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Banner season hits full swing.
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By Rob Ivers
Banner usage typically declines during the colder months. So, spring’s arrival brings good news for shops that fabricate banners.
Most experts agree we have a long way to go before the economy hits a strong stride. However, the stock market continues to rise, along with the temperatures, and business has been picking up correspondingly for many signshops. It’s time for me to step up to the plate and cover all the bases for my shop.
For most of my career, I’ve focused on vehicle graphics. I offered cut-vinyl banners for awhile, but decided to bench them because they didn’t fit into my game plan. I targeted higher-end advertising jobs, not banners, whose primary crowd-pleasing trait was their low cost.
Technological advances have made full-color banners much more attractive – both in appearance and cost. Businesses really need advertising now, and, for many of my clients, wraps are out of their league financially. I wouldn’t be so far behind in the count if I’d figured this out a year ago.
It’s past time for me to take banners off the bench and put them back in the starting lineup. As we pull out of this slump, selling lots of banners for hundreds of dollars, rather than a few vehicle wraps for thousands, may keep me in the ballpark for another season.
Choices
Banners can be produced by digitally printing directly on the banner, by applying cut vinyl, or both. You can print a full-color banner, and then overlay cut vinyl for items that need to be changed, such as a date for a recurring event. Or, you can print part of the banner and use cut vinyl for the rest. It’s also common to use cut vinyl and add graphics that have been printed on vinyl and applied to the banner, rather than printing directly on the banner. I’ve made lots of signs and banners over the years, but my specialty has always been vehicles.
Because I haven’t produced many banners lately, I asked a colleague, Rich Bartle of Sign Connection (Olathe, KS), for insights. With 20 years in the sign business, he owns a CNC router, a vinyl cutter and a large-format, solvent-inkjet printer, for creating myriad signage and graphics.
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