Colour Your Worlde

While retail signs and posters hung in windows can be highly effective, they can also block light and obscure merchandise displays placed near the window or entrances. See-through window graphics are a great alternative. They maintain a strong graphic impact from the outside, and from the inside are practically invisible.

Perforated window film has a grid of tiny holes that are imperceptible when viewed from distances. This type of film is also commonly used in car wraps for back and side windows.

The film also helps reduce glare, heat, and UV light. For retail displays these amazing P.O.P. billboards prevent window clutter and are easily interchangeable for a new look or seasonal promotion. At night, when backlit these signs light up for a potentially stunning effect and around the clock exposure.

This project printed for The Taka Group and their Banana Republic eye wear promotion to be displayed at optical stores windows. As seen from outside and inside our shop window.

With Black Friday upon us many people are poised to do some serious power shopping. The increased traffic is a perfect opportunity for retailers to use in-store signs to their advantage.

Signware manufacture, Rose Displays, wrote some great tips on things to consider about your store environment before installing your next campaign. Some of them may sound like common sense, like #1 'Know your space', but each store can hold their own unique set of challenges. They offer some suggestions about areas in your store that can be utilized for signage, like ceilings and floors, that can keep the shoppers engaged at all levels. As well as things you may not have considered, like making sure you large graphic is not placed in front of a door or air conditioning vent where it will blow over. At the end of the article they also provide a check list to help in planning.

Environments and Understanding Your Space

Planning a great signware program starts with understanding the particular demands of your store’s environment — everything from its location, to its size and shape. Use this environment guide and checklist to plan ahead, and ensure your signage works with, and not against, your space.

 Rule #1: Know your space.

The first step in the process is to consider the layout and general environment of your store. For instance, are you dealing with warehouse-like space that will require large, oversized graphics, or is your store an intimate boutique where signage will be much
smaller? If you are working with a chain of stores, are all of the stores similar in size or do they vary? If some stores are much larger than others, you may need to consider more graphics for those stores, and they may need to be larger and/or in bolder colors to increase their visibility.

For graphics that need to be swapped out or dismantled frequently magnets are a great option. Ideal for trade show booths that need to travel or retail displays that are changed to advertise sale or new seasonal items, magnets can be easily altered by staff not trained in professional installation. Magnets are also great for car graphics and corporate vehicle identification. They offer a high impact without the long term commitment required with a car wrap.

There a couple of options when it comes to magnetic displays. The first is direct to magnetic printing. This, as it sounds, is where the ink is printed directly on magnetic material. This method is most commonly used when it comes to vehicle magnets. Magnets cling and stay the best on a clean flat surface, like the side panel or vehicle door. However, because of the increased weight of magnetic material in bulk, this method is limited in size to a standard 24" width roll.

For larger applications magnetic receptive materials can be used. Magnetic receptive substrates have a metal layer that attract magnets to the front or back surface, and are available in wider width rolls. This innovative material can be used in two ways; magnets can be attached to the front making it ideal for message, instructional or planning boards; or a panel can be installed in to a display frame with just magnetic strip edging, perfect for menu boards, trade shows, or retail settings. Additional finishing, like dry erase laminates, can also be added making them even more versatile.


Consider magnets for displays that need to be flexible and convertible. Artisan Colour can work with you to bring your design to life.

Image resources: Magnum Magnetics for Wide Format Imaging Magazine & Drytac FerroJet Matt.

Looking for alternate signage ideas for your product? The floor is often the perfect place to add to your message and literally stop consumers in their tracks. Every retail space has a floor, and each floor is a potential advertising canvas.

By utilizing floor space, these graphics can be used as a directional tool to guide customers to the desired location in an interactive way. Strategically placed in point of purchase locations through the store they can increase sales of your product up to 30%. With a low cost per square foot to produce, and a durability to withstand high foot traffic for several months, they offer a high return making them one of the most inexpensive advertising mediums.

