January Featured Graphics: Chesmar Homes Frosted Vinyl

Chesmar Homes reached out to us for a solution for their new office space. They wanted to create privacy for the conference room and offices but also increase visibility of the glass walls.

To achieve this we printed frosted vinyl stripes for the larger walls and doors, as well as solid frosted panels for lower window panels. In addition, we printed frosted glass logos for Chesmar Homes’ local partners, CLM Mortgage and N Title, to add to the door to their office.

More and more companies are using glass partitions to create separate rooms without blocking light and visibility. This gives the feeling of one communal space, but allows individuals their own space and privacy for meetings, phone calls, etc. 
 
As the use of glass walls has increased, so have the requests for vinyl applications by our team. We want to help with your space if you also have a need for improved visibility of glass walls. Many customers add their logo, mission statement, company motto, or decorative designs to their partitions to add visual interest and to personalize the wall or door.

Chesmar Homes Website

If you would like to get started on a project with our graphics team, reach out to a team member at CSSR@MillerIDS.com or CSSR@@MillerIDS.com or CSSR7@MillerIDS.com.

Featured Graphics: SMPS City Limits Event Signage

SMPS Austin hosted a welcome party to kick of the 2023 Amplify AEC National SMPS conference. The party was “ACL” themed and highlighted all things Austin culture with BBQ, live music, cocktails, and networking.

They welcomed a crowd from across the country and we were happy to provide support to our local Austin chapter who hosted the national conference this year.

In support of SMPS Austin, we printed a variety of signage and branded materials for the event. We produced foamboard welcome signs, menus, stir stick stickers for drinks, table tents, and retractable banners. We also printed window clings, raffle cards, a-frame signage, a mural banner, and even pedicab signage!

Keep us in mind if you need printed materials for your event!

If you would like to get started on a project with our graphics team, reach out to Sydney Donelson at CSSR@MillerIDS.com.

Featured Graphics: Encotech Vinyl Wall Mural

Encotech Engineering Consultants is a central Texas engineering firm with offices in Austin and San Antonio. This mural was created for their new office location in San Antonio. The mural was an in-house job designed and produced in Adobe Illustrator by Juan Arango, Encotech’s Director of Marketing and Business Development. The communication goal is to showcase Encotech’s core values while celebrating the rich and diverse culture of San Antonio through some of its iconic imagery.  

For the Encotech San Antonio office, we were tasked with matching a specific blue hue that the client had requested; Sherwin Williams – Adriatic Sea. The client had already painted a number of the walls in the office this color, and they were hoping for a near exact color match to keep all installed office graphics cohesive and within brand guidelines. They’ve had issues with color matching on previous office graphics installed, so getting it right the first time was key. Color matching was only possible by obtaining a swatch from the client of the paint color used on the wall. We then compared that swatch to our book of Pantone colors and found the closest three visual matches. Our production team then printed samples of the color options with the exact material and laminate specifications that the installed vinyl would have. The final color was selected from the sample, which ensures that the final color selection would still be the best match when viewed with the laminate and vinyl material we specifically chose.

Since the wall we installed the graphics on was already the correct shade of blue, you may be asking, why not just cut the design out of white vinyl and apply that way? We opted for full-coverage vinyl panels to ensure the intricate design the client had proposed looked as sharp as possible, maintaining its crisp angles and sharp lines that the design called for. The client felt more comfortable executing the design in this way as it saved time, money, and eliminated the need for the design to be intricately cut out by our iEcho machine. The client’s design was printed directly to our 3M 40C vinyl and sealed with a 3M matte laminate to protect the finished surface from scratches and damage. The project was installed in under 3 hours and was completed in time to meet a deadline the client had set.

Contact Encotech:
Website: encotechengineering.com
Instagram: @encotech_ec
Facebook: Encotech Engineering Consultants
LinkedIn: Encotech Engineering Consultants, Inc.

If you would like to get started on a project with our graphics team, reach out to Sydney Donelson at CSSR@MillerIDS.com.

Graphics Feature: Westlake High School Baseball

Westlake High School wanted to pump up their players by refreshing their baseball locker room and dugout (who isn’t inspired by beautiful surroundings!). We teamed up with a graphic designer who could accomplish their motivational and design goals, then handled the printing and installation of the project.

We printed their graphics on large format adhesive vinyl, similar to a peel and stick wallpaper. This allowed our installers to put the graphics up in panels with the fewest number of seams possible. We recommended the proper vinyl that would adhere to the textured walls, in this case cinderblock. This material is able to stretch slightly to be smoothed over any texture.

Vinyl panels work for both indoor and outdoor use and are very easy to maintain. Because the vinyl has a smooth surface and is laminated, it can be wiped down if it starts looking dirty or dull, which is great for outdoor areas or spaces that are exposed to the elements.

