Window Graphics: Peering Into the Future of Brand Recognition

It’s no secret that in today’s competitive marketing landscape, brands are fighting for consumer attention. When we’re not looking at someone’s latest social media campaign on our phones, our attention darts to the next shiny thing.

So what can you, as a print service provider (PSP), do to help your customers achieve brand recognition without feeling like they need to reinvent the wheel?

The answer is window graphics.

“It’s free real estate to advertise on,” says Jason England, manager of Yale University Printing and Publishing Services (YPPS), in New Haven, Connecticut. “You could showcase the equivalent of a billboard from a commercial building with wide open windows. So, to take advantage of a window, whether it be exterior or interior. It’s viable real estate to advertise that is normally open, free marketing. You’re getting foot traffic, you’re adding visual benefit to the space, and it allows just an expansion of communication.”

Window graphics produced by Yale University's in-plant. | Credit: Yale University

YPPS added window graphics as a service about two and a half years ago, England says. It started when they realized they could use the cutter they had used for floor graphics during the pandemic to also make decorative window clings.

In Auburn, New York, Matthew Ferguson, president of A&M Graphics, says his shop has noticed a boom in window graphics ever since businesses have put more of an emphasis on company culture.

“The trend for us the past few years has been elevation of company culture,” Ferguson says. “We work primarily in healthcare and higher education, and we’re usually coming in after a remodel, or they’re looking to refresh. And whether we’re working directly with the brand owner, or we’re working through an architect or a contractor in architectural design and interior design, the ultimate goal is to make these facilities great places to work for our customers.”

Ask Yourself Three Questions

When installing a window graphic, says Dennis Leblanc, senior business development manager for Drytac North America, you have to ask yourself three questions:

1. Where is it going?
2. Who is installing it?
3. How long does it need to be there?

“If you go out into a retail store pretty much anywhere, or even a hotel or other hospitality, there’s window graphics everywhere, and there’s different styles. So, you have to make sure that you are picking and choosing materials that are suited for different spaces,” Leblanc says.

And Leblanc is right: There are different styles. England says that in addition to window clings, his in-plant has also started using frosted window film, and Ferguson says his shop is doing different films like privacy films, optically clear films, and custom-printed window films.

To help figure out what sort of materials you should be using for an installation, Leblanc says utilizing tools like social media, trade magazines, and just simply talking to others in the industry is a huge help.

He advises PSPs to follow the feeds of manufacturers like Drytac to see the kinds of films they’re creating and how their customers are using them. “Technologies are improving on a constant basis. So keeping up, keeping abreast, doing your research, social media-wise, keeping an eye on what everybody’s up to, is the best way to educate yourself,” Leblanc says.

And let’s say you’re outsourcing your installation. For that, Ferguson agrees that social media and word of mouth are the best forms of finding the right installers for your shop. He says there’s no exact list exact list of experienced installers who can offer PSPs good advice.

“We have relationships with a lot of other shops, whether it’s locally or nationwide. And you know, building those relationships and really leaning on them, has been a huge part of our growth,” Ferguson says.

Practice Makes Perfect

Let’s say the thought of a graphic installation maybe sounds a little intimidating, or you’re new to
that skill and still getting your sea legs. Keep in mind: Practice makes perfect.

Ferguson says at his shop, he and his team utilized an old sliding glass door to perfect their window installation processes.

“We’ve had to experiment a lot with different ratios of what we’re using for slip from film to film. We need to make sure that the liquid we’re using to apply the films is completely diluting, evaporating, and not leaving any kind of residue,” Ferguson says. “We see differences from film to film, so I took a sliding glass door that somebody was discarding and we took around eight of our most popular films and experimented with those, and let them set up and then took notes: after 24 hours, after 36 hours, after a week, after two weeks, just to make sure what the best results were so we could really be perfect on those installations.”

And while you’re practicing, Leblanc advises getting familiar with installation guidelines on manufacturers’ websites and —even more important — go get training.

“I highly recommend getting some training if you can. Drytac partners with the PDAA through PRINTING United [Alliance], and it’s super helpful and you’ll be taught best practices. And the best part is that the PDAA isn’t specific to one manufacturer. If this is something your shop is going to do, you might as well do it right,” Leblanc says.

See The Space for Yourself

When you’re doing window graphics for a customer, England says, the day of your installation shouldn’t be the first time you’re seeing the space. He explains that to achieve peak customer satisfaction, PSPs need to get out and assess the space before printing begins.

Window graphics produced by Yale University's in-plant. | Credit: Yale University

“You have to go there. You have to make sure to measure twice and cut once. They’re (the client) never going to be the professionals. You need to be professional, you need to be the expert, and to have a designer, to have the installer, that combination, plus the customer service rep for pricing it all out. That’s how you put it together. You must create a vision, sell the vision, share the cost, timeframe, and then the rest will all come together,” England says.

About being the “professional” in the situation, Ferguson says shops should try to create a standard procedure for themselves to eliminate any uncertainties. This is where getting familiar with manufacturer installation guidelines comes in handy: You can avoid things like air bubbles, fraying edges, and so on.

“I think a lot of shops, especially when they get into some of these things, it’s a lot of guessing games. But you shouldn’t be walking away from an installation crossing your fingers that a week later you’re not going to get a phone call from an unhappy customer,” Ferguson says. “To eliminate that, we created a procedure and standard that we hold ourselves to.”

Learn Best Practices

Leblanc emphasizes that getting into the window graphics space is not an overnight process. There is a lot that goes into providing them as a service. From knowing whether the window faces the sun, to surface preparation, there are multiple factors you should familiarize yourself with.

“You know, you don’t just apply materials to a window. You need to know, is there a protection film on the window? Is there a tint on the window? Are there any signs of stress on the window? There’s a lot that goes into this, and coming from this industry with a little over 30 years’ experience, I’ve seen just about all of it,” Leblanc says. “And it tends to come back, and it’s blamed on the manufacturer of the film, when you can just see right away that somebody either installed too quickly or didn’t really have an idea of best practices.”

Overall, it is sufficient to say that as a PSP, if you want to be seen as a one-stop-shop, it would behoove you to add window graphics to your service mix.

After all, Ferguson points out that your work is your best advertisement.

“I’ll go to events with local manufacturing groups,” Ferguson shares, “and somebody is always bringing up one of the last projects we did. It’s really nice that our work, our final product, is our best salesperson.”