Archive for June, 2009
Suspending Sweet Sintra Signs Southpark Style.
Posted by Craig in new projects on June 15th, 2009
Today we installed another set of signs for our favorite care care, travel and insurance providor.
This is a new location in Sharon Corners, near the intersection of Sharon Rd. and Fairview Rd. The store is located right underneath Jesse Browns. This location is the new location for the office that used to be located on East Blvd. near the intersection of East Blvd. and Scott. If you are in the area and looking for some AAA love, we highly recommend you stop by and check it out. Remember, no one can get you to Disney cheaper than AAA!
The signs are direct print on sintra and should last as long as the store does, if not longer. Direct printing on Sintra is a visually appealing and cost effective way to get large format prints on the wall and not have to worry about them getting dented or dinged. When hung with our super secret mounting system, they are straight, level and can easily be removed or replaced with newer images. Cheaper alternatives exist (the dreaded foamcore) but we refuse to use them because they are fragile and the edges usually come out looking like crap.
Sintra is also a great choice for interior signage because it can be contour cut on a router. This adds some design flexibility and can really spice things up for relatively little in additional cost. We often use Sintra for low cost dimensional lettering, whether plain, painted to match a pms color or laminated with one of the approximately one billion plastic laminates available from companies like Wilsonart or Nevamar.
Stay tuned for future posts on Sintra where we will try to imbue this most boring of all sign substrates with the street cred it deserves for being a great component of any large format signage production.
(Yes, I used the term street cred and no, we were not sucking up to our client in paragraph two. I have it on good authority that the word combination “street cred Sintra” is one of the most heavily searched terms in search engine history and we happen to really like our client. Really.)
Lustrous New Logo for the Lobby.
Posted by Craig in new projects on June 12th, 2009
Just installed a new dimensional logo for the lobby we share with the 1060 boys.
The sign is 1/2″ acrylic on brushed aluminum stand-offs with 1/4″ lasercut acrylic letters, custom painted to match our pms colors. Our tag line is in direct applied black vinyl because it was just a little too small to cut on the laser.
I think the overall look is really clean and the drop shadows on the wall will look really cool once we get the lighting package installed. It’s a fine example of our custom logo work and we’d love to put something like it in your lobby. Contact us today if you want to talk about it.
Have a great weekend!
The Badassiest Pick-up Truck on the Planet
With all the negative publicity surrounding GM lately, I offer this post as a tribute to their legacy as one of the foundational pillars of American society.
I am the proud owner of what has to be the badassiest pick-up truck on the planet.
It’s a 1987 Chevy C-10, with almost 240,000 miles on the original engine and THE ORIGINAL TRANNY. Not a day goes by that someone does not offer to buy this truck off of me. Through good times and bad, I always refuse because it is worth way more to me than anybody else. It’s magic. It cannot die.
Every time something needs to be replaced, I foolishly think something like why put any more money into this thing, it’s gonna die as soon as you put new tires on it… But it never does, it just keeps on rolling.
Today, my buddy Ant (see 1060 creative for all your video needs) again begged me to sell him the truck. After I politely refused him for the tenth time in as many days, I realized that I have been selfish. I have used the power of the truck only for my own benefit and not that of the greater society at large.
As I was thinking about how I could share this with the world, I was reminded of a another buddy of mine who once borrowed the truck while his was being repaired. He and his wife had been trying to get pregnant for a while with no success. Within hours of his borrowing the truck, they conceived. Miraculous? I’ll let you be the judge. There is however, no denying the correlation between the proximity of the truck and their increased fertility.
With that in mind, I am going to offer the truck to any and all who are having trouble getting pregnant.
For $5.00, you and your significant other can hold hands and touch the truck for five minutes. For $15.00 you can sit on the tailgate and smooch. For $50.00 you can drive around holding hands for fifteen minutes. And for $500.00, you can keep it over night and do whatever you want in it.
I am so confident in the power this truck exudes that I will offer a money back guarantee. If you don’t get pregnant within three month of using the truck, I will refund your money, no questions asked.
So if you, or any one you know, has been wasting their money on herbal remedies and fruitless visits to specialists, step out in faith and email me today. What have you got to lose?
I have four of the most beautiful children on the planet. Trust me. It works.
I Just Called To Say Hello.
On Saturday night, I won a tidy some of money off of CRM Boy. He actually had the audacity to challenge me in the arena of music trivia. I know, I know, that’s sort of like challenging Mike Mulligan to a foundation digging contest, but discretion never has been the better part of his valor.
The wager came about when CRM Boy addressed the following question to the group assembled around the fire pit:
“What was the name of that Stevie Wonder song?”
I had no idea what song he was referring to and I suppose I could have gone old school but I went with the first thing that popped into my head, which was I Just Called to Say I Love You. (You Stevie Wonder fanatics can get over yourselves, I am sure you would have come up with something cooler, just let me finish my story.)
CRM Boy looked at me for a second and then blurted out, “that wasn’t Stevie Wonder, that was Lionel Ritchie!” He then proceeded to opine on how Stevie Wonder would never sing a song like that and how I was a donk for suggesting it.