Vinyl wall graphics are one of our favorite ways to brand a space because they really pack a punch. The process is fairly simple once the designs are created, making it one of the easiest ways to make a big visual difference pretty quickly.

We would love to help with your next graphics project whether that be with large-scale adhesive vinyl or something else!

Quick personal notes: Ralph Yznaga was the designer for these graphics. Ralph has designed other projects inside the locker rooms of Westlake and has worked with Miller in various capacities for years. He designed our current website! Alongside that, he is the Editor and Co-Owner of Edible Magazine! Our thanks goes out to Coach JT Blair at WHS; we helped him with the initial “rebrand” of the locker room about seven years ago and he called on us again to help this go-around. Thanks Coach!

If you would like to get started on a project with our graphics team, reach out to Sydney Donelson at CSSR@MillerIDS.com.

May Artist of the Month: Shakti Sarkin

Shakti Sarkin was born in Ohio, received her BFA with a Painting and Sculpture focus, at Kent State University, and lived in Los Angeles, England and South Africa, before residing in 78704 for the past 27 years. Before her children went off to college, she worked small-scale on her dining room table using soft pastels. Since then, with encouragement from her husband, she took over her home’s large front room for her studio where she paints larger canvases in oils, watercolors and acrylics. Shakti also creates metal sculptures by welding steel rod and affixing painted bark to them. Shakti’s artworks encompass figurative work, landscapes and abstracts.

Shakti has exhibited in Austin, Georgetown, Round Rock and Dallas, and has had many solo exhibits. She has won several art competitions, had one of her paintings appear on a nationally distributed magazine cover, and receives many commissions to paint murals, portraits, landscapes and sculptures.

Shakti says, “My art is about heart, evoking feelings, the appreciation of all life, and vibrancy through color.”

Contact Shakti:
Website: www.shaktisarkin.com
Instagram: @shaktisarkin
Facebook: Shakti Sarkin Art

Contact our fine art specialist, Dana Burton, for more information on fine art scans and reproduction.

Graphics Feature: San Antonio Spurs Lamp Post Flags

The San Antonio Spurs hosted “Spurs Week” in Austin earlier this month, featuring events around Austin to kick off their games played at the Moody Center. The games were coined as the “I-35 Series” and marked the first regular season NBA games ever to be played in Austin. To advertise the exciting events, we printed lamp post signage to be installed around town.

The signs were installed around the South Congress area, including on the South Congress bridge, along both sides of the shopping district on South Congress, and around the Long Center and Auditorium Shores.

Lamp post signage is basically a two sided banner with pole pockets sewn into the top and bottom. We are on the approved vendor list for the City of Austin and can help with your flagpole project, too. This same concept of pole pockets is also used for trade show backdrops – we want to help you on those projects as well!

If you would like to get started on a project with our graphics team, reach out to Sydney Donelson at CSSR@MillerIDS.com.

2023 PIA MidAmerica GraphEx Awards


Printing & Imaging of America (PIA) hosts the annual Graphic Excellence Awards (GraphEx Awards) which recognize our industry’s outstanding technical achievements in innovation and print production. This month we received advanced notice of 4 Best of Category Awards on entries our talented customers allowed us to enter.
  
The regional (MidAmerica) award event is in Dallas next month and we will learn if any of the entries won a regional Best of Show Award.

-Best of Category: art reproductions – digital for Katie Maratta Houses with Tumbleweeds and Haybales
-Best of Category: art reproductions – digital for Salvador Rodriguez Big Bend South View
-Best of Category: wide or grand format, special installation for Preacher Vinyl “Stained Glass”
-Best of Category: wide or grand format, interior/exterior scapes for Spurs Sports & Entertainment SXSW Event

Thank you to our amazing customers for trusting us with your projects and visions and to those who allowed us to enter their work into the GraphEx contest! We will update if any entries win further regional awards!

Congrats to all who won!

If you would like to get started on a project with our graphics team, reach out to Sydney Donelson at CSSR@MillerIDS.com.

March Artist of the Month: Becca Borrelli

Becca Borrelli is a nationally recognized illustrator, muralist, educator and speaker, based out of Austin, TX. Her digital drawings, original paintings, and intuitive art making courses are avenues to share a hopeful and playful representation of the world’s magical sides. Both her work and art classes invite viewers to reflect on the invisible and intuitive aspects of their lived spaces and experiences.

Borrelli has a B.A. in Art Education from Kent State University, and an M.A. from the University of Texas Austin. She has created art for clients such as Visa, Boston Beer, Dell Children’s Medical Center, University Hospital Rainbow Babies & Children Cleveland, Dell Medical School and The University of Texas. Her derivative retail/wholesale products are sold across Texas, where she is most known for her line of adult coloring books. She has worked with organizations such as the Austin Downtown Alliance, Dell Children’s Medical Center, and Mindful Classrooms to develop coloring books as education tools.

