Application Spotlight: Big Game, Big Graphics

When Scott Snoyer, Owner and CEO of Big Visual Group, first opened his doors in 1994 as a Fastsigns franchisee, he likely didn’t know what kind of business he'd expect. But in 1998, when the NHL announced it was expanding with a new team in Nashville, he didn’t hesitate to go big.

“When the NHL announced that we were getting an expansion team, we contacted Craig Leipold and asked for their business. As the tickets sales process went along, we donated some motivational signage to the staff and the relationship just grew from there,” he noted. And that was just the beginning.

In 2017, the Nashville Predators fought their way into the prestigious Stanley Cup finals, meaning the team now needed to get the city ready for the playoff games. The Predators connected the NHL team with Big Visual Group, and they quickly went to work.

“Once the Predators reached that threshold where they were going to the playoffs, they had conversations with the NHL about signage opportunities. [The NHL asked] ‘who is your local source,’ and then it came to us at that point. The NHL reached out to see if we could take care of everything,” said Ryan Payne, Special Projects Manager.

“Out status as the official sign and print company for the Nashville Predators, and our familiarity with the arena and Nashville made us the go-to choice,” agreed Snoyer. “They knew our shop’s technological diversity would be able to handle any of their requests.”

Winning the Signage Game

Big Visual Group didn’t have much time to produce all of the work — just a few days time, in the end, to produce and install the bulk of the items, due to the nature of how the playoff schedule works. The graphics were installed for the entirety of the six-game series, which was roughly a two-week time period. “As far as production goes we accomplished all production within our local 40,000 production facility,” said Snoyer.

Working with the NHL, Big Visual Group was given key artwork, as well as suggestions on the types of signage the league wanted to see, noted Snoyer. “The NHL provided us files and with specific branding guidelines which we used to create all of the necessary custom graphics, both large format and small format.”

“They gave us key art, and then they had some ideas for where they wanted branding,” Payne agreed, “and then we just took that key art and applied it to different areas.”

The goal, said Snoyer, was to “display their brand and celebrate the NHL Finals in Nashville (for the first time ever) and make sure they look professional and consistent in all applications around the city and within Bridgestone Arena.” Doing that took a wide range of graphics, on an even wider range of substrates.

Big Visual Group produced the signage on their HP Latex machine, Matan roll-to-roll printers, as well as on their Fuji Acuity flatbed printer. “We used a wide variety of materials as well,” said Snoyer, “such as: Foam Board, Coroplast, BUSmark 5800, Aberdeen Bannerlux Supreme, Max Metal, 8 and 13 oz Vinyl Banner, 3M IJ40C, and more than a few others to complete all of the different applications needed for the event.”

“We were involved in the conversations,” noted Payne, who pointed out that the Predators trusted the shop to know what types of graphics and signage would work best, and what areas would have the most impact, allowing the shop to have input and give recommendations as to what the final job would entail.

And while it was a lot of work, Payne noted that there was no push-back from the staff at all, who were all proud to be working on a job that celebrated their city and their team. “It was really refreshing for the staff,” he said. “Most of us are Nashvillians, and we are all Predators fans, so it was this big exclamation point.”

And that attitude showed in the work as well, with Payne noting there were no horror stories, or major issues that cropped up during the work. “There were no 3D pieces [or anything complicated]; a lot of it was just large format vinyl and rigid graphics. That was totally doable, and everyone was excited to be part of it. We didn’t miss any deadlines, and it was a really positive experience overall.”

“It was certainly a large and quick turnaround, but our shop thrives on these prestigious event-based projects and we were proud to deliver a successful product the NHL and the Nashville Predators,” said Snoyer.

In the end, both the NHL and the Predators team was happy with the graphics (although they would have liked to see the team take home the big win as well!). And while they haven’t attributed the work to winning any new jobs directly, Payne noted that they are touting it when they are going out on sales calls. “We are certainly telling people we did that, and it helps from a portfolio and case study standpoint,” he noted. And the prestige of having their work seen not just by a local audience, but on national television was a win for the shop as well.

“I can certainly say that to the staff and Scott it was a special job, being part of that NHL moment,” said Payne. “It definitely inspired pride for the staff to be working on this.” And that pride is evident throughout the work they completed, and in their relationship with the team which has only continued to grow.