Vision Sign Works used Drytac’s Polar Premium and Weathershield Matte to create a series of exterior graphics to help upgrade a seafront area in Adelaide.
South Australia-based sign-maker Vision Sign Works recently used Drytac’s Polar Premium polymeric printable self-adhesive vinyl and Weathershield Matte polymeric PVC overlaminating film to produce a set of eye-catching exterior graphics for use at a seaside area.
Located in Maslin Beach, just south of Adelaide, Vision opened its doors in July 2023 and has already built a customer base across the Fleurieu Peninsula, Adelaide Metro and Adelaide Hills. The company offers everything from decals and large pylon signs with digital screens to LED and traditional neon.
For its latest project, Vision was given the task of producing graphics for use across Marina Pier, a popular attraction in nearby Glenelg. The location features a range of restaurants, cafés, bars and entertainment settings, with visitors able to enjoy stunning views of the ocean.
After liaising with a marketing agent and commercial leasing group which runs the location and supplied the artwork for the final piece, Vision got to work on planning how it would bring these designs to life.
Due to the seafront location of the area, Vision recognised the need to work with materials that would be constantly exposed to the elements and chose to work with two Drytac products. The first, Polar Premium, is a printable vinyl for applications such as general signage, point-of-sale, display, window, floor and vehicle graphics. Vision has worked with the material on many other occasions and was fully aware of its benefits.
For additional protection, Vision paired Polar Premium with another Drytac solution in the form of Weathershield Matte. The film uses more complex plasticisers than less expensive monomeric PVC films, resulting in significantly improved durability and weatherability – something that was crucial to the long-term success of the Marina Pier project.
Both materials were purchased from Shann Digital Print Media (DPM), part of The Shann Group and Drytac’s exclusive distribution partner in Australia.
Vision printed all the graphics in-house on its HP Latex 365 printer and, despite running into several issues with the weather in Adelaide, was able to complete installation successfully, much to the delight of the customer.
“Being so close to the ocean, we did run into a few installation problems,” said Kai Waters, Owner of Vision. “It was already super-hot at 8am in the morning, which meant the vinyl wanted to stretch and stick to anything, while in the afternoon, it was blowing an absolute gale. We even lost one sheet of backing paper in a vertical wind vortex, landing on the second to top story balcony. Whoops!
“But as Polar Premium is such a fantastic vinyl to work with, we completed installation on time and the area owners and all the vendors loved the new upgrade.”