Branding your Sports Facility

Branding your sports facility means making environmental graphics a central part of your public communications plan. This is especially key for universities maintaining high profile sports programs. Large format graphics bring to life the incredible defining moments in your university’s sports history. Displaying these grand format images is what brings definition to your brand identity. While print collateral mostly is a venue for content and small images, environmental graphics provide bold visual support. It’s important to create a dynamic brand, visually, to imprint on the minds of  all visitors; especially recruits, alumna, and the current student body. A stroll through the halls of  your sports facility should ignite imaginations, and conjure up feelings of pride. The ultimate goal of  this grand format visual branding of your sports facility, is to boost brand awareness, team spirit, and resultant commitments from prospective investors, donations from alumna, and win over the desired recruits into your program. Mustering this kind of support will bolster sales and keeps your sports program economically viable!

Even in established sports centers, it’s important to freshen up your brand, keeping it relevant and relatable. The current influx of visitors should notice when they are walking in a competitive and winning environment. If you do not keep your sports facility relevant to current culture, inactivity could work against you. You do not wish to give them reason to believe for any reason that your sports program is lacking. If its been years since you committed time and money toward an upgrade of your brand identity, perhaps you should think so now. Changes and visual evidence that you are keeping current, can only work in your favor. Arrange to discuss with your board the need to keep changes coming and take the necessary steps to naildown financing for hiring a design firm which will give you a visual competitive edge. A design firm specializing in athletic facilities can be found with interior designers and architectural firms around the country. Its important to incorporate  some current campus marketing materials redesigned with a new flare. Large format graphics  should be dynamically displayed around your practice courts, your locker rooms, staff offices, and playing fields.

If you re-branded your department only a couple of years ago, be certain to keep it fresh and the momentum. New players, new staff, and awards for high achievement are changes for the graphics schedule and rotate out the old graphics. For this type of updating, it would make sense to meet directly with your large format graphics provider. They work cooperatively with design firms or assistant athletic directors, providing graphics, ready for display and installation. You want a large format graphics production firm which will do an on-site inspection, take photos of your space, conference with you and staff members, review existing marketing materials, and create some well-defined display solutions in their proposal. Finding a qualified large format graphics firm which already has a procurement contract in your state, could make purchases go smoother.

Buyer beware, there will added charges onto the graphics when working with an interior designer. Afterall, their main business is not graphics production. Designers get compensated for time invested on your project, including their gathering of the graphics. If you find your department is not looking to invest in an interior design service, then consider establishing direct communication with a graphics production firm. The graphics firm can follow or embellish an established design, or submit new design proposals from their in-house creative department. Finding a qualified graphics production firm could make the deliverables arrive sooner, since they are the source. With internet and the ability to download digital images to ftp sites, you can find a graphics firm which may or may not be in your community. Finding a graphics production firm with diverse technical skills and great communication are the first qualifiers.

Graphics production firms are also described as PSP’s or print service providers. A traditional print service providers handles basic graphics production and may be limited in the breadth of services. Some PSP’s  have creative divisions, and depending on your needs, it might be wise to seek one with the creative talent. Ultimately, you  need a graphics production firm which offers a broad scope of in-house services, complete with a resume’ of displays experience.

 

Finding a Qualified Large Format Graphics Production Firm:

Particularly for the sports industry, it is important to locate a graphics production firm which prints both indoor & outdoor signs and graphics. Most outdoor signs require fade-resistance materials, such as solvent vinyl. Vinyl printing is what should be used for outdoor signs. It is the very same process used for vehicle wraps, which many large format printers offer.  Fabric printing or dye sublimation fabric printing is another important service to seek for for large indoor displays, and any backlit graphics. Fabric graphics is what is used for indoor banners, flags, and customized tension graphics. This fabric solution has been popular in Europe and gained popularity in the U.S. for nearly a decade.  Another durable, yet diverse graphics service is the UV flatbed printing service.  This service enables graphics to be printed directly onto any flat substrate than is less then two inches thick. This means that substrates such as metal, glass, wood, acrylic, cardboard and more are employed.  This service will print print the two sides of a substrate, and can even be backlit.  Most sports facilities have a host of  digital image files from their staff photographer. The best-looking photo print available to date is produced with a digital output laser. If your graphics production firm has a Durst ‘Lambda’ or Cymbolic Sciences ‘Lighjet,’ this means they are offering a service with an apparent resolution of 4000 DPI (ridiculously sharp)! The equipment called laser imagesetters, are still in circulation, but no longer in production due to the onslaught of inkjets. Seek a provider with one of these in their toolkit if you will be needing many photos printed. For signage and wayfinding purposes, look for a firm with services of laser cut letters, dimensional logos, CNC routing services, acrylic etched plaques, framing and matting, and ADA braille compliance capability. Finding a large format graphics provider which has detailed knowledge of building materials and provides you detailed sketches (like Illustrator files or CAD drawings) is an indicator of a graphics firm’s qualification in fulfilling your expectations. Communication skills, technical skills, a designer’s eye. and organizational skills are the personnel skills you’ll want to scope out when recruiting a graphics production firm. Collaboration, can-do capability, communicative skills, and deadline driven are the characteristics of a firm you should consider. Call 1.800.829.4562 to speak with a representative of a large graphics production firm.