EAST Zone

Going east for exploration of some landmark signage projects may surely embark upon the works of the region’s eminent signage firms, like Binayak Advertising (Guwahati), Media Magix (Jamshedpur) and Torrent Advertiser (Bhubaneswar). The outdoor projects, which these three eastern India’s leading signage firms have recently pulled off, make turn heads of the commuters who walk or drive pass the (outdoor) display works.

Binayak Advertising, based in Guwahati city of North-East India, is an award-winning signage player in the region. Abhishek Lohia, who is a creative hand behind the company’s radical sign-making tasks, recalls some recent landmark outdoor hoarding projects they have carried out in and around Guwahati, for four of their key customers, namely, Kaziranga University, Gionee, Royal Global University and Style. “We churn outdoor graphics on an i-Jet eco-solvent system, using diverse materials including Starflex in general and others as per customers’ demand,” says Abhishek, adding that they go for innovations like block-out display solution, if required and demanded by their customers, to apply on hoardings. Their roadside hoardings were in different sizes, varied from 35x20 ft up to 60x60 ft.

Tracing back to its early days, Abhishek says Binayak Advertising was incepted in the year 2008 with an aim to create something off-track innovation that any other conventional signage player in the region could hardly produce till date. In addition to the aforementioned four key customers, Binayak Advertising has been a sole vendor for BJP as the company supplies the national political party all its requirements (posters, banners, pamphlets) for poll campaigns and other promotional activities. Abhishek proudly says they have done a bit of contribution to BJP’s historic win in the state (Assam). In recognition of its outstanding outputs, International Flower Festival (Gangtok) had awarded Binayak Advertising a special accolade for excellence in ‘décor and design’ a few years back.

An all-round specialist in the eastern zone, Media Magix in Jamshedpur is a one-stop executer of big landmark projects in all clusters, whether it is around indoor or outdoor. Being in the land of TATA, this signage player has been closely associated with the automotive conglomerate for a number of landmark projects in diverse designs and scales. Doing a quick math on his fingertip, Manish Gupta of Media Magix counts some of the landmark TATA projects they have done, particularly for TATA Indicom and TATA Steelium. They have had involved in branding the TATA Steelium office building. “In the project, we provided all the printed graphics and designs created using acrylic sheets,” says Manish, adding that they did involve also in designing and fabrication of a unique stall of TATA Steel inside the TATA Steelium. Mentionable among the landmark TATA projects done by Media Magix is the creation, fabrication and installation of TATA Indicom’s front fascia made of acrylic sheets.

In addition to TATA, a handful of big corporate customers in the clientele of Media Magix include Seagram, Central Park, Bharat Petroleum (BP), among others. The company had designed, created and installed the 3D Gallery in TATA Steel’s iconic Central Park in Jamshedpur. On quality control, Manish says they always go for valued materials when it comes to making glow signs. “SAMSUNG is the only LED brand we opt for any glow sign solution. In the similar way, we go for high-end vinyl media from 3M, Avery Dennison and such brands,” he mentions. Apart from all these, Media Magix involves in other projects on stagecraft, expo stand fabrication, road-safety signs and even designing brochures and pamphlets. The company boasts a state-of-the-art production facility, which is equipped with a combo of machines comprising a Roland VersaArt RE-640 eco-solvent printer, a Gongzheng GZG solvent alongside a laser cutter and a channel letter bending machine.

On the other side, there is no chance for those trolling down the roads in Bhubaneswar to miss the glimpses of outdoor signage works by Torrent Advertiser, a popular out-of-home expert in the city. ‘Master Canteen’ area around the city’s railway station is one of the iconic spots where the signage major has taken up a full signage right and there is where their works draw attention of every single commuter moving around. Some of the leading clients of Torrent Advertisers, whose promotional works are often found flaunting attentively on the skyline of Master Canteen area, include Dalmia Cement, Vivo and Jio Prime, to mention a few. The hoardings of Torrent Advertisers are big enough to pull attention of every passerby as it measured up to 1800 sq ft in size. Moreover, Torrent Advertisers’ close tie-up with the South Eastern Railways lends them rights for different other ad sites around, beyond the iconic Master Canteen area. N Dash, co-founder of the company, mentions an iconic job which they have had executed recently—it was a façade of 60x30 ft installed onto the front face of The World Mall at Nayapalli in the city. For the project, Torrent Advertisers has partnered with a host of PSPs having high-end printers and robust manpower. As of now, the company has more than 1,000 outdoor hoardings being erected on different sites across Odisha.

