The Trip Abroad

Author: Amanda

Dear Readers, Grandmother, I have returned from my trip abroad in which I traveled much of Germany and spent a few days in Austria. The trip was certainly an eye opener to the way our cultures differ, giving me a new perspective on my own. One of the things I loved in Germany was how common it was to take your dog with you wherever you went. Dogs could follow their owner into the train station, the mall, even restaurants, and the well behaved and trained dogs, as many of them were, didn’t require a leash. It made me miss our dog Casey very much who gets to come to work with us.

Another interesting aspect was how they handled their signage. In many of the villages trying to maintain their rustic appeal, banners were made out of a hemp material with their lettering dyed in. In other areas where they had old buildings, (200 or 500 years old) they used a sort of wallpaper material they would paste on the wall.  Regular banners or large scale advertisements were reserved for the train stations or more modern built sides of town.

Of course there are special occasions that would be exceptions to this. During my travels I happened to stumble across an open air concert held in Konigsplatz, Munich. Which is an open ground area between three roman looking buildings that date back to early 1800’s. The concert was brimming with people, but the grass was never disturbed as black tarp mats were set across the grounds first. Scaffold stages were erected on the steps of each building to help put on an amazing light show without blocking the view of the architecture of the building, and banners were hung along it’s sides. It was an amazing display of modern and ancient brought together, and by the end of the next day everything was restored to how it had looked before the show.

Framing outside the photo

Author: Amanda

We all get a little lazy with our homes and make lists for things we’ll set aside to do later. On either the holidays or a rainy weekend, some excuse to keep us from doing it at the present moment. As for myself, I have gone living in my apartment for nine months without hanging anything on my walls. My excuse was that I wasn’t sure if I would move out at the end of the year or not, but regardless, I started to put a few things up this weekend.

The white blank walls of my Spartan living conditions had never bothered me before, but it was nice to give it a bit of color. Of course I lacked the foresight to see my coming mistake. My few pictures look incredibly small on my large white wall, now I need more.

I think I’ll use the digital photos on my computer and make a nice collage to print out at work. Thanks to our 5′ wide Mimaki printer, I could make the final design any reasonable living room size I desire. I can have my print be with either the glossy photo finish, or a matte finish to help keep off light glares. Now this service isn’t just reserved to employees, you can get this too if you wanted.

Of course, it’ll have to wait for some holiday or rainy weekend till I get around to it. I’m taking a trip to Europe this week, so there will be no blog updates from me for the next two Mondays. We’ll see if someone else from the store will give this a try. If they do you have my apology in advance 😉

QR Scan Codes Taking the Scene

Author: Amanda

Has everyone heard of the new recent fad of QR Scan codes? It looks like a pixilated box of white and black blocks, and acts a little similar to a UPC code that you can find on any store bought item. The difference is at a store when the register scans a UPC code it tells the computer what the item is and how much it costs. While, when the QR Scan code is ‘scanned’, by either a scanner or photographed by a smart phone, the QR Scan can either give you a list of information, photograph, or link you directly to a website.

QR Scan code was invented in 1994, in Japan by the Toyoto subsidiary company Denso Wave. The reason for its original invention, was to help the industrial company track manufactured cars. However, with more people using smart phones, the ability to scan a QR Scan code increased to the general population as rarely anyone goes anywhere with their phone. Thus the QR Scan code is increasingly seen being used in advertisement. On banners, real estate signs, magnets, magazines, posters and even highway billboards. (Although I don’t suggest trying to use your phone to take a picture while driving, leave that up to the navigator riding shot gun)

The perks of this is that it’s convenient for the person scanning, they can be linked directly to the information they seek and have it stored on their phone. As for the company using the QR Scan code, they can have a record of how many people scanned their codes, and using the phones GPS be able to track where they were when they scanned the code. Giving back precise measurements on which methods and areas targeted the most consumers. It is certainly a device that should be taken into consideration when ordering your next business sign.

Storm Saving Tips for Signs

Author: Amanda

I hope everyone is faring well after that rough storm that rolled by on Friday. Aaron spent his morning at work traveling to locations to fix and repair signs that were damaged by the high winds. We do have power here at the shop for all who are wondering and will be maintaining our regular work hours for the week except for being closed on Wednesday for the 4th of July.

It looks like we may be having a few more summer storms this week, here are a few tips to help keep your signs safe: If you have a banner, you can cut upside down crescent moon shapes into the fabric to help allow wind to flow through. Or, place your sign against a building wall out of the direction of the wind. If you have a yard sign that is coroplast, corrugated plastic, it’s very possible that the wire stake holding the sign might get bent. You’re always welcome to try bending it back into shape later, but if not, the wire stakes are very inexpensive and we are able to sell them separately here at the shop.

Enjoy the holiday and remember to stay safe. Happy Birthday America!