Floor graphics are made up using a base vinyl and a specially formulated over-laminate for the floor. This over-laminate has a rough texture to prevent slipping and protects the print from foot traffic. The vinyl is easily removable and leaves no residue on the floor. Making it also easy to change out for future campaigns.

Most commonly seen in grocery stores, floor graphics can be used in many ways beyond the frozen food section. They are perfect for trade shows and special events. A logo placed at the entrance of your lobby can promote company pride and help build your corporate brand. Or create three dimensional illusions like this image of a 'hole' in the ground that Publicis, an advertising agency in Brazil, created for an anti-drug campaign at Mackenzie University.

Contact an Artisan Colour representative to learn how to create your own floor graphics.

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Tonight is the grand opening for a new venue in Mesa launched by Julio Cesar Chavez. The 30,000 square foot facility is a boxing themed entertainment complex that includes a restaurant, bar, arcade area, a World Boxing Council Legends of Boxing Museum, and event center that will eventually host their own boxing cards. Chavez says it will be "The first of many" with hopes to open similar complexes in other cities.

We were honored that to be selected to print the posters for their museum as well as other wall installations in the building. Being involved in the design process, we know that that working on this project has been a real labor of love for everyone involved and they are very excited for the opening. We wish them the best of luck and success!

Opening ceremony is scheduled for 6 pm tonight. Julio Cesar Chavez Campeones is located on the southwest corner of Country Club Road and Southern Avenue in Mesa. For more information visit their website.

Cesar Chavez opens Mesa complex - Odeen Domingo for Arizona Republic

What more can he do? His toughness, pride and lightning-quick yet thunderous hands already had led him to glory.

Julio Cesar Chavez, 47, is considered the greatest Mexican boxer in history. He won 108 of his 116 fights, earning six world titles in three weight classes. A star in his sport. A hero to his country.

What more can he do?

Yet there he was Monday - in a white, pinstriped suit - standing inside a boxing ring at a 30,000 square foot venue in Mesa. The $4.5 million venue Chavez was promoting was "Julio Cesar Chavez Campeones"...

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The Big Picture Magazine featured a recent display put together for perfumer Mandy Aftel. What made it so unique, and literally stand out, was the fact that they used the board itself cut in to shapes and layered to create their low impact environmentally friendly display. The project was put together by Brandimage for Mandy Aftel's new line at Henri Bendel in New York City. The inspiration was based on "layers of nature". Since Aftel uses natural essences for their perfume, the company wanted to keep the display as natural as possible. They used a recycled cardboard that contains no VOC, called X-Board. The final display was cut from 150 full sheets of the material stacked 11 feet high and 8 layers deep. They also created display cases out of the same material.

With our own Zund G3 digital router, creating and cutting displays like this one can be possible for anyone to do. Layering and assembling cut shapes can make your display distinctive and can be used in many ways. Imagine your logo layered for a 3 dimensional effect, or sign holders and frames that look like city skyline. If you can imagine it, we can help you make it a reality. For more details about our digital routing capabilities, visit our website.

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Found this article in all places, Psychology Today. They analyzed how a people shop, and found patterns and trends in the way the average consumer navigates a store. Their findings can be utilized by retailers when designing and laying out their space to maximize and encourage sales. For example; since most people are right handed, they tend to turn right when first entering a store. That high traffic area may be the best area to place high-profit items.

The Urge to Splurge

Putty-colored mannequins and quaint window displays are so 1950s. Today's retail stores map out the shopping experience with a precision that starts the moment you walk through those double glass doors.

Can't help but reach for one of those V-neck sweaters so neatly stacked in the middle of The Gap? It may be the work of a savvy retail consultant like Paco Underhill, founder and CEO of Envirosell and author of the book Why We Buy.

PT investigates how retailers nudge you toward that cash register.