She teaches corporate art courses for Facebook teams nationally, in-person courses at Austin Contemporary Art School, as well as virtual on-demand art courses for her online artist community: The HeART School. Between 2018 and 2020, Becca co-founded Austin female based maker collective Lemon House: a local venue that hosted maker events, classes, art shows and community groups.

When Becca isn’t making art, she’s exploring Austin with her husband, son, and two super-pups Layla and Rose.

“I learned of Miller IDS a decade ago as the preeminent Austin printer for beautiful reproductions and large-scale scanning. In the early days as an independent artist, they scanned and printed ink doodles I made for fun. I would sell them on a patchworked blog to friends with cut and paste PayPal buttons. I was a scrappy young artist and I loved their gorgeous, reliable work. Even more, I loved chatting with Larry each time I visited. I was a small account, and yet everyone knew me by my first name and treated me like a friend.
 
Fast-forward to today, they are still supporting my work via a burgeoning wholesale business. I love working with Dana Burton in the Fine Art department. She always gives lightning-fast responses, helps work through problems, and each print job is beautiful. In 2020 I partnered with Dell Children’s Medical Center on a digital mural. When my initial production partner fell through, I reached out to Miller. Their graceful assistance mid-project on one of the largest artworks of my career was when I knew I was in love. This business has been around for a long time and it shows. I trust them implicitly and would emphatically urge anyone to work with them on all projects large or small. This is by far my favorite print shop in Austin!”

Contact Becca:
Website: beccajborrelli.com

Contact our fine art specialist, Dana Burton, for more information on fine art scans and reproduction.

Graphics Feature: Urbanspace Sales Center

Since 2000, Urbanspace has served as Austin’s first and only full-service urban core living solutions company, providing real estate development, sales, and marketing expertise — amplified by our in-house interior design studio + modern furniture showroom — with an intense passion for living the urban lifestyle. We are an organization committed to Austin’s growth and development, with an emphasis on architectural design, sustainable development, urban communities and modern design products from around the globe.

Urbanspace put their stamp on the Austin skyline with The Modern Austin Residences, a 56 story condo tower entirely developed, marketed, and sold by Urbanspace. To create an immersive sales center experience for their buyers, they worked with us to take advantage of the vertical space on the walls and windows, with displays that included a panoramic aerial view from the tower, a map of the vibrant neighborhood surrounding The Modern, and a timeline of Urbanspace’s major milestones.

“The sales center turned out even better than we hoped, and a lot of the credit goes to the Miller IDS team. We were impressed by their professionalism and the quality of the work. They made the process of moving from conceptual designs to reality a breeze. We had a great experience working with Miller!” – Robbie Polk

For more information on Urbanspace: 
Main website: www.urbanspacelifestyle.com 
The Modern website:  www.modernaustinresidences.com 
Instagram (Real Estate): @urbanspacerealtors
Instagram (Interiors): @urbanspaceinteriors
Instagram (Design Studio): @urbanspacedesignstudio

To get started on your own graphics project, contact Sydney at CSSR@MillerIDS.com.

March 2022 Featured Graphics: Levy Dykema

Levy Dykema is one of our many growing clients in Austin and is one of our model customers – they utilize every type of product or service Miller offers.
 
Recently we were able to rush print some traffic-stopping designs to strategically place in their new Congress Avenue windows as SXSW’ers were traveling by on foot. The designs had the desired effect, drawing festival goers’ attention and creating awareness for Levy Dykema and their new Austin location, inside the historic Sampson Building on the corner of Congress and 7th. Many photo ops were taking place outside their windows. How fun for Levy Dykema to be pictured in postable photos traveling the globe! Levy Dykema’s design was a printed backdrop on ½” foam board with ½” white foam letters cut out and laid on top. Ryan Begley, Director of Design and Creative Services, did his own design and installation and did a bang-up job!
 
We are blessed to be able to provide Levy Dykema with graphic and reprographic products and services, as well as printers and copiers for the internal document workflow needs.
 
We remember fondly when Stephen Levy came into our store the first time inquiring about services for his new startup architecture firm. He was determined to keep his business small. Thankfully, his plans changed, and under Stephen’s leadership Levy Architects has grown beyond Austin. Most recently, Levy has partnered with Corpus Christi based Dykema Architects. Together, Levy Dykema has over 50 years of award-winning architecture experience and will expand their unique brand of Texas Contemporary design throughout Texas, the U.S. and beyond!
 
We thank you Stephen Levy and friends at Levy Dykema for being a great client of ours!

Levy Dykema’s Website
Levy Dykema’s Instagram

If you would like to get started on a project with our graphics team, reach out to Sydney Donelson at CSSR@MillerIDS.com.