When kids of all ages recall trips to the neighborhood candy store, the reminiscences reach almost mythical proportions: a colorful array of candy that almost rivals a computer’s palette; a smiling, kindly old man behind the counter, and the sublime first bite of confectionery goodness.
The owners of Sidney, BC, Canada’s Lolly Gobble Sweet Shop opted to stoke these evocative memories before customers walked through the door by hiring Peninsula Signs, also of Sidney, to create a sign system for the shop that comprises window graphics printed on inkjet vinyl; a mural laminated to solid material; and ground-mounted and hanging, 3-D signage.
After having designed the system using Adobe Creative Suite 4, Peninsula Signs’ Ryan Grealy fabricated the 9 x 9-ft. mural using Avery calendered vinyl, which he printed on a Roland VersaCamm VP-540 printer/plotter. Grealy applied the topcoat with a Royal Sovereign RSC-1401CW laminator, and bonded the graphics to two, 4 x 10-ft. sheets of Alupanel® composite material that had been previously cleaned with Rapid-Tac application fluid. The panels were then secured to the exterior wall with self-tapping screws.
He created the window graphics using Avery’s MPI high-performance, cast media, which he cut to shape with the VersaCamm in cutting-plotter mode. Grealy protected the sweet dreams with a high-performance, pressure-applied Avery topcoat, which he joined with the Royal Sovereign machine.
Grealy upgraded Lolly Gobble’s signage from mere building graphics to a complete system by fabricating bracket-mounted and freestanding signage that aptly captures a young’un’s yearning for sweets. Using SA Intl.’s EnRoute 4 3-D-fabrication software, Grealy developed the lollipop and wrapped-candy sign designs. He built them – on a homemade CNC router that a local engineer custom-designed – from Jasper Plastics’ DesignBoard HDU; bonded the layers with Elmer’s Ultimate high-performance glue; coated them with 1Shot lettering enamels and clearcoat; and secured them with an aluminum post and stainless-steel scroll bracket. The hanging candy measures 34 x 18 x 4 in., and the lollipop’s diameter spans 24 in.
The signs were an instant hit. Grealy said, “Pictures immediately began appearing on Facebook of customers posing with the lollipop and pretending to bite or lick it. It was a great bit of extra promotion for the customer, and for me.”