The Expert Novice

WHAT IF I told you in nearly a decade of covering wide-format print, I’ve never been a customer of wide-format print?

When I first started at Big Picture, I didn’t know anything about wide format. I was just as confused as the people who were sending me emails asking for showtimes at a movie theatre with the same name as the magazine. (The cinema served Bloody Marys during Sunday matinees, so it does sound like something I’d be interested in.) With time, hard work, and your support, I’ve grown to better understand and love all things wide-format digital print. So, one may think I’ve worked with a print shop at some point to create something for myself, my home, my friends, or my family.

My first time as a true customer, from design to consult to print to install, happened this year. My husband started a bicycle business in Panama City Beach called Bikes, Bagels, & Brew (aka B3ars). He rents, sells, and leads an eight-mile bike tour from a brick-and-mortar within eyesight of the Gulf of Mexico. The previous tenant left a white surfboard with neon-green lettering that says RENTALS, giving each passerby a small hint as to what’s offered. What he really needed though was a sign to complement the board. Something to grab tourists’ attention, leaving nothing to the imagination. I did some research on local print shops and landed on Coastal Impressions Screen Printing & Sign Shop. To learn more about this fun, personal side-project of mine, head to bigpicturemag.com/b3ars.