AS A REPORTER IT’S been my goal to break a big story and one finally came my way: I’ve seen the legendary Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa … in a picture. Sorry for the clickbait : )
Frankie Markasovic, vice president of Graphic Image Corp. (Orland Park, IL), grabbed my attention when he mentioned an image of Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. being included among historical photos used for wall graphics at the home office of Teamsters Union Local 710 in Mokena, IL. Graphic Image started working with Local 710 in Jan. 2023 doing vehicle graphics. “Our shop is unionized, so being affiliated with our Local District 4 union really helped get the initial contact going,” Markasovic says.
The project involved two substrates and two surfaces. For the back wall, Graphic Image printed a nine-panel mural and applied it to painted drywall. For the wooden door they printed and contour-cut a vinyl adhesive logo which was direct-to-surface applied. Both were printed using the shop’s HP Latex 800W on Avery Dennison MPI 1105 Wrapping Film paired with their 1380 Matte Overlaminate, applied via their new GFP 663TH laminator.

The dimensional lettering on the front half-wall was produced on 10mm white PVC and printed direct, then CNC’d by their MultiCam Celero 3. “These letters were then applied flush-mounted via some good old 3M VHB Tape,” Markasovic says, “with some help from a laser level and some pre-cut install templates we made as well.”
All logos and images were provided by the Teamsters. Many images were developed pictures that were re-photographed by iPhone cameras and touched up in Photoshop for production. Some TLC was needed to get some of the older images print-friendly at the scale they were working with, Markasovic says. “Our designer Kate Slocum did a fantastic job here and cleaned these up well,” he notes.
Graphic Image exclusively uses the Adobe Suite for all file-prep and design, namely Photoshop and Illustrator. In production, they’ve been running ONYX Thrive RIP for years, he says. “We love using this RIP, which helps us with color management on projects like these. Also, it’s super easy to use for paneling wall murals.”
The shop put their two main installers on this project, who needed only three hours. “Whenever I am onsite personally,” Markasovic says, “I try to help clean up after them while they work, and assist with object removal like railings and outlet covers to help keep the focus on those squeegee strokes!”
He spent a lot of time on the front end measuring the back wall to account for the pitch and all the obstacles. The left side of the wall starts lower than the center of the wall and rises to a point in the middle, then slopes back down towards the stairs on the right. “The client wanted the stained-glass imagery to be perfectly centered behind their historic podium, so in order to achieve this without cutting off other important images on the sides of the mural, my measurements had to be dialed in,” he says. “I worked closely with our designer to make sure we had this perfected before production, then, had to relay this objective to the installers so they could hang the panels accordingly. It is a team effort from conception to design, from production to install.”
Appropriately, a true team effort for the Teamsters.
PHOTO GALLERY (7 IMAGES)
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