Advent Creates Atmosphere for College-Football Stadiums, Training Facilities

Being a graduate of a Southeastern Conference (SEC) school (the Univ. of Georgia), I often refer to the conference’s members as the 14 Feudin’ Brothers. Many fierce rivalries exist within the SEC, and the prominence gained by winning seven consecutive national championships from 2006-2012 has further provoked hostilities. However, when fans from non-conference schools berate SEC football as overrated, or cast aspersions when a player or member school gets in trouble, SEC loyalists typically follow a brotherhood-like code and almost uniformly close ranks in solidarity.
Put simply, football is akin to religion in the South. And, equally to the point, signage within SEC football stadiums clearly abides by the maxim, “Go big or go home.” In addition to creating ambience for fans, a larger-than-life stadium environment also provides a recruiting tool. Signage helps create the “sizzle” when a coach puts his arm around a recruit and says, “Son, imagine yourself making a long run/catching that pass/making that tackle here.”
Advent, a Nashville-based, experiential-graphic-design firm, plays a major role in creating said sizzle. Lauren Duke, an Advent associate design director, said the company’s current design focus adapted.
“The firm was founded approximately 30 years ago, and, for most of its history, Advent focused on developing modular exhibit and tradeshow graphics,” she said. “However, about five years ago, we made the conscious decision to reimagine who we were. We decided college athletics and related academic environments provided the best opportunity for growth.”
Several project pitches to various SEC schools fizzled, but Mississippi St. Univ. (MSU) administrators agreed to a multi-sign package for the school’s football stadium, Davis Wade Field at Scott Stadium. The system includes a pair of 50 x 80-ft., digitally printed signs on either side of the stadium bowl that feature the MSU logo and identify the facility. Flanking the logo graphics, a quartet of 30 x 70-ft. banners features action shots with the MSU logo and the tagline, “This is Our State” – a subtle dig at MSU’s sometimes haughty rival, the Univ. of Mississippi. For the stairwell concourse, Advent developed a scrim-material, printed graphic, which features an outsize depiction of Dan Mullen, MSU’s head football coach.
Prior to installation, Advent welded brackets in place and installed high-tension cables to secure the banners. The graphics were printed on mesh vinyl with solvent-ink printers (Advent maintains confidentiality regarding its fabrication vendors). A pair of 120-ft. boom lifts maneuvered around the stadium ground and secured the banners to their hardware.
The four-month process was completed just before football season began. And, given sports culture’s copycat nature, demand for Advent’s services grew. Advent completed a somewhat different, yet equally compelling, program for the locker room and adjoining facilities at Jordan-Hare Field, the stadium at Auburn Univ., another SEC school. The school selected the content, and Advent executed the design for the approximately 1,000 sq. ft. of graphics using Adobe® Illustrator® and Photoshop® software. For the locker-area graphics, Advent specified dye-sublimated graphics completed with silicone-edge fabrics, which enable easy graphic removability.
Advent devised a 2-in.-thick, 6 x 8-ft. wall that comprises 2-in.-thick, painted-acrylic-faced, paperboard blocks. Fabricators decorated with a direct-applied, second-surface print produced on a Durst Lambda photographic printer. Other 3-D components were built from aluminum sheet, Dibo. Advent also designed the casework and millwork that surrounds the graphics.
Advent’s programs have traveled beyond the Southeast. Stanford Univ. ordered a comprehensive program for its locker-room and meeting areas. For the common area, Advent specified a flatbed-printed, laminated wood veneer for the backdrop, which was decorated with a graphic depiction of a uniformed, diagramed football player with 3-D, painted-acrylic letters that identify “The Stanford Man.” The adjoining walls feature ultra-high-resolution, silhouetted depictions of legendary Cardinal players in action. The locker-room area features a routed, painted Stanford “S” overhead, with dye-sublimated, silicone-edge graphics along the walls.
“With sports graphics, you’re recounting the history and story to those who are very devoted to a program,” Wes Buchanan, Advent’s quality-control director, said. “We usually work directly for the school, although architects, athletic-department officials and other stakeholders also have input. If our graphics present something that isn’t authentic to a program’s history, we’ll hear about it quickly.”