Cleveland has arguably the most long-suffering fans in professional sports. Since the 1964 Browns won the NFL title, the “Sixth City” agonized for more than a half century without its Browns, Indians or Cavaliers bringing home a championship. Still, through near-misses and outright disasters, Cleveland’s fans remained hopeful and faithful.
Finally, the city has been rewarded with a title. Led by LeBron (King) James (who grew up in nearby Akron, OH), Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the “Cavs” defeated the Golden State Warriors in a riveting, seven-game series to claim the NBA champ-ionship. With the “Cleveland Curse” finally exorcised, the city celebrated in grand fashion.
And, as with any high-profile public function, signage played an essential role. Cavs officials hired Cuyahoga Falls, OH-based Central Graphics Inc. to fabricate approximately 16,000 sq. ft. of graphics for the team’s late-June victory parade after clinching the series.
“We’ve been working for the Cavaliers since 1993, back when they played in Richfield [Village, a Cleveland suburb],” David Soulsby, Central Graphics’ president, said. “It’s an amazing organization. They’re very loyal to the area.”
So, when team executives called with the order – and a less-than-24-hour turnaround window – the shop sprang into action. The Cavs provided the graphics as PDF files designed through Adobe InDesign and Illustrator. Using Onyx Production House RIP, Central Graphics proofed the files, which the Cavs built in rich-black, CMYK (C, M and Y in values of 50, K as 100) format. The team also supplied proofs for color-matching.
Using its HP 550 flatbed printer, the shop produced the job’s rigid-media graphics. Its sister company, CGS Imaging (Maumee, OH), printed around-the-clock on its EFI-VUTEk GS5500-LXR UV LED-cure, HP XP5100 UV-cure and HP LX850 latex-ink printers.
From banners draping the pillars at Cleveland’s City Hall to window-applied graphics to tensioned-fabric installations over downtown structures, the city was resplendent for its day of revelry.