Banner Stands White Papers 10-14-10

An overview of banner stand options, including
marketing ideas, basic production guidelines
for trouble-free graphics, the types of banner
stands available and their recommended
applications.
Banner stands can be used for a variety of applications and can provide a
foothold into markets you may have never considered. For instance, there’s
a trade show, expo or meeting for every conceivable type of business. You
might be surprised at the niche markets that produce miniature trade shows
and meetings locally. Keep an eye out for all the meetings and events in your
area and tap into the opportunity to provide banner stands to those who are
exhibiting.
Here’s but a partial list of venues, special events, organizations and businesses where you can sell banner stand graphics:
• Sporting events: The venue itself, boosters and businesses that provide
services at the venue, as well as businesses that would like to advertise
at the event
Banner stands are an
economical, portable and
interchangeable alternative
for all types of displays.
• Schools: Local schools are looking for relatively
inexpensive ways to promote their events and
provide directional graphics at the event itself
• Festivals: From the festival organizer to the vendors,
opportunity knocks exponentially
• Art shows: Give the artist that extra boost with a banner
stand, and find partners in the art and photography markets
who will want banner stands for future events and to provide
to their own customers. Wedding photographers, for instance,
would love to have that extra something special for their
wedding bride clients
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• Chamber of commerce: Your local Chamber always has some type of
event going on, from meetings to seminars to simple Chamber cocktail
parties and the like
• Local clubs and service organizations: Partner with Kiwanis and similar
organizations to provide them with nice banner-stand graphics for their
various events and meetings
• Sales meetings: Companies are always looking for ways to build and
reinforce their messaging to their employees during these all-hands-on
deck meetings
• Special events: Chili cook-offs, car shows, gun shows, bike shows, boat
shows… The list is endless
• Local governments: A municipality and all of its departments, for
instance, are a lot easier to sell graphics to than the state or federal
government, and they always have something going on that requires
graphics, particularly banner-stand graphics. The parks and recreation
department is a great one to take a closer look at; think of all the sports,
camps and activities it provides, as well as all the facilities it operates
Banner stands provide
eye-level, attentiongrabbing advertising for
your customer.
• Speakers and seminars: Keep an eye out for seminars and workshops
travelling to town and hit them up for banner-stand
graphics that will reinforce their message
• Showrooms: Businesses all up and down Main Street
are looking for quick and easy ways to promote their
sales and any special events they have planned at street
level or in their showroom
• Local malls: Not all malls or shopping centers are owned by
a giant conglomerate. Find out if any are locally owned and
make a sale
• Community-wide sales events: In Denver, for instance, the
Denver Sports Authority hosts its annual Sniagrab (Bargains
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spelled backwards), a pre-season ski industry sale that starts Labor Day
Weekend. Other sports stores in the area hold similar events, usually
through October. Vendors inside and outside the store who show up to
sell their wares include ski resorts, ski apparel and equipment
companies. These types of events offer an excellent opportunity to
approach multiple companies and organizations with banner-stand
graphics for their vendor booth, which is usually a tent in the case of
Sniagrab
Production Tips
Before we discuss the three basic types of banner stands – retractable,
telescoping and spring-back – we’ll start at the beginning with some basic
production guidelines to ensure you don't get caught on the back end with
graphics that fail while they're out and about on the trade-show circuit or
on display in a store, at a meeting or any other venue. There are few things
more hateful than a customer's desperate (and usually angry) phone call
from some trade show in Timbuktu demanding replacement graphics right
away.
Sporting events of all kinds
are excellent venues for
banner stands. There are a
lot of opportunities to sell
graphics to everyone
involved in the event, from
sponsors to organizers.
Drying time: After printing, and if you decide to laminate the
graphics (more on that decision-making in the next
section), the recommended drying time before lamination is at least 24 hours. If the ink is dry to the touch after
24 hours, and not at all tacky, it should be good to go.
Furthermore, be careful not to oversaturate the graphic
with ink. Profiles, settings, and file management are
extremely critical.
Cure time: As with ink, the laminate's adhesive should be
given 24 hours to cure before graphics are trimmed and rolled.
