Concrete Graphics

When you think of Alcatraz Island, aka “The Rock,” typically dangerous criminals, high-security, and isolation come to mind. What you don’t picture is an outdoor basketball competition with some of the best players from around the world. But that’s just what The Red Bull King of the Rock is: a one-on-one basketball tournament with 64 athletes from 23 countries.

Beginning in 2010, Red Bull has produced the first sporting event to be held on “The Rock” since the inmates were relocated more than 50 years ago.

Digital print and graphic design agency SCS Unlimited in Bozeman, Montana, reached out to GH Imaging (www.ghimaging.com) to print the 85 x 90-inch main sponsor logos and lines for two half-courts onto its proprietary Event-Trac floor graphic media via GH’s HP Scitex TurboJet 8500 UV printer.

“We needed a product that could adhere to cold raw concrete at Alcatraz and provide slip-resistant sponsor graphics and court markings,” says Kevin Swanson, graphic designer and marketing coordinator, GH Imaging.

The shop was also called in for two other events where a very large graphic was needed to adhere to asphalt and endure heavy foot and vehicle traffic. The shop used its HP Scitex and Event-Trac floor graphics media. An outdoor asphalt graphic for the A2Z car show totaled 80 x 200 inches, while two floor graphics for the Taste of Muskegon, a two-day, outdoor food festival featuring more than 20 local restaurants set up in Hackley Park in downtown Muskegon, Michigan, measured 119 x 210 inches and 48 x 48 inches, respectively.

Swanson says that with floor graphics, “normally overlooked areas can be utilized to share a message and to create possibilities like wayfinding directions to a product, service, or event, as well as to grab attention away from other traditional advertising placements.” He says Event-Trac is a practical option for directions, calls to action, or simply capturing the eye of someone who normally tunes out traditional line-of-sight materials: “It’s a clear breakaway from cluttered visuals.”

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