SOUTH ZONE

The south Indian signage market is a dwelling of a multitude of prominent signage companies whose works are widely seen, recognised and stood out at major sites across the region. Distinguishable among them are Sign O Sign in Chennai and Global Art in Hyderabad, to pick up two out of them.

On its Silver Jubilee Anniversary this year, Sign O Sign has celebrated its long and successful innings in the region’s signage market, producing some outstanding outdoor promotional banners in a very unconventional manner for corporate companies. One of the eminent clients of the company, which has long been associated with them for years, is SAMSUNG. Balakrishnan Vaishnavi, who is behind all creative mind and innovative tasks at Sign O Sign, says their recent landmark outdoor signage project for SAMSUNG Blue Wave has gained applause around the city of Chennai. He adds that they have installed more than a thousand of promotional hoardings of different sizes, ranging from 8x7 ft up to 80x15 ft, for SAMSUNG and other clients.

“To make our work standout, we opt best of printing materials and inks. Apart from usual ACP sheets, acrylic boards, Starflex media, our choices include high-end materials like 3M, LG and original inks as per the requirement and demand of our customers,” says Balakrishnan, adding that the sole machine they usually use to churn graphics for corporate projects is an HP Latex 1500. What is upgrading at Sign On Sign in near future will be the infrastructure as the company is investing in a new UV system, which is now on its way to the company’s production facility.

Another leading signage player in the south zone, like Sign O Sign, which has also executed an iconic outdoor campaign for SAMSUNG Blue Wave is Global Art in Hyderabad. More than a dozen of stores across the city have been fabricated by Global Art for the mass signage campaign. Naveen Kumar, who is on the helm of the company, says they are exclusively into LED-based signage solutions. In the SAMSUNG Blue Wave campaign, Global Art has refurbished a string of outlets of the mobile company. “In the project, what we were assigned was to paint the stores blue, connecting to the brand value of the company’s newly launched products and accessories,” mentions Naveen, adding that they have transformed a new SAMSUNG outlets into an ‘all blue’ look, with a dismountable panel at the top. Overall approach of the campaign is to design a sparkling blue appearance adding brand value to the mobile stores.

Apart from working as a signage partner for SAMSUNG, Naveen says they trust SAMSUNG products as well; in this, they chose SAMSUNG LED modules and SMPS particularly for the ‘blue’ store campaign executed around Hyderabad. “Everything depends on the requirement and requisite; sometimes, our choices of LED brands for high-end corporate campaigns also include the other brands like GE and Philips,” says Naveen. Global Art is widely acclaimed in Hyderabad for their quality signage solutions, which majorly revolve around LED boards and acrylic letters. OPPO and Homecare International are two regular clients of the company, apart from SAMSUNG. The company is empowered with the manpower of 50 well-experienced professionals.

WEST ZONE

Then heading westward will find a league of signage players who do some out-of-box jobs in a very unconventional style and manner, both in indoor or outdoor arenas. Selection of a few among them may include Sheetal Print and Sign (Ahmedabad), Innovation and Ainan (Kota).

Considerably, Sheetal Print and Sign is one of the much sought after signage firms in Ahmedabad. Devan Shah, who runs the enterprise, says they are more into in-store jobs, which primarily include branding, interior display graphics and other related tasks. “Apart from corporate biggies our clientele is a mix bag containing some old public tenders (from the PSUs),” he says, adding that they have executed the iconic full signage installations in the River Front project of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation—a dream project of PM Narendra Modi in Gujarat. In the project, they have installed 20 informational/directional signs made of stone slabs of size 40x5 ft with steel letters mounted on them, all on the bank of river Sabarmati.