Given time constraints in production, the full 24 hours may not be
possible, so allow at least two hours. Still, the longer you can allow
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the adhesive to cure, the better off the graphics will be. If the adhesive is
not given enough time to cure, it will not bond properly to the print,
causing tunneling, delaminating and edge lift. The adhesive’s cure time is
the most important factor that determines the strength of the graphic.
Cutting and trimming: Always cut through the softer material first,
when applicable. Use a sharp blade and trim the graphics with a straight
edge at a 90-degree angle on tempered glass. Self-healing mats and other
softer surfaces will compromise the bond between the laminate and the
print. When producing a fabric display, use a hot knife to keep the fabric’s
edges from fraying.
Rolling graphics: Always roll the graphics with the thinnest material
facing out. For instance, when using a 7-mil display film with a 15-mil
laminate, the display film should be on the outside as the graphic is being
rolled up for shipment. When both materials are the same thickness, always
roll them the same way every time, and don't roll them in the reverse
direction to make them lay flat. Also, roll the graphics at a minimum 12-in.
diameter. Make sure to provide the customer with simple rolling and
packaging instructions.
Think of all the empty
spaces and events that could
use a banner stand graphic
– or two or three or ten –
from malls to meetings.
Sledding: Use a sled when you laminate. A sled –
which should be made of a hard substrate like
Masonite, acrylic, or aluminum – helps ensure even
pressure across the web. Apply a release liner to the sled
to prevent adhesive build-up. The release liner will allow
you to easily clean off the adhesive.
Eliminating curl: If you're having a problem with curling
when you apply pressure-sensitive laminates and backers, either
reduce the speed of your take-up reel or put less pressure on the
rollers.
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Printing on film: The best material choice for rollable trade-show
graphics is an inkjet film, such as polycarbonate, polyester and polypropylene. Fibrous paper tends to split, tear and curl.
Making a Stand
Spring-back, telescopic, and retractable banner stands are space-saving,
lightweight, collapsible solutions for single-panel displays that can also
be displayed together for a multi-panel display. Retractable banner stands
have the added benefit of protecting the graphic in transit and during
setup since the graphic is rolled up into the hardware itself, but they’re
usually more expensive than spring-back and telescopic stands.
Most retractable banner stands can only use a graphic that’s 15 mils or
thinner, but the safest bet is to keep the total thickness (printable material
and laminate) to 12 mils or less since there are many banner stands on the
market that can’t hold anything over 12-13 mils thick. Make sure you know
the limitations of your display hardware ahead of time.
Partner with artists and
photographers to help
showcase their work.
With retractable displays you don’t have to laminate unless you want to
change the finish (a textured finish works best in a trade-show environment,
while gloss may be best for retail to give the display more
pop and bring out the colors), or if it’s going to be
placed in a high-touch area.
Generally speaking, you can use a less expensive media
like polypropylene without lamination for retractable banner
stands. However, for whichever type of banner stand you
decide to use it’s best not to use a low-grade vinyl banner material since it will have a tendency to curl, particularly when the
temperature changes a lot. And, when using a pressure-sensitive
laminate avoid paper print media, which has less durability and
tends to split after repeated use. Display films and fabric both work
well with all types of banner stands.
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There are a number of different retractable banner stand styles, widths and
finishes available. The better-made and more flexible the banner stand, the
more expensive it will be. For instance, some retractable stands include
an interchangeable cartridge system so that you can simply plug a new
graphic into the cartridge and ship that, rather than sending the client an
entirely new banner stand.
For tighter budgets and simple setups, spring-back and telescoping banner
stands may fit the bill. As the name implies, a telescoping banner stand
has the advantage of controlling the height of the banner, typically up to
80 inches tall. The spring-back banner stand, on the other hand, is under
tension and needs to be a certain height. Its advantage is simply that it
costs less.
Opacity is an issue you’ll want to consider if the banner will be placed in the
middle of a well-lit space. If you don’t want to see the hardware’s shadow
behind the graphic it’s best to use a block-out display film, fabric or banner.
But, if it’s against the wall you can use lighter fabrics and films. If you use
a fabric, make sure to pick one that cuts easily without fraying; cotton, for
instance, tends to fray.
Use different materials and
banner stand configurations
for different effects to draw
more attention to the
display.
If you have any additional tips or interesting projects you’d like to share, or
questions about finding the right combination of banner
stand and materials, contact a LexJet account specialist
at 800-453-9538.
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