Smelling blood in the water, I looked him straight in the eye, shot out my hand and said, “mister, I’ll bet you fifty bucks that it was Stevie Wonder.” Before I finished the word ‘fifty” he was out of his chair and shaking my hand. We drew our mobile phones and thumbed. Within seconds the truth was confirmed and I was fifty dollars richer. Kachow!
To add insult to injury he actually tried to argue that wikipedia was an unreliable source and shouldn’t be used for confirmation. I just smiled… and broke into a rousing chorus of Dancing on the Ceiling.
Practical information center display.
Posted by Craig in new projects on June 8th, 2009
We recently delivered a set of information displays to the Department of Social Services division of the City of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County Government.
The displays, used to provide free information to the public in several DSS locations, feature pockets that can be configured to hold eighteen different 8.5″ X 11″ pieces, thirty-six different 4″ X 9″ pieces, or a combination of both. They are made from sintra and acrylic and feature a dimensional header that can be customized. They are rugged, easy to clean, germ resistant and guaranteed to make it easier for your target audience to find the information they are looking for. (Besides that vintage 1983 lit stand with the dark oak trim you are currently using needs to go!)
If you, or someone you know, needs a set, or sets, contact me today and I will hook you up.
Schooled in the ways of the Force – Darth Mobilus
Posted by Craig in small business life on June 4th, 2009
Our mobile phone service provider, who for fear of additional reprisals I will call Darth Mobilus, is quite possibly the most inefficient and disorganized service providor in the history of telecommunications.
We recently upgraded our phones and service plan and every bill since then has required a minimum of two hours of my time to straighten out. On our last bill they overcharged us to the tune of $180.00. When confronted with the charges, they were unable to offer a satisfactory explanation of said charges and refunded them all. I was given a new, correct total which I promptly paid. Three days later I received a text message saying my account was past due in the amount of $34.00. When I called to complain, they said that several credits that were supposed to be applied, were in fact not applied, and that they would put a hold on the past due notice for seven days to give the credits time to hit.
Today I received another message saying that I was past due. Again, I called and the woman in financial services apologized profusely, said I had $57.00 in credits that had not been applied and offered to transfer me to Room 101 where everything would be taken care of. The CSR from Room 101 promptly told me that I had no credits floating around waiting to hit, but that she would be happy to credit me for the $34.00 as a token of her immense affection for me and my continued patronage. When I asked her about the $57.00 credit I had and who would get to spend the $23.00 difference, she said “there are no credits.”
She actually tried to use the Jedi Mind Trick on me. ”I’m a Troydarian,” I replied, “mind tricks don’t work on me, only money.” She did not get it. Or she got it and her training in the dark arts is better than I anticipated. Fearing she might actually be able to force choke me through the phone, I said thanks and hung up.
Maybe I should have gone with a Jabba the Hutt quote instead of Watto. Until the next bill….
Liquid Evil
Posted by Craig in tips and tricks on June 3rd, 2009
I’m going to start a new group called People Who Understand The Evils of Liquid Nails When It Comes To Hanging Graphics That Someday May Need To Be Changed, or PWUTELNWICTHGTSMNTBC. Ok, the acronym needs a little massaging, I’m open to suggestions.
Before you fire up the flamethrower, let me explain. I love Liquid Nails as much as any red-blooded American. It’s an awesome product to use when you need something PERMANENTLY stuck to something else, like someones keys to their desk. However, using it to attach graphics to a wall is bad idea number 38 on the list of the worst ideas in history.
Three things can happen when you have to remove a graphic that has been attached to a wall with Liquid Nails; all of them are bad. You either a) destroy the wall, b) destroy the graphic, or 3) both. This is especially true if you are using a cheap substrate like foam core. If you plan on having the same graphic on the wall in the same place for as long as you are in the space, then maybe, maybe, Liquid Nails is a good idea. If you are confident that the installer can locate it correctly and level it properly, because it is going to stay where it is, forever.
We recently removed some graphics for our favorite auto repair, travel, and insurance providor and ran into this problem. The walls in the old space will need to be patched and painted and none of the graphics came out looking good enough to be reused in the new space. Fortunately we have a solution to this problem and in the future, our client will be able to change or move graphics with no damage to the graphic and minimal damage to the wall. It adds a small amount to the cost of the graphic but is well worth the investment.
If you’d like to know this closely guarded secret for hanging graphics, call us (800-515-7058) or shoot me an email (chand at handheldstudio dot com) and I will share it with you.
The Vendor Client Relationship…
Posted by Craig in general interest on June 2nd, 2009
All things considered, we are blessed with awesome clients. I suppose that is exactly the sort of thing you would expect me to say when I am getting ready to post a video making fun of the vendor-client relationship. Never the less, it’s true. On rare occasions, we do run into clients who want a little more than they are willing to pay for, or who want us to teach them how to do something for free. The creators of this video understand, and what follows is a hysterical, dramatic portrayal of situations not unlike those we have found ourselves in from time to time. Enjoy.
-
You are currently browsing the archives for June, 2009
Follow us on…
Networked Blogs
