Colleges have a knack for branding their entire campuses with university colors, logos, and mascots to boost school spirit. There’s nothing quite like visiting the old stomping grounds and being engulfed in insert-your-college-mascot-here pride. Frankie Markasovic, production manager and marketing coordinator for Chicago’s Graphic Image Corporation, went a step further, donating signs and graphics for his beloved alma mater, Saint Xavier University, in 2017.
When the college’s football stadium required updated imagery prior to the 2018 season, Coach Mike Feminis reached out to Graphic Image Corp once again. A former Cougar football player himself, Markasovic’s younger siblings are now part of the team, making the partnership a no-brainer.
As a proud alumnus, less-than-stellar signage simply wouldn’t do. “The pre-existing graphics on the stadium had met their demise over a period of 5-6 years of Chicago weather,” says Markasovic. “They had become tattered and an eyesore for Cougar fans and away team fans, as well. New graphics were badly needed to help complement the other stadium improvements, like the brand-new turf field and running track.” The shop got to work designing and outputting new soft signage graphics that would better represent the Cougars’ fierce team spirit.
Graphic Image Corp imaged 1058.5 square feet of Agfa Duratex 8-Oz Mesh Banner material with the shop’s Mutoh ValueJet 2638X, welding the edges and adding grommets every 24 inches. Because the client was on a budget, banner media was the perfect cost-effective option, offering outdoor durability and strong, lightweight visuals. To cut down on costs even further, a few of the football coaches volunteered to install the graphics themselves: another benefit of soft signage.