Construction and Building Industry

most memorable signs that I’ve seen recently was a beautiful backlit sign that looked like carved marble.  The sign was mounted to a stone wall, and the juxtaposition of the smooth polished marble combined with the rough hewn stone and complemented by a deep neon glow was very impressive.  I asked the person at the front desk if they knew how the sign was attached to the wall and they let me get close to see how it was constructed, and what I saw astounded me – the marble wasn’t marble at all, but a light weight molded letter shape that was finished in a marble veneer!  The effect was beautiful and elegant, yet I realized that the cost of creating this lobby sign was a fraction of what marble would be.

That’s one of the neat things about the sign industry today.  There are new technologies and methods for creating beautiful and unique lobby signs that appear to be more expensive than they really are.  Of course, it takes some creativity, equipment and expertise to pull off the manufacture of custom signs.   Graphic Impact is fortunate to have some real talent and some very sophisticated technology, which, when combined, can produce some of the most memorable signs.

What makes a sign memorable? We’ve compiled a list of our top 5 tips to take into consideration when having your sign designed.

1. Color - Use of color should reinforce your brand identity.  Many companies will specify  a pantone color match to assure that the shade of the sign is “their red” or specific color selection.  Using a blue red, when your logo calls for an orange red may seem insignificant, yet it evokes a different reaction from the customer.  Especially when it comes to your lobby sign, it’s important that the color of your sign is consistent with your brand.

2. Material – New materials offer lighter and less expensive alternatives to heavy and expensive manufactured signs. Custom signs can be created out of many materials.  Of course it’s important that the material is appropriate for the conditions of the area where the sign will be featured.  A good sign company will take into consideration thing such as sun fading, height, humidity, and the surrounding area when designing a lobby sign.

3. Textures – Using a variety of textures adds interest to the sign.  Like the example where stone and marble are adjacent, showcasing the rough and the smooth, it’s also neat to have fabric variations or patterns that add interest.  Don’t be afraid to use varying natural materials like slate or brick for some rustic feeling, and add stainless steel or matt black painted metal for some contemporary touches.

4. Size – Be sure that the size of the lobby sign is appropriate for the setting. Signs that are oversized will dwarf the area, and signs that are too small will seem unimportant.  Remember that skimping on the size of the sign is a reflection on your company and will affect the way your visitors will perceive your brand.

5. Lighting – For areas that are dimly lit or where the lobby sign may be shadowed, consideration to lighting can make a huge difference.  Dramatic lighting can embellish an otherwise plain sign, highlighting the shadows and textures and colors of the materials.  Lighting can be from the front, can be pin light, can be backlit or can even be a glow that comes from behind.  There are many new lighting products that can create neat effects.

Designing the lobby sign is a critical task that can reflect greatly on your company.  Explore some of the exciting new options in signage and be adventurous.  If you work with a professional signage company, you can create a memorable lobby sign that is a proud representation of your brand.

Color is always an important component of branding.  That’s why large companies are so particular about their image and use of their logo and colors.  Most companies will identify their brand color with a PMS (Pantone Matching System) shade.  This way, their color will be consistently the same shade, regardless of the media.

Here are the official colors that are used in signs across the United States:

Red – Used for STOP signs and YIELD signs, multiway supplemental plates, DO NOT ENTER and WRONG WAY signs, for legend symbols on some regulatory signs, and as part of interstate and some state route markers.

Flourescent Pink – used as background color for incident sign management signs.

Coral- reserved for later use.

Orange – temporary traffic control signage.Yellow – background color for warning signs (except temporary signs) and school signs.

Flourescent Yellow/Green – used as background color for pedestrian, bicycle and school warning signs.Green -used as background color for guide and information signs, and for legend on permissive regulation and parking signs

Light Blue – reserved for future use.Blue – used as background color for traveler services, information signs, emergency evacuation route signs, and as part of interstate and some state route markers

Purple- reserved for future use.

Brown – used as background color for guide and information signs related to points of recreation or cultural interest.

Black – used as background color for ONE WAY, night speed limit and truck regulatory signs, and also as legend color on signs with white, yellow, orange, flourescent pink, and flourescent yellow-green backgrounds.

White – used as background color for most regulatory signs and some route markers as legend color on signs with red, green, blue, brown and black backgrounds.

How do  you use colors to identify your brand?  Are you consistent with using the same color in all of your materials?

Because it’s important to be in compliance with local sign code and ordinances, and because not being in compliance can result in fines and fees, it pays to work with a company that understands what is acceptable and not acceptable and who can help you keep the signs within code.