Other than the River Front project, Sheetal Print and Sign has done a handful of notable projects for corporate customers, executing in strategic spots around Ahmedabad. Among the corporate honchos in the company’s current client list are Intas Pharmaceutical, Ashirvad Pipes, Adani Shantigram and others. “We have fabricated an Intas store of 6,000 sq ft, giving it a full house branding,” says Devan, adding that the other retail companies for whom they have so far completed a string of in-store branding and interior graphic projects include United Color of Benetton, Pepe Jeans, Freeze Land, Choice Snack Bar, Patanjali Mega Mall and Havmor Ice-Cream. Main jobs involved in the company’s in-store projects include dropdowns, product shelves, display cutouts, acrylic letters with LED lights and window displays. Moreover, the company has done some expo stall branding too, for which they tied-up with JYOT event management firm at the recent AICOG Dental Show 2017 in Ahemdabad. When asked about ‘quality control’, Devang points at 3M, Avery and LG materials which he says play vital role in adding quality to print outputs.

Kota-based Innovation has been a big name among a host of leadings signage players dwelling in the western zone. The company has been recognisable for executing signage projects of any size and scale, promoting products and services of big corporate players from diverse market clusters. Some of the leading corporate companies enlisted in the current client list of Innovation include some mobile phone giants, namely, Vivo, Oppo and Gionee. For them, the signage major has carried out numerous projects in both indoor and outdoor domains.

“As of now our projects are predominantly revolved around glow sign and backlit applications. To maintain quality and sustainability, we always go for best LED products from renowned and trusted brands like SAMSUNG, Neenja, etc,” says Jagdish Nama, director, Innovation. He further mentions that their backlit display solutions are ranged from 20x8ft to 20x10ft in sizes, depending on the requisites that their clients specify. And they use an EPSON SureColour, a Caldron CJ, a Picojet and other machines like a laser cutter and a line of finishing systems to handle everything under an in-house setup.

Known for adding new creative dimension to any given signage solution, signage player Ainan in Kota is considerably a powerhouse of innovative signs in the western region of the country. The firm has been taking up an exemplary range of signage projects, working for a host of eminent corporate companies. Just in the recent past, Ainan has carried out a full store-branding of a newly unveiled Oppo outlet in Kota, flaunting the ‘brand’ attractively amid the crowd. The company’s projects are dotted all over Hadoti region of Gujarat, in which townships of Bundi, Jhalawar and Jodhpur are included.

Latest entry in the client list of Ainan is Facebook. For the social media honcho, the signage major has just completed the ‘Free Wifi’ campaign around Gujarat, with special coverage of Ahemdabad. In the campaign, Ainan was assigned to bring out graphics printed on both sides of 100 flange display boards. Taking up of this Facebook campaign, which will run for around four months across the state, has uplifted Ainan to a new stature. Navneet Nagar, director of Ainan, is now investing in a true flatbed printer, which he thinks is necessary to meet the increasing demand for inventive signage and display systems these days.

NORTH ZONE

When it comes to north, it’s very sure that works of some signage players will impress commuters, particularly in the cities like New Delhi. Among such impressionists are Faraz Signage Systems, Pushp India in New Delhi; Paradise Printing in Lucknow, and Ellora in Varanasi. These four signage majors have been known for the elegance of their works, which include 3D-cut acrylic crystal signs and many other innovations for store fronts and such applications.

Introduction of Faraz Signage Systems will be precise when incorporated with some of its landmark projects—take the instance of the eye-catching display work the company mounted on one of the Connaught Place buildings in New Delhi. M Luqman Faraz, director of Faraz Signage Systems, says their signage work around the iconic shopping den of New Delhi is quite abundant. “We hold contacts of around 90 percent of the outdoor signage sites in Connaught Place,” he mentions.

Further in Connaught Place, the company has installed 15 landmark LED boards of 78x30 inch at the outer circle of Connaught Place for the crowd-pulling bar, The Lords of The Drinks. The signage systems can be viewed as appalling yellow-lit-LED boards wooing commuters. Another landmark project of the company, executed on the NH-8, was the installation of an 80 ft pole mounted with 9x9 feet LED box carrying 8 ft high cut-letter for 32nd Milestone Restaurant.

Faraz Signage Systems doesn’t compromise in quality. The company has so far roped in a number of big corporate clients. Enumerable among them are My Bar Headquarter, Amazon, Tamasha and others. “In some of our landmark projects, we have developed and installed channel-letter glow sign systems of size 15x3 ft at South Hall Restaurant and an 11.5 x 3.5ft signage at Play Boy Café in Gurgaon. When enquired the way they furnish quality in their work, Luqman Faraz says they use no low grade materials and products. “When choosing LED materials, we go only for SAMSUNG LED modules and SMPS, nothing more than this brand,” he says. He also proudly mentions that their success story is an absolute outcome of their trust in quality and timeliness, which they have been consistently maintaining during their 12 years of presence in the industry.

