From the Editor: Going for the Three

Last month, I attended my first-ever NBA game in Phoenix while in town for Dscoop 2017. The Phoenix Suns played the Charlotte Hornets. While most patrons at the basketball game could tell you who started, the best players on both teams, and what the final score was, I can’t recall much from the on-court action. What really grabbed my attention was the amount of wide-format graphics that engulfed the Talking Stick Resort Arena. Digital print was everywhere: outdoor signage promoting Fry’s Food Store, indoor wall graphics highlighting players’ real-life physiques (so you can compare your height and arm span), banners reppin’ the team’s logo above the court, and floor signage guiding your way through the arena.

You’ve probably witnessed this graphic overhaul at your local stadiums, or, more recently, if you watched the 2017 NCAA March Madness games. The University of Dayton Arena in my hometown was unrecognizable on television, transformed from its original red and blue sanctuary to the home of the First Four games, with the NCAA logo getting prime coverage on the court, banners, and wall graphics. And so it went for all basketball arenas involved in the madness as the men’s tournament progressed.

You’ll see an even larger-scale version of this in our superwide feature in our April issue. Electrobot Creative and Crystal Clear Imaging not only produced graphics for two arenas for the 2017 NBA All-Star game and surrounding festivities, but they also took over downtown New Orleans and a few dozen hotels. Roughly 73,000 square feet of graphics were printed and installed throughout nearly 30 venues in the city, including building wraps, fabric prints, and (literally) floor-to-ceiling graphics.

Are there opportunities for your shop to go superwide? Are you working on a project that requires a few banners, but you know you can also offer a building wrap and floor graphics? What applications can you provide that your customer hasn’t even thought of? Of course, there will be times when it won’t work out due to timing or cost – I had Duke winning it all, and we know how that went – but clients will remember your myriad options and willingness to go for the three, and come back for more.

Read more from Big Picture Editor-in-Chief Adrienne Palmer.