Written by: Scott Hoffman, Signworld Owner of Superior Signs and Graphics
Signs don’t always get mounted to the side of a building or onto a sign post. The Cove Market and Café in Anaheim, California is a perfect example of the rising trend of non-traditional signage. This market and café sits in the entrance to the Tropicana Hotel across from Disneyland, and includes a coffee bar tucked away in the back. The Cove does have some street frontage, and there is a daily barrage of Disney visitors that hit the sidewalk directly in front of the market on their way to and from the park – and the owner of The Cove wanted to get their attention. Naturally, he called the experts at Superior Signs and Graphics, in Buena Park, a Signworld operation that opened for business in 2012.
Since The Cove already had a decent sign in the front and as large as the city would allow, our task was to help passersby understand what “The Cove” was, and what they offered that might be worth a stop in. Window graphics were chosen for three windows along the entrance by the coffee bar, and an additional window on the very front. The location of these windows was perfect for high visibility and they were big enough to put large graphics on them to get the message across of all of the things that were waiting inside.
In our example with The Cove, the thing that all of these windows have in common, is an obstruction behind the window that made the need for a perforated window vinyl or translucent vinyl unnecessary. So we were able to use 3M IJ35 calendared vinyl – a well made intermediate vinyl that allowed us to reproduce vivid colors with great clarity on the window graphics, because we did not lose print surface area like we would have if we used a 50/50% perforated window vinyl . We ultimately chose a gloss vinyl with a luster laminate to knock down some of the glare and did a full window wrap on all four windows.
The design for the window graphics was based upon getting tourists walking by The Cove to stop in and grab a drink, snack, or sandwich – so we used actual photos of the inside of the Market, coffee bar and cold boxes filled with cold drinks. The company logo for The Cove was superimposed over the Market photos so prospective customers understood what “The Cove” was, and that there were goodies and refreshments available a few steps away. The seven foot high windows allowed bold images of espresso shots, and the large beverage selection. Our HP large format digital Latex printer did a wonderful job of reproducing the images and photos with such great clarity that the far left scaled image of the cashier helping a customer actually looks like it is a window and not a window wrap!
Finally, we used wall graphics at the main entrance of the market to add a little local feel to the décor. The entrance has two large windows that form a window display area on the left and right side, and the owner choose an orange grove theme to go with the history of the area. We took a high resolution photo of an orange grove looking down a row of orange trees, turned it into a greyscale picture and then colored in only the oranges themselves for a really cool retro look. The photo was mirrored for the other side of the entrance, and then the store logo for The Cove was again added on just the left hand wall. Since the walls in the window display area turn toward the cashier when entering, we wrapped the wall graphics around the wall to continue the image. This wall wrap design gives the customer the feeling of walking down a row of orange trees when entering the store. The owner later added some orange crates with historic labels on them at the base of the wrapped walls to finish off the look.
The Cove now attracts more customers each day as their window and wall graphics are hard at work getting the attention and interest of thirsty and hungry tourists on their way to The Magic Kingdom. We were proud to see the impactful presentation our window wraps and wall wraps made for this customer, and even more proud of the increase in business they provided! Remember a sign can be more than black letters on a white background…it can also be a beautiful eye catching vinyl graphic mounted to almost anything you can imagine! Call Superior Signs and Graphics at 714-739-2855 today for a free quote on a wrap of your own!
About Superior Signs and Graphics
Superior Signs and Graphics is an independently owned full service sign and design company dedicated to helping our customers grow their business! We benefit from being a part of a nationwide network of over 260 sign businesses, with resources to create high impact sign solutions for all types of businesses, large and small.
