Remember when the best thing about wide-format was that it was big? The task of slapping a logo on a banner or an ad on a poster will always fall to someone, but in 2017, those are no longer the jobs that showcase what digital can really do. The best thing about wide-format today is the ability to print something special, and there’s a whole new pool of end users who are beginning to pay attention.
“Environmental graphics are a way of storytelling,” says Joanne Rarangol, a specialist in Designtex’s Surface Imaging department. Rarangol works with architects and designers, showing them how digital printing can help tell their clients’ stories.
The Society of Experiential Graphic Design says environmental graphics work to communicate identity and information, and create experiences that connect people to place. For architects and designers, 18-inch repeating wallpaper is quickly disappearing in favor of one-of-a-kind custom prints.
“Now,” says Dave Gimbel, owner of Signs by Tomorrow Alexandria, “you can just do everything. Whatever they can imagine.”
Environmental Graphics: Basement Turned Cavern
Read more from Big Picture's May 2017 issue.