Case Studies

Newport County Visitor Center Case Study

Three glass-enclosed cases along the outside of the visitor center are perfect for catching the eye of visitors walking or driving down Newport’s well-trafficked America's Cup Avenue.

Newport, Rhode Island is a popular New England town known for its coastal scenery, famed Gilded Age mansions, and waterfront shopping and dining. The hospitality and tourism industries are the backbone of the town’s economy, with many local merchants relying heavily on signage to direct visitors to their stores.

Centrally located in downtown Newport, the Newport County Visitors Center sells advertising space to local businesses. Some maintain three-month contracts, while others change out their signage more frequently. While the 20+ 40x54 inch glass-enclosed cases along the outside of the visitor center are perfect for catching the eye of visitors walking or driving down Newport’s well-trafficked America's Cup Avenue, getting the  signage to withstand the elements for any length of time proved challenging. 

Traditionally, Visitors Center ad displays were backed in corkboard with graphics pinned to foam core boards inside of the case. However, the interior of the cases becomes very hot and moist in the summer – with temperatures in those cases often reaching over 200 degrees during the day and dropping below 50 degrees at night – and the moisture from humidity and other coastal factors was saturating and warping foam core boards, resulting in unattractive curling and  fading of signage. Furthermore, switching out the graphics as often as needed proved to be time consuming and expensive, as well as wasteful.

Nu Graphics Etc., Inc., a qualified printer and installer of large format media, was tasked with printing the graphics for the businesses that place advertisements with the Newport County Visitors Center. Wayne Moda, president of Nu Graphics, estimates they print up to five ads a week, depending on the client. Moda wanted to find a graphics media alternative that was better suited to meet the advertisers’ needs.

“I have worked with many different types of media, including magnets, in the past and wanted to use something for the Newport Visitor Center that would really keep the graphics looking great and allow us to change them out as needed more efficiently,” said Moda. “I had first encountered Visual Magnetics about two years ago and they immediately came to mind, as their magnetic-receptive technology is really unique and provides a lot of benefits that other types of media don’t.”

After a successful beta period, each display was transitioned to the Visual Magnetics system.

Visual Magnetics enables the creation of photo-quality graphics that can be updated effortlessly. The Visual Magnetics Graphic System consists of ActiveWall® Micro-Iron™ wall primer, MagnaMedia® Micro-Iron coated print media, and InvisiLock? custom engineered sheet magnet, which may be applied to virtually any surface, incorporated into frames and fixtures, or mounted directly to a wall. Once InvisiLock is applied, users can simply roll graphics printed on any MagnaMedia to achieve instant, high-quality signage and displays. The Visual Magnetics Graphic System™ can be tailored to meet a wide array of changeable graphics needs and is engineered to be ultra-low profile, allowing for multi-layering of images while giving the seamless appearance of a single layer print.  Over 200 major brands are using the Visual Magnetics Graphics System to date.

After a successful beta period, each display was transitioned to the Visual Magnetics system. The complete initial installation took about two weeks. The displays were reengineered by ripping out the cork, adding marine grade plywood on the inside with sheet metal mounted to the face of the board. The sheet metal provides a surface for Visual Magnetics double sided, 40 mil, high energy InvisiLock® magnet to attract to. The graphics then applied to the magnetic surface of the fixture were printed on Visual Magnetic’s VM-POLYeightUV white opaque polyester film. The Micro-Iron™ coating on the reverse side of these print films allow them to “attract” to the magnet previously installed in the fixture.

Visual Magnetics’ MagnaMedia print films are not magnets, they’re magnetic-receptive, which is what truly makes them stand out from competing products. Unlike printing on traditional magnets - which are often bulky, available in limited sizes, and difficult to print on – MagnaMedia are light-weight, flexible and can be printed on almost any print platform as easily as other digital media. However, the graphics printed on MagnaMedia can be quickly and easily changed out.  They can also be rolled for convenient, low-cost shipping and are much less likely to be damaged during transit or installation than foam core boards or other rigid materials.  Moda estimates that shipping 40 x 54 inch pieces of foam core would total up to $40 or $50 per sign when also factoring the packaging. With Visual Magnetic products, Nu Graphics is able to print a skin, roll it up in a tube, and send it for approximately eight dollars in shipping costs.

“Visual Magnetics is ideal in situations where graphics need to be changed out on a regular basis,” said Moda. “The initial installation is an investment, but once it’s in place graphics can be changed out in a matter of seconds. The time and money that we are able to save customers in terms of shipping and installation by using Visual Magnetics is staggering.”

Moda says the substrate itself is great, the ink lays on it well, there are very few problems with banding and it profiles easily. But it is important for printers to understand what they are working with. “A good large format printer is profiling every material and color matching. It is important to know that there are a number of different Visual Magnetic substrates and the right substrate needs to be selected for each application and printer,” he adds.

“Though we had experimented with different materials when making our advertisements, we could never pinpoint one that met all our needs including enduring winter’s cold temperatures and summer’s blazing direct sunlight, until we were introduced to Visual Magnetics,” said Cathy Morrison, VP of operations, Newport & Bristol County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Pieces printed on MagnaMedia have a beautiful clean look with no wrinkles, bowing or bending. The graphics we are now able to create with Visual Magnetics are of the highest quality, and many of the obstacles associated with changing them out have been eliminated.”

In terms of environmental impact, all Visual Magnetics MagnaMedia products are recyclable, so future campaign updates will not mean sending retired graphics into a landfill. Waste can also be reduced significantly by creating ‘layerable’ graphics, where displays are updated without having to replace their frames or use fasteners and/or adhesives.