give your store an updated look and feel going into the new year:

Banners and Signs, Indoors and Outside
Take a peek at all the old in store signage and banners you’ve used over the last year and consider how things like colors and designs could be revamped. Maybe your store could benefit from a retractable banner that you can place outside to show off a sale? Or how about updating handcrafted signs with matte vinyl? A full-scale re-branding effort may mean that you have a new logo, font and color scheme that you should integrate into the sign design.

Much of what will attract customers to your shop takes places before they even step foot into it. Mobile signs you can set up on the sidewalk and in the parking lot along with bright flags and banners that announce your presence will catch their eye and draw them towards the front door. That’s where free-standing retractable banners or easily collapsible hopup displays can be an excellent solution to all your outdoor signage needs. Of course, be mindful of any local regulations that prohibit advertising in these areas.

Streamline and Reorganize
Have you noticed that certain areas of your store get a lot of traffic, while others just seem to gather dust? Are certain products flying off the shelves while the items right next to them just sit there? Going into the new year is a perfect time to question your existing layout and try something new. Open up your space to seem brighter and more inviting. Move your most desirable, fast moving products to the back of your shop – but still within eye line – to give customers the opportunity to pass some of your other offerings. Or, if you find that a certain product simply isn’t appealing to your clientele, consider not offering it in the new year and simply devoting additional space to the top sellers.

Make Your Window the Star of the Show
Your retail window is a little preview of the best and most inviting products you have to offer, so it pays to be conscientious about how it is set up. Too many products shoved into a window haphazardly may project a certain chaos that can be unappealing. The best window displays set a scene, creating a small narrative while still featuring the products in the pleasing way.

Create Engaging Promotions
When trying to attract new customers, think beyond your traditional sales and promotions. Try something unexpected and participatory, like having a sign advertising a prize if a customer can solve a puzzle or brainteaser. Alternatively, adorn your shop with inspiring slogans and snappy sayings to give it character.

Tap Into the Five Senses
Not every key to your store’s success is visual. Keep in mind that everyone has five senses – and you want to try and appeal to as many of them at a time as possible. While your customers won’t be tasting your products – unless you sell food – be mindful of what your shop feels, smells and sounds like in addition to simply how it looks

Vinyl Banners – Sewn or Welded Hems?

Vinyl Banners – Welded or Sewn?

Which is better, a welded hem, or a sewn hem?  At Sign Art Etc, there’s
no question in our minds: we use welded banner hems every time! 
With our Miller WeldMaster T3, our welded banner hems
offer stronger banners with a cleaner look.
 
Using hot wedge technology, the two surfaces of the hem are heated
to over 325° centigrade, melting the vinyl.  It is then drawn through
pressure rollers to complete the fusion process.  Because a sewn hem
creates  perforations/small holes in the fabric, banners with sewn
hems are prone to failure.  With a welded hem, the material remains
intact and is strengthened by the double layer on all edges.
 
Not only are welded hems stronger, but they look better, too. 
Say goodbye to clashing thread stitched through beautiful digital
prints.
 
“It is a big investment, but it gives us a finished product that very few 
companies  in our market can produce,” manager Jeff Ward said
about the WeldMaster.  “Producing great color on digitally printed
banners is a given these days.  Preserving the appearance and
making it 0stronger at the same time gives us a distinct market
advantage.”
 

Top 5 Most Popular Uses of Vinyl Banners

OK….this isn’t as entertaining as a Letterman top 10 list….but it will hopefully give you some ideas.

It used to be that vinyl banners were only useful as short term replacements for more “professional” looking signs. But the advent of digital printing has meant that vinyl can be printed on in full color. And they are very inexpensive compared to the alternatives. This means that these banners now have a wide range of uses. Here are some of the most popular.

1. Outdoor Signs
Banner signs are often used in the place of more rigid signage. Because they are used outdoors, they are printed on very rugged tear-resistant vinyl. Grommets are applied where necessary for easy hanging. The signs can be tied down, or screwed down, and will last for years without tearing or fading. You can also mount them without grommets by asking for “pole pockets” instead. This way they can be mounted on poles at either the sides or top and bottom. The poles can be part of a mounting bracket arrangement, or, if it is made of wood or plastic, can be screwed directly to a wooden surface (such as a fence).

2. Trade Shows
Vinyl banners are ideal for many trade show applications. Since they are lightweight and very flexible, they can be easily rolled and unrolled, and can be used for many years. They make perfect backdrops when hung from the appropriate hardware, or can be used as a sign hanging on the front of your display table. They are especially appropriate for trade show applications because they are lightweight and can be easily shipped or transported. The digital printing is bright, color and long lasting a with solvent based inks.

3. Conventions and Conferences
Every special event can use a banner. These normally function as focal points or as backdrops, and are typically used around the stage or podium to emphasize the event theme or display a corporate logo. The banners can be any size or shape, varying from your typical horizontal long and narrow shape to square. They can be hung from cords attached to the ceiling either to a curtain rod style pole (using the pole pocket technique) or to a number of grommets in the top of the banner.

4. Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Special Events
Paper banners will work for special events like anniversary or birthday parties, but vinyl is much more durable and not significantly more expensive. They can also be hung outside without worry of weather ruining them, such as on a golf course to promote a special tournament. These banners are usually printed on a more tear-resistant material, and should include seams and grommets where requested. If you need your banner to last for more than one event it is best to print it with durable outdoor inks to make it scratch, water, and UV resistant.

5. Streetscapes
Vinyl banners are perfect for adding atmosphere and identity to streetscapes. Special hardware allows you to hang them vertically from utility poles. Pole pockets top and bottom make it easy to put them up and take them down. Streetscape banners are made more durable and weather-resistant by welding two banners together to make it two-sided. And of course solvent inks are essential for this application since streetscape banners are fully exposed to the elements. Because the printing process is a digital one, banner designs can include photographs, logos, and special artwork.

Sign Art Etc can assist with any of your banner projects. We design, print and ship banners all over the US. From Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium to VH-1 and ESPN……Microsoft, GM, Congress, WalMart….and many small and medium size businesses…..we have provided banners, displays and many other signage needs.  Give Sign Art Etc a try……we won’t let you down.

Creating a Banner on Vinyl: Best Practices

vinyl banners
Generally speaking, creating a banner to be printing on vinyl is easy. Anybody with a little bit of graphic design experience can design a vinyl banner. And even if you have no experience, your supplier can point you in the right direction, or even design your banner for a small charge.
Here are some things to watch for when designing…
1. Use software that handles CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) full color output. There are at least three kinds of software you can use:

– Image editors like Photoshop, PhotoPaint, or PhotoImpact
– Page Layout programs like Quarkxpress, Pagemaker, or InDesign
– Illustration programs like Illustrator or CorelDraw

Generally speaking, programs that are designed for consumers or general office applications are not recommended: e.g., Word, Wordperfect, Publisher, Excel, etc. If you have a specific inquiry, don’t hesitate to ask your vinyl banners supplier.

2. Keep your design simple and striking. The best designs contain two or three basic elements. Usually these will be a photograph, a large headline, and an “identifier” such as your company name, logo, or phone number.

3. Use bright colors. The most striking vinyl banners have lots of bright colors.

4. Design your banner so it is readable for your target audience. If it is going on a building or beside a road on a fence, or on an outfield fence at a baseball or soccer field, MAKE SURE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE IS LARGE ENOUGH TO BE READ.

5. Make sure your images have sufficient resolution. Minimum 200 dpi recommended at full output size

6. Make sure your banner fits the area where you’re going to mount it. Don’t guess at the size. Most people who are not familiar with signage will UNDERESTIMATE the required size.

7. Consider alternative mounting methods. Grommets are the “default” method of mounting a banner on a wall or fence. But often “pole pockets” are simpler and more efficient.

Successful Outdoor Advertising with Vinyl

One way to make your outdoor advertising efforts successful is to choose vinyl banners. Vinyl banners are relatively easy to design and will have a big impression on the viewer if you follow some of the basic design rules. All you need to have is a little imagination and some basic design skills, and you can create a banner that inspires.

Software Matters

If you will be designing the banner on your own computer, then make sure that you choose a program that does CMYK full color output, not your average office application. This way, you can guarantee that your final product has the design that you are picturing. Most professional printers will use CMYK full color output, so if you have a specific question about the colors, you can talk to your supplier. They may even be able to send out color samples to make your decision process easier.

Keep it Simple

For some people, the larger canvas of a vinyl banner is an invitation to cram in as much information as possible. However, a simple and striking design is much more effective. Stick with two or three basic elements. Generally, these will be a photograph or graphic, a headline, and your company’s name, logo or contact information.

Be Bold

Keep in mind that these banners are designed to be viewed from a distance. Because of this, bold and bright colors are much more effective than muted colors or pastels.

Can You Read It?

Vinyl banners are often hung up high or in such a way that they must be read from a distance. Because of this, you should be careful with your font style and size. Make sure that the lettering is large enough to be read from a distance, and avoid difficult script fonts that can be hard to read.

Higher Resolution is Better

While a low resolution image may work fine on smaller items like business cards and brochures, you need a high quality, high resolution image for banners. Remember, the bigger you blow up a picture, the more obvious imperfections are. A low resolution image will look distorted and fuzzy the bigger it gets.

Consider Other Methods of Hanging

If you are going to be hanging your banner on a wall or a fence, then grommets are often the best way to go. However, pole pockets are easier to use and allow for a variety of display options. Contact your banner printer to see what styles of mounting are available and which ones will best meet your needs.

Vinyl banners can advertise your store, your event, your show, or any number of things. Creating an eye-catching design is an essential part of making these marketing endeavors more effective.