Game, Set, and Match

At the BB&T Atlanta Open pro tennis tournament this July, GCI Graphics (www.gcigraphics.com) served up the wide-format equivalent of an ace. In its third year supporting the event, the shop produced all of the on-court graphics for the tourney plus graphics for sponsor-related sites and activities. For this year’s event, the BB&T introduced a new stadium for its center-court action, as well as a new event co-sponsor (Lexus).

“We not only produced new graphics for the tournament,” says Tyler Alexander, GCI’s vice president and partner, “but from day one (three years ago) we’ve helped them choose appropriate reusable and longer-lasting substrates to repurpose each year. This savings has then allowed the tourney to find new media space for new graphics each year.”

The BB&T work included:
• All of the graphics along the interior of center court – “spec products from US Tennis Association that are also used at the US Open and recommended for all US Open Series tourneys” – as well as being heavily involved in the design of the permanent frame around center court that would hold the banners.
• 30 light-pole banners hung throughout Atlantic Station, the site of the tournament.
• A 200 x 8-foot mesh banner for Lexus.
• Also for Lexus, which had a display at the tourney site’s entrance, a 10 x 10-foot dye-sub tent top with frame as well as various other graphics and banners.
• A 30-foot banner hung in a frame at Atlanta International Airport (one of the media spaces the tournament had not previously advertised).
• And side wraps for Atlanta’s MARTA buses (another space the tournament had never used before).

GCI utilized a full array of EFI printing hardware for the tourney work, including its 196-inch Vutek GS5000r, 126-inch Vutek GS3250LX and 3360 flatbeds, and 80-inch Vutek PressVu; plus its 120” D-gen Teleios GT Grande for direct-to-fabric work. As you might guess, media also ran the gamut, ranging from Avery HP-700 calendered vinyl to Sunbrella Patio fabric and styrene sheets.

The work for the 2013 BB&T Atlanta Open was the first endeavor for GCI Graphics, a new company formed by the recent acquisition of Arko Custom by Graphics Central Inc., both Atlanta-based shops.

“The great folks at the USTA stepped it up this year, and our third time at the tournament was truly a charm,” says Alexander. “The tourney has really grown over the years, and we’ve been very happy to be part of it.”

GCI GRAPHICS
www.gcigraphics.com