Holding Court

Founded in 1977, The Mitographers Inc. (Sioux Falls, SD) has primarily focused on screenprinted, industrial graphics. In 2008, the company purchased its first, digital-printing equipment to control costs for short-run graphics.

“Within around two and a half years, digital graphics have gone from zero to roughly 10% of our business,” Tim Phillips, The Mitographer’s sales manager, said. “For a $10 million company, that’s significant, especially because we haven’t advertised our large-format capabilities.”

In 2009, Sioux Falls Sports Authority officials asked the company to produce banners for the Summit League’s basketball tournament. The 10-school (from Michigan to Utah) tournament takes place in the 7,500-seat Sioux Falls Arena. Last year, The Mitographers approached Summit League officials about bidding for center-court graphics for the tournament, and won the job.

“The Summit League representatives were adamant that safety be our first priority,” Phillips said. “In the past, there had been problems with players slipping on the graphics. Also, they wanted the graphics to have aggressive enough adhesion to stand up to the pressure of impact from Division I basketball players, while not damaging the playing surface after removal. And, they had to look good on camera, while the lobby graphics had to absorb foot traffic bringing in wet, mucky, late-winter weather.”

The overall project entailed 1,134 sq. ft. of floor graphics for the court and lobby areas. The Summit League provided the image files in PDF format, and The Mitographers fine-tuned the design using Adobe Illustrator.
In 2011, arena officials allowed the shop to begin working on installation two nights before the tournament’s beginning (the year before, they weren’t allowed to begin until the day before). Phillips said the 36-hour interim enabled a better bond with the sealant, which reduced scuff marks. The process for both sets of graphics required six hours.

To print the graphics, the shop used FLEXcon’s FLEXmark V400 white, opaque, 3.5-mil, self-adhesive film. In place of a laminate, installers applied several coats of floor varnish. The shop produced several samples, with some installed in the shop’s production area and others sent to the Summit League office.

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To ensure the film would meet ASTM D2047 non-slip requirements for floor surfaces, The Mitographers sent film samples of the center-court material to a laboratory certified under the General Standards Board Laboratory Acceptance Program.

“League officials very much appreciated the extra measure,” he said.

The Mitographers printed the graphics on its EFI-VUTEk QS2000 UV-cure-ink printer using EFI Series II inks. The lobby graphics were produced using a similar process, with the exception of usage of FLEXcon’s FLEXmark OV 650 R clear, embossed acrylic adhesive.

Still stringent in his demand for seamless floor graphics, Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple assigned four staff members to monitor the center-court graphics during the tournament’s first four games. “There were no issues,” Phillips said.