Whether you are looking for an outdoor sign, backlit sign or neon, Graphic Impact has the experience with creating many of the signs that are used by the most prominent businesses in Tucson and the surrounding metro.  Specializing in custom ADA (Americans Disabilities Act Signage) requires an in depth understanding of how to create the dimensional signs with braille.  Whether you want your signs to be a special color or font, or material, Graphic Impact has made a huge investment in equipment that will enable the manufacture of just about any type of sign or banner that can be imagined.  Digital capabilities and precision machinery make production faster resulting in better turn around times as well as better pricing.

Signs and banners are produced in our family owned facility in Tucson.

When you work with Graphic Impact, you can be assured that your signage needs will be created with precision and professionalism and delivered on time.

Some important links from the Tucson City sign code include:

Corporate Signage

staff wants to get what they need when they need it and doesn’t want to be bothered with corporate red tape to get their materials approved.  On the other hand, corporate marketing is tasked with protecting the brand and may not have the immediate time to review individual requests when being bombarded by multiple field locations.

How can your company protect your brand when there are so many users in so many locations, reproducing the company logo in different colors, using the wrong font, and sometimes distorting the logo to be almost unrecognizable?

The solution is to create a portal where company approved merchandise can be offered on demand, without having to go through the approval process every time.  This concept is what a corporate branded store is all about.

Consider the amount of time invested in reviewing and evaluating each branch’s signage.  As your company grows, there is a time when it’s mandatory to protect the brand.  This can be done by printing everything and then sending it out to the branches for their use as needed.  Unfortunately, buying everything in advance winds up as a wasteful endeavor -

• Items wind up being unused because they are not the right size for the promotion
• Items wind up being destroyed due to poor storage practices
• Items take up space of valuable inventory
• Items wind up being forgotten until someone decides to clean up the warehouse

Setting up a corporate store is easy.  Essentially you supply the fulfillment company with your logo, your color selections, the guidelines for using your logo, and if you really want control, you can pre-select exactly what your store will offer.  That’s it.  The company store is then set up for you with your branded merchandise, a password is created for your users, then they can go in at will and buy exactly what they need, when they need it.  That’s efficient!

And because you have an ongoing relationship with the manufacturer, your associates can order in any quantity for most items.

Corporate stores can be set up for many types of items, including:

• Signage and graphics
• Banners for events
• Table top signs
• Store promotional signs
• Custom printed T-shirts
• Custom printed promotional items
• Custom printed caps or baseball caps
• Imprinted promotional products
• Personalized pens or other items
• Dynamic printed mailing campaign
• Presentation materials

The best thing about having a corporate store is that you have access to items when you need them, and with today’s digital printing, there is no need to stock things that you may not use.

Let us know if you’d like to have us set up a corporate store for your organization.  It’s fast, easy, and can save you time and aggravation in the long run.  There’s no start up cost, no upfront commitment.  In short, it doesn’t cost anything.

Custom vehicle wraps and fleet graphics can drive your logo or message to a geographic market, and add visibility for customers and potential customers while the fleet, car, truck or van simply drives around town.

When deciding to use a car wrap, truck wrap or van wrap, there are some pitfalls of installation to avoid.  Especially if you are considering vehicle wraps for your fleet, it’s important to avoid issues that could potentially reduce or shorten the life of your decals or wraps.

Make sure you avoid these mistakes:

1. Before applying the graphic wrap to the vehicle, all surfaces must be smooth and free of rust. Fleet graphics don’t adhere properly if applied over rust or bubbles in the paint,  and will begin to peel or crack prematurely.
2. Temperature must be taken into consideration both when installing the graphics but also for long term life of the vehicle wrap.  Be sure the installation takes place in a climate-controlled environment to minimize moisture and heat.
3. Using top materials is one way to assure that your vehicle wrap will have a longer life span.  There is a big difference in the material weight as well as the pigments that can be used.  Using a high-quality material, like 3M will be less likely for the vehicle graphic design to fade, crack, peel or bubble.
4. Installation by trained professionals is one of the standards to look for.  Determine whether the vehicle wrap installer has been certified and whether the vehicle wrap is offered with a guarantee or warranty.
5. Ask for references and also ask to see vehicles that the graphics company has wrapped.  Making an investment in wrapping your fleet in a cool graphic design for the vehicle wrap is only as good as the installation and the implementation.  Ask for testimonials from vehicle wrap clients  who have had graphic installation on their fleet or truck or car.  If the business is willing to make sure they do the job right, they should have no issue with providing references.

