SoHi in a College Town

The Client: SoHi Grilled Sandwiches

The Players: Harlan Graphics (harlangraphics.com), Jeff Waggoner Design, Finished Dimensions

Tools and Supplies: EFI Vutek PressVu 320 UV, HP Scitex FB6700 and Designjet Z6100, Inca Columbia; Evonik Acrylite P-95 (matte finish), Fisher Textiles GF 4308 Art Canvas (wall mural), Kodak Universal Backlit Film

The Job: When the Great Steak & Potato Company location on the Miami University campus in Oxford, Ohio, became available last year, the chain’s founder and former owner, Nick Lanni, decided to purchase the site and reinvent the Philly cheesesteak concept. Lanni wanted to create a high-end sandwich joint for college students that would serve not only as a place to eat, but also to linger, study, and socialize. The establishment’s name, SoHi Grilled Sandwiches, references the South side of High Street in Oxford and is a nod to not only Manhattan’s SoHo district but also Soho office space in general.
Harlan Graphics in nearby Cincinnati won a competitive bid to take on the task of printing interior wall coverings, room dividers, menu boards, and light fixtures, plus exterior signage.

Production: The project began at Jeff Waggoner Design, which created the various image files – including images of ingredients used in the sandwiches – with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop CS4. Delivered via YouSendIt, the files were then color corrected by Harlan, which matched the colors to provided paint swatches. After the client approved a small section of the graphic on output media, production was underway.

For the restaurant’s “Linger Zone” banquette area, an 8 x 19-foot wall covering featuring a deconstructed pattern of the restaurant logo was produced (the same graphics were reduced for framing and mounted above the restaurant’s booths). Harlan used its EFI Vutek PressVu to output onto 150 square feet of Fisher Textiles GF 4308 Art Canvas for this segment of the project.

To separate the booths from the ordering line, five 8 x 2-foot brushed-aluminum graphic frames  were constructed and installed by contractor Finished Dimensions, which also produced the light fixtures. Harlan turned to its Inca Columbia to direct print the sandwich-ingredient graphics onto ¼-inch Evonik Acrylite P-95 polycarbonate with matte finish.

Two 3 x 8-foot light fixtures over the community tables in the Linger Zone feature translucent graphic patterns using type and color. The graphics were printed with an HP Z6100 onto 8-mil Kodak Universal Backlit, mounted onto 1/8-inch clear acrylic.

The restaurant’s menu boards were printed using the HP FB6700, onto lightweight 3/16-inch white Gatorfoam?, with GBC Arctic Textured Satin laminate. The panels were then placed in a frame with “Z” clips and wall mounted. “The cost of replacing one of the menu panels was more cost effective and more aesthetic than any kind of changeable message system,” says Kim Springer, Harlan Graphics’ CFO.

The output was completed in phases over a four-month span to allow for SoHi’s opening in 2010. When Miami students returned from summer break, they were greeted by a welcoming eatery that promises more than just a quick meal.