Coming to Khan Market in New Delhi, again Faraz Signage Systems has some landmark works done around the premises of this popular public hangout point in the capital city. Mention of some may include that of Urban Café, Pure Punjab and many others. Luqman Faraz says they have implemented the very first crystal signage system of size 56 x 6ft for the first time in the region. He further narrates how did they fascinate their client Hot Mess by showcasing them a multi-lit coloured signage, precisely developed by using several layers of colour prints and illuminating LED modules.

Faraz Signage Systems is looking ahead to an expansion plan. In the context, Luqman Faraz says they are planning to segregate the company’s existing three units under a common roof, probably in Okhla Industrial Area in New Delhi. Besides, they are planning to sell their old flex printers as Faraz Signage Systems in near future will exclusively concentrate only on 3D signage solutions.

Noida-based retail branding expert Pushp India has transformed a lot of stores into grand new looks in various parts of north India. Nitin Gupta, director of the firm, says they have done remarkable in-store jobs for a number of corporate biggies, such as Total Lubricant Oil and many others all over north India and sometimes they handle projects in some other parts through their pan-India network. “For Total Lubricant Oil, we have done something out-of-box job by printing directly on ACP to create a 20x40 ft display solutions. A big challenge in the project was the deadline to complete it in a few days,” narrates Nitin.

On record, Pushp India has so far branded and fabricated 350 Total Lubricant Oil outlets and 150 SAMSUNG stores within a span of four months, which was from January 17 to April 17, across north India. Other long-time customers of the company include Mobil Lubricants, Kalpana Chawla Hospital (Karnal), among others.

About their consistent quality maintenance, Nitin say they use best range of LED modules from SAMSUNG, Hishine and Interone. Now, the firm is all set to be a part of another SAMSUNG project, in which they will prepare promotional display solutions to be used in the launch of the new SAMSUNG S8 Phone. For this, they have been assigned to make a 28x15 inch board mounted by S8 logo.

Paradise Printing Press in Lucknow is indeed a complete signage house capable to handle everything under its roof. Since its inception in 2004, founder Kamil has been optimistic about doing something unique to add innovations to the region’s signage industry. “We always try to be one step ahead of other sign makers in the city,” he says, adding that it’s the spice of successful business. Talking about his latest campaigns, like many others, Paradise Printing Press has transformed a SAMSUNG store into ‘all in blue’ avatar in Lucknow. The graphics were precisely manufactured using ACP boards.

On other side, Paradise Printing Press has also accomplished some outdoor campaigns for its value-based customer Vodafone. In the project, they have printed, fabricated and installed more than 1000 roadside hoardings and uni-poles in Lucknow; even sometimes their activities spread to some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In terms of quality control, Paradise Printing Press uses best of quality materials like Starflex churned on HP Latex printers and SAMSUNG is the ultimate brands they opt for LED-based glow sign solutions.

An old bastion in the industry, Ellora Outdoor has been active in the industry for 32 straight years, with a number of remarkable signage and printing projects on their credit. Vakil Kumar, director of the company, says their core job is to provide unconventional print quality and projects for corporate clients. Some of the main corporate customers of Ellora Outdoor include Canara Bank, SBI, LUX and Rin. “We maintain consistent quality-based sign solutions for our clients who carry out landmark projects. For them, we opt high-end substrates like 3M for interior applications,” says Vakil, adding that for outdoor hoarding they go for Starflex.

Remarkable hoarding projects, which Ellora Outdoors has just completed in Varanasi are for their clients like Lux and Rupa, carried out with graphic displays of size 32x40 sq ft. In another recent project, the company catered an LED logo of Dabur crafted using high-quality acrylic for a plant re-launching event being scheduled to organise in Uttrakhand. Taj Group, yet another big client of Ellora Outdoor, has recently donned a unique 12x8 uni-pole display system installed in front of its Varanasi hotel, welcoming the guest cheerfully and demonstrating the creativity of Ellora Outdoor.