Britten’s Graphics Target Extreme-Sports Buffs

Launched for the 2008-2009 season, the Winter Dew Tour (its name is shorthand for Mountain Dew, the beverage of choice for many buzz-hungry, extreme-sports athletes), gathers the world’s downhill skiers, snowboarders and masters of the halfpipe for three competitions that take place in ski-resort enclaves. This year’s competitions were held in Breckinridge, CO; Killington, VT; and Ogden, UT. Pantech Intl., a subsidiary of mobile-phone manufacturer Pantech Co. Ltd., served as the primary sponsor for the Killington competition.

One of its partner sponsors, Alli Sports, a purveyor of extreme-sports apparel and accessories, enlisted Britten Inc. (Traverse City, MI) to produce most of the graphics for the event (some were fabricated by undisclosed vendors). All told, the project’s onsite signage required nearly 45,000 sq. ft. of graphics. Alli Sports provided vector art of the various sponsor and event-graphics logos featured, which Britten prepped for production with Adobe Illustrator.

Kaitlyn Burns, a Britten marketing manager, said the vast majority of the project’s signage was fabricated from 7- or 9-oz., mesh material. The material was chosen because its construction allows the harsh winter winds to blow through unimpeded, and provides necessary flexibility and durability. A smaller percentage, which primarily included banners secured to freestanding trusses, were constructed using 15- and 22-oz. material (the conditions required more dense material than garden-variety banners). For a smattering of specialty graphics, such as rigid-sheet event signage, winners’ circle displays and oversized “checks” presented to top event finishers, Britten used corrugated-plastic media.

To print the smaller, flexible components, Britten used an HP Scitex TurboJet 8350; for the largest graphics, the shop used a 10.5-ft.-wide HP Scitex XL 1500. The printers’ onboard Onyx RIP assisted the proofing process. Britten turned around the order in less than two weeks.