First Impressions

The Landing Strip

The first 10 feet inside a store are the "transition zone." Because most shoppers walk at a brisk clip from the parking lot, store designers seek to slow the shopper down, using a table of clothing, a sign or perhaps a salesperson "greeter" as a speed bump. Few retailers put important merchandise next to the entrance because most shoppers aren't yet in browsing mode.

Sweetest Spot

Most shoppers turn right, probably because most are right-handed. The right-hand thoroughfare attracts the highest traffic anywhere in the store. It is the perfect location for high-profit merchandise.

Look Here

Signs with just two or three words work best. At most, a sign registers for all of two seconds with a shopper.

We have also found with our own customers that striking images along with the one or two worded sign leaves a lasting impression with today's media overloaded consumer. The old adage that a picture can speak a thousand words holds true. It can add continuity to the message you are trying to convey, as well as aid in the brand the persona of your store. Inventive displays can help draw a shopper to a specific area of your store, or in the case of a window display, pull them in to your store. Get creative with your signs and merchandise presentation to help promote profitability.

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New options with digital fabric printing have changed the way that many businesses design their displays. There are are an abundant choice of fabrics available — from sheer taffeta, shiny silk like weaves, upholstery, outdoor rated flag and awning canvas, to gaming felts, and everything in between. There are even fabrics available that are made from recycled soda bottles.


- Fabric advertising can add an impression of quality to your product.
- Fabric banners can attract more attention. They move with even a slight breeze, which will draw the eye to your display.
- They can be used over and over and still look good. Many of the fabrics available can even be thrown in a washer and dryer.
- Green fabrics are available that are made from recycled plastic materials.
- Fabric prints do not give off an odor.
- They travel well. They can be folded, put in a suitcase and still look good at a tradeshow or event.
- Fabric graphics rarely (if ever) curl, and in most cases can be ironed.

Best of all, is being able to create your own design to be printed. For more information on our fabric printing capabilities please visit our website.

Today's display graphics are no longer considered just a sign. Very often the graphics we print for our customers in the Retail Market are thought of as art by their shoppers.

Here at Artisan Colour, color management is religion! The two pillars that we live by are accuracy and consistency. Our ability to replicate colors to the highest standard is a daily task. So often Retail Graphics Buyers demand that product colors in the graphics match the merchandise. Easier said than done, eh? A number of our readers have expressed frustration when trying to produce a certain color to match a brand or product where the slightest shift spells disaster. In the print graphics field we spell disaster W-A-S-T-E!

The other pillar of color management is consistency. Have you ever had a job come in where the client is requesting different applications for the same campaign? Using multiple printers on different substrates can seem like an insurmountable task when the goal is to be consistent through out the entire campaign.

In this month's edition of Wide-Format Imaging Marc Welch describes how science has aided color management in image editing and producing uniform and precise color output no matter what devise is used.

How it's Done

The workflow is quite simple:

The first step shuts off color management on all RIPs. The RIPs will receive color-managed files, so they do not need to perform this function. However, the RIP still performs basic printer to media calibration for each media type. This involves printing a tone scale for each color, and making adjustments to optimize the match between requested and printed values. Once calibration is complete, the device is linearized.

The final step is creating a reference or “fingerprint” of the printer or press. A reference chart is printed and ‘read’ with a spectrophotometer. This allows the software to understand both what colors your printer can reproduce as well as how it produces them. Good color management software takes the printer color output, compares it to a preferred standard (GRACoL, for example) and creates a link to correlate the printer’s color capabilities to the color standard. Printers with a broader range of colors (gamut) support a better match to the color standard or original color being matched.

With the right software and training, you can deal with special circumstances. For example, some customers print the backside of polycarbonate then laminated over the print with a white film. The resulting color gamut is considerably smaller than GRACoL. In this type of case it is possible to compress the input color range to fit the available gamut.

....What once required a time-consuming, difficult to teach, and often inconsistent skill has become an efficient, productive process. Both you and your customers will take notice.