To get as much mileage as possible out of a custom car or vehicle wrap, make sure that the installation, materials and graphics will last for a while.  Especially when you are on the road, it is easy to see how this under-used, but effective marketing method continues driving up sales.

What is a QR Code and why do I need one? How can a QR code help me market my business?

A QR or quick response code is a type of barcode that  can be read by a mobile phone and which links to a dedicated web page.  IN order to read the code, the phone must have a photo viewer and the software to decipher the code.  The neat thing about QR codes is that, unlike a web address that is printed on a banner, the customer can go directly from the code to a website offer.

QR codes stared in Japan and then spread across Europe.  It’s taken a bit longer for QR codes to catch on in the United States.  With more and more people who have iPhones or Android phones, there becomes more potential opportunity for utilizing QR codes as part of a campaign.  Already QR codes are being utilized on trucks and buses as mobile billboards.  Even students have printed QR codes on their clothing to direct their friends to their Facebook page or Twitter profile.

Magazines, billboards, even vehicle signs or vehicle wraps are starting to use these codes. Printed direct mail pieces as part of a business outreach program or candidate’s political campaign are utilizing the power of QR codes to connect with an audience or constituency.

One of the cool uses for QR codes is to link to product information, much like the point of sale signs we created for Best Buy.  Best Buy used our QR signs to share more in depth information about the product, with links to the manufacturers sites as well as product specifications and video demos of the product.

Some uses of QR  codes include linking to a fundraising page for a charity or organization.  Printed QR codes on a banner can direct the user to learn about a sale or contest.  The uses of and applications for QR codes as part of an advertising and marketing program are just beginning to be explored.  If you’d like to learn more about how to use QR codes, contact the pros at Graphic Impact, or download our eBook with 10 Great Ideas on how to use QR to Improve Your Business!

When designed with exciting colors and messages, inexpensive yard signs can be used to promote classes, services, new business addresses, or general business purposes.  Consider using yard signs for promoting sales, or events, Grand opening announcements, Festivals,  new services.

Using color and fonts correctly can make or break the visibility of your yard sign.   The most important rule is to keep the message clean and bold, especially since most viewers may have just 3 seconds to view the sign.  Too many pictures or words may make the sign less readable and therefore less effective.

Attention-getting and easy-to-read  are the name of the game when it comes to lawn signs!

Yard signs can be printed with photo quality full color graphics or simple vinyl letters. Because these signs are inexpensive and can be produced quickly they make a great addition to your business marketing program.

Graphic Impact can design your lawn sign program and provide fast turn around.  Since we are the manufacturer, the signs can be printed at our facility in Tucson and for local customers, can usually be available the same day.  Call us to learn more.

Laser-Engravable Plastic For Awards Or Signs

Contrasting text and graphics on plastic materials is accomplished with CO2 lasers.  Several plastic manufacturers offer laser-engravable plastics – typically a thin cap sheet bonded to a thicker white or black substrate. The CO2 beam removes, the top layer revealing a clean contrasting image.  Common industrial and commercial uses include equipment identification, ID badges, room identification signs or even awards and trophies.

Engraving Designs In Stone or Hardwood Marking or engraving marble or granite or hardwood is another elegant use of laser technology.  When wood is burned away, a nicely contrasting engraved depth can be controlled resulting in an almost 3D carved relief in the wood. Images and text can be burned into wood-based objects. Popular usages include award plaques, vintage-look signs, monument signs or memorials.

Creating Stainless Steel Nameplates

Coated stainless steel can be laser etched or engraved to create nameplates, plaques, markers, awards, or labels.  With coated steel, the laser leaves a clean, high-contrast resulting image.

When it comes to creating images using new technologies, Graphic Impact is ready.  Graphic Impact is at the forefront of laser signage.   As a manufacturer of unique graphic signage and banners, Graphic Impact is able to create unique, custom signs, banners and awards and deliver custom items quickly.

I believe the answer is yes, and although 3-5 years off, it’s coming. Now digital printing has a strong following of customers purchasing between 1-150 shirts. Why? Everything is in full color, the textile is soft to the feel, all prints are photographic quality and there is no set-up. So why not now for larger volumes? The cost of the equipment and ink are the two factors. Think three years in the future, when Graphic Impact has 15 digital textile printing machines lined up against the wall, producing light and dark shirts in full color. This configuration would allow us to run up to 450 shirts/hour, all full color while offering clients overnight delivery at a very competitive price.