WIDE-FORMAT & SIGNAGE ─ Strength Of Finishing & Installation Techniques
BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND Banner finishing is about more than aesthetics. By Richard Romano
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hile “walking” the “show floor” at the ISA Sign Expo Virtual “last week,” (OK, I’ll stop with the quotation marks.) I came across a “booth” (sorry) for Banner Ups/Budnick Converting, which featured a video of a vinyl banner placed in a wind tunnel and exposed to 100-mile-perhour winds (watch it here: https://youtu.be/ L55Jy82edcA). Videorecorded at the National Institute of Aeronautical Research, it was at the time (2017)—and may still be—the strongest banner wind survival ever documented, making it up to 108.2 mph before failure.
Sticky Wickets While not as sexy as finishing tools such as cutting tables, laser cutters and engravers, etc., one of the most vital tools in your banner finishing arsenal is something as simple as tape. Doublesided adhesive tape is one simple and inexpensive way to finish banners, be it for hemming, forming pole pockets, seaming graphics for tiling purposes, and/or for physically hanging signs or banners. Now, this kind of tape is not the everyday kind you would pick up at Staples, but is instead known as “heavyduty banner tape,” and is stronger and more durable than the consumer or all-purpose variety. Still, banner tape may not be able to withstand heavy winds—or even winds substantially less intense than those in the Banner Ups wind tunnel test.
No Wallace or Grommet
The video was demonstrating the strength of Banner Ups’ MegaTape and BravoTabs, but it vividly illustrates an important consideration when producing banners, or any kind of display graphics intended for outdoor installation. While it’s true that, generally speaking, you probably won’t have to worry about 108-mph winds (although with hurricane season approaching, if you’re based in or near Florida, you may), it’s still important to pay attention not only to the aesthetics but also the strength of finishing and installation techniques.
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I mentioned above in the wind-tunnel discussion, BravoTabs, which are Banner Ups’ square-shaped, high-strength variety of grommet tabs, which are, in turn, an alternative to grommets. These are plastic adhesive tabs that are applied over the corner of a banner and reinforce Banner Ups’ PowerTabs hanging holes. They are much like metal or plastic grommets, but they have some advantages over grommets, first among them being aesthetics. Grommet tabs can be transparent, and thus can be a bit less conspicuous than metal or plastic grommets. They can also be stronger than grommets. When the wind billows the banner out like a sail, the rope or other hanging
WhatTheyThink - Wide-Format&Signage | May 2021
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4/15/21 8:46 AM
