A little Friday afternoon Brain Candy for you…

Logo makes me barf |  You know you’re a copywriter when

Rad Coffee Tables |  Hardcore Body Art |  Sick Screen Prints

Crazy photo manipulations |  Awesome Outdoor Campaign

Too often, when we bring up the term environmental graphics, clients look at us with the old ‘what the hell are you talking about’ expression. Well strap on your seat belts, we’re about to take a wild ride on the large format graphics train.

Wikipedia refers to Environmental Graphic Design as, “the profession embracing many design disciplines including graphic design, architecture, industrial design and landscape architecture. Practitioners in this field are concerned with the visual aspects of wayfinding, communicating identity and brands, information design, and shaping a sense of place.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself, but of course I’ve got a few things to add using layman’s terms. Environmental graphics have the ability of transforming any setting into an informative, mind-blowing advertisement… or at least they can depending on how risqué the client wants to get. Whether you’re looking to advertise on your store front, or take an outdoor branding campaign to new heights with building size graphics, the array of materials available today gives you endless possibilities.

We recently completed a set of window graphics and building banners for the City of Tempe’s new parking garage. The new structure not only offers some much needed parking to the Mill Ave. area, it boasts 12,000 square feet of office and retail space. Our job was to create a campaign that not only met city code for exterior signage, but presented information in a clean and highly visible manner. Needless to say, we nailed it.

And window graphics are just the tip of the iceberg. Environmental graphics most commonly show their face in windows, on buildings or a variety of other outdoor applications, but most don’t realize their extensive capabilities indoor as well.

Currently the hottest trends in environmental graphics, digitally printed wall murals and floor graphics can be applied to any flat, non porous surface. Looking to cover a portion of the floor, or an entire hallway? No problem. 3M adhesive vinyls make any project feasible no matter the scope.

Probably the coolest thing about printed wall murals, besides their ability to be fully customizable, is their flexibility allowing the graphic to take on the texture of the surface to which it’s being applied. Take a look at an example we did for the City of Scottsdale (that’s not paint people).

So whether you’re looking for a new way to communicate your brand’s message, direct customers through your store, or just make a wall look absolutely killer… give environmental graphics a shot. I assure you, they won’t disappoint.

Splinter Creative is down with planet earth. We live on it and it’s pretty good to us (except of course when it is 110+ degrees in the summer). While many companies out there are neglecting the big spinning rock, we decided to take a different approach to help out Mother Nature.

While “green printing” is a popular term these days, a great majority are missing out on the even bigger picture of disposal. We’re still going to offer you the option of a natural canvas banner or heavy recycled paper, but when it comes down to it, delivering a message outdoors usually requires a heavy-duty vinyl banner.

And that ladies and gentleman is where we come in to play. Although you can’t always print green for your outdoor project, you can help reduce the carbon footprint by disposing of your media properly.

For example, say you have a large format media project that has run its course and you don’t know what to do with it. Rather than just stuffing it in the trash can, give your friendly sales rep over at Splinter Creative a call and we’ll be happy to take it off your hands.

That’s it. Seriously. All you have to do is give us a call or drop your banner by the office, and we’ll take care of the rest by bringing the materials to a processor that can dispose of them in an eco friendly manner.

So next time you’re getting ready for a large format media project, give us a buzz and we’ll put our greenest foot forward to help-you-help-us-help-the-environment.

Attendance is exemplary around here. It’s not that we’re more dedicated than your average creative team. It’s because when you’re out, you never know what you’ll find when you return.

We recently had an over-run of about 40 POP signs. As an environmentally conscious member of the human race, I gave these poor, unwanted signs a new life. I personally gave many of these orphan signs a new purpose, hiding them in my colleague’s desk drawers, filing cabinets and closets. Oh the delight on my coworkers faces when they opened the refrigerator and discovered a sign. My stealthy sign placement was legendary. I thought that I was untouchable – the greatness of my sign placement achievements would surely protect me from my adversaries.

I was so pleased with myself, I decided to take off early and enjoy a half day. Arrogance was my downfall.

It’s been a week and I am still finding signs hidden in my office. They also hid my rubber chicken somewhere…

Clarkbar

In case you haven’t already heard, Splinter Creative is pleased to announce we are among the Top 10 Advertising Agencies of 2009 in the state of Arizona.

Splinter would like to to thank everyone who took time to cast a ballot during the 2009 voting period, and ask that you help us make it to #1 spot in the 2010 issue of Ranking Arizona Magazine.

Voting is as easy as 1-2-3…

1. Go to http://rankingaz.azbigmedia.com/
2. Click the toggle button that says “Search by Name”
3. Type in Splinter Creative
4. Enter your email address and click the button that says “Cast my Vote”

Okay, so maybe that was 4 steps but you get the point.  You can vote every 60 days for each different email address that you have. Voting will conclude at the end of July, so get your click on and help Splinter show the valley what “mad skills” look like on paper