Forging A New Road Ahead

As the official signage and graphics provider of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) we get to be a part of some great events and some big meetings that take place in the race world throughout the year. The NHRA is the governing body of drag racing; with more than 40,000 drivers and millions of fans, it’s a $120 million dollar annual business, and we’ve been their exclusive large-format graphics partner since early 2013.

For this year’s NHRA Sponsor Summit in Napa, California, bluemedia was commissioned to do something truly special that would not only be a showpiece for the NHRA but would also be a great opportunity to showcase our latest design and custom fabrication capabilities to NHRA members and the Association’s sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Harley Davidson, Goodyear, GMC Truck, Prestone, Chevrolet, Traxxas, Lucas Oil, and Motel 6, among others.

The client asked us to produce an NHRA-branded custom fabricated podium that would command attention at the front of the meeting space, and give the various speakers throughout the day something to lean on and/or stand behind.

STEP 1: Getting Ideas on Paper
Hand-drawn sketches were produced by our vice president of marketing, then expanded upon and further refined by our structural team. From there, several 3D mock-ups were created using Rhinoceros Version 5 Nurbs Modeler “Rhino,” and further narrowed down with photorealistic renders generated in Keyshot 4.

After minor adjustments and revisions from the team and executives, one version became the clear stand-out and was finalized in “Rhino” and Adobe Illustrator CC 2014 64-bit as a CAD drawing. Next, we had to decide on materials to craft the approved piece.

STEP 2: Making It Rugged, Durable, and Affordable
Although we knew from the start that the piece would only be used for a few days, we designed it to last – hopefully returning home with one of the NHRA members to stand in an office lobby, greeting guests for years to come. Because it needed to look rugged and be durable, we chose heavy duty materials.

The structure features an internal design center, created using 1/2-inch aluminum sheets for the sides and base. Chrome hardware was used to accent the piece, including chrome lug nuts and stainless steel rods – all mirror-polished to a high shine.

For the stand that holds the speaker’s notes, .080-inch thick aluminum was used, and holding that in place, four rods from an actual Top Fuel Dragster were brought in and again polished to a mirror-shine. They’re what also holds the Sponsor Summit sign, which was printed on our Mutoh 64-inch ValueJet 1618A using our in-house brand BMP Long Term vinyl and adhered to the 1/8-inch aluminum before being secured to the rods behind it.

The eye-catching red, white, and blue NHRA logo was cut from three 1/8-inch colored acrylics, and the bluemedia logo was cut from 3/8-inch aluminum, then mirror-polished and adhered to the bottom plate. Once the materials were selected, it was time to produce the piece.

STEP 3: Routing, Polishing, and Painting
All of the aluminum pieces – and there were many of varying thickness – were routed using the Biesse Rover CNC machine in bluemedia’s 70,000-square-foot fabrication shop. The colored 1/8-inch acrylics were routed on our Zünd G3 L3200.

Once completed, the aluminum pieces were hand-routed using a 1/8-inch roll-over bit on a Bosch variable speed router, and hidden microphone holes were cut into the speaker’s note stand, to accommodate a pole-mic to be inserted at the event.

Next, the chrome accents and DSR Top Fuel Dragster connecting rods were meticulously hand-polished to achieve a mirror-finish, and the aluminum base and uprights were spray painted in our paint lab using Matthews Acrylic Polyurethane system.

STEP 4: We Love It When a Plan Comes Together
Finally, we began assembling the piece. The stainless steel connecting rods used in the center of the structure were drilled and then tapped for attachment to the aluminum sides using the chrome lug nuts. The 3/8-inch polished aluminum base was mounted and then spot-welded to the aluminum side rails using a Millermatic 350P, while the polished bluemedia logo was adhered to the base using 3M Silicone and Bron double-sided pressure sensitive tape.

The aluminum Sponsor Summit sign was connected to the connecting rods using specialized tabs our fabrication department created and spot-welded from the same aluminum material. It was as simple as locking down the existing connections on the rods to the newly-crafted tabs on the back of the sign.

To complete the assembly of the colored acrylic NHRA logo, a plot pattern was generated using Adobe Illustrator to improve installation accuracy. Assemblers simply laid out the pieces on the plot pattern and adhered them together, layer by layer, using 3M Silicone and Bron double-sided pressure sensitive tape.

STEP 5: If We Build It, We Can Ship It
When all assembly of the piece was completed, it moved over to our quality control department and was examined by our team for workmanship or material defects. No issues were discovered and the podium was brought to shipping.

A custom crate was built to house the piece using high-grade wood and packing materials, including custom-cut foam insulation for further insurance the piece would arrive safely in Napa.

Because our team begins each project with the end goal in mind, we try to anticipate any issues that may arise during production and shipping when we’re still in conception and planning. With that in mind, we built the NHRA logo so that it could easily be taken apart from the podium for shipping, with Velcro on the back securing it to the aluminum presenter top.

This feature worked flawlessly and helped to make the overall crate dimensions fit as small a profile as possible. This not only saved money during the shipping process, it also helped when the installers on the other end had to maneuver the piece through hallways and doorways at its intended destination – had the logo been permanently adhered, it would have been too wide to fit through most walkways or entrances.

STEP 6: A Platform For Success
The podium was well-received at the Sponsor Summit, being used throughout the day by the various speakers, sponsors, and attendees, and it appeared in dozens of photographs taken at the event. Those photos will appear in NHRA sponsor email updates, and other various online platforms throughout the next few months.

And, just as we’d hoped, the piece made it all the way to the NHRA Headquarters building in Glendora, California. One of the NHRA board members, not wanting to take it apart and worrying that it would be damaged during a second shipping process, loaded it up into his vehicle, and drove the piece to the lobby of the NHRA building, where it now stands.

Equipment and Supplies Used
Hardware and Software: Mutoh ValueJet 1618A printer, Zünd G3 L-3200 digital cutting system, Adobe Illustrator CC 2014 64-bit, Rhinoceros Version 5 Nurbs Modeler, Keyshot 4, Onyx Thrive RIP, Biesse Rover CNC, Matthews Acrylic Polyurethane system, Millermatic 350P spot welder, Bosch Variable Speed handheld router

Materials: bluemedia in-house BMP Long Term vinyl, ½-inch aluminum sheets, Chrome hardware (lug nuts) .080-inch aluminum, 3/8-inch aluminum, four rods from Top Fuel Dragster, 1/8-inch colored acrylics (red, white, blue), stainless steel connecting rods
Tools and Miscellaneous: Screwdriver, wrench, Velcro, 3M Silicone, Bron double-sided pressure sensitive tape

Joe Holt is the marketing manager for bluemedia (bluemedia.com) in Tempe, Arizona.