On the basis of the research, it can be stated the most popular material involved in the banner production process is vinyl due to its cheapness. Banners are almost always printed with the help of wide-oriented printers. The technologies allow using all the major colors which may differ because of the material used. The rectangular shape is the most popular one, but anybody can cut it to make his or her own custom shapes. Banners are not limited to size in theory. The quality completely depends on the inks and the materials. Three types of inks are used to create certain banners, among which two are the most widespread when applied for vinyl. Banners may be used to promote a company, to advertise certain events such as trade shows, maybe printed as flyers and placed on the lamp posts, may be used by individuals for birthday parties and fence decoration, and other purposes.

Using Vinyl Banners as Advertisement

When planning to advertise some event or brand name, or to make a certain celebration or party brighter, banners made of vinyl become very practical due to their affordability and additional features. They may serve for long years because of the great longevity. The application of banners differs, but the main reason they are used is that they need to advertise a small business for little money appears. This type of product may be designed in different forms, from flyer-like to big billboards or even 60 feet large banners. Used not only in business but personally as well, vinyl banners have become very popular nowadays. The size of banners is not limited and this type of product can have various colors. These features make them very appealing for everybody interested in cheap promotion. Therefore, printed vinyl banners are the most accessible and reliable means to be used for various purposes, from private to business ones.

The Production Process

When printing a banner, different materials may be used based on the amount of money spent and other preferences. Nevertheless, according to USAOnCanvas (n.d.), this type of product is mostly made of vinyl as the most popular material. This type of material is often chosen because of its solidness, waterproofness, and flexibility, which gives the banners a possibility to be used in different weather conditions outdoors (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Over the years, as the authors state, different improvements appeared giving the opportunity to choose over a bigger number of colors and the final results which can be achieved (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Other materials which can be used for production are cloth and mesh (USAOnCanvas, n.d.), but they give way to vinyl. Thereby, nowadays vinyl banners have the greatest popularity.

As well as the materials, there are different inks involved in the creation of these advertising products. Solvent Inks, which may have chemical components in their composition, destroy the material and create an image when placed on it; this type of printing stands in opposition to using a layer of ink just used on top of the banner not getting deeply inside into the structure, and is the most popular ink for vinyl (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Dye Sublimation is a process used for fabric banners as it gets deep into the structure (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Latex inks are used to avoid the odor which the solvents inks have; they do not need much drying time and are known because of better longevity when used with vinyl. Therefore, the most widely used inks with the type of material mentioned are the solvent and latex ones.

The next notion to be discussed is the printers used for the banner production and the price of the production. As USAOnCanvas (n.d.) states, because of banners’ big size, the wide-format printers are used most of all. An inkjet printer that produces banners with the help of latex and solvent inks almost always has a wide-format printing function, as small devices which use the solvent type of ink are not so widespread (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Vinyl material is often one of the most economical ones; printers created to be used with vinyl charge fewer prices for their work; the types of ink also affect the price (USAOn Canvas, n.d.). With that being said, it may be stated vinyl among its benefits possesses the advantage to reduce the prices; most of the printers involved are made to create wide banners.

The next things to mention are the sizes of the vinyl banners and their shapes. The size directly depends on the width a certain printer has and the sizes of the substrate (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Though wide-format printing devices are almost always used for production purposes, this term has many meanings (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). The maximum size, according to USAOnCanvas (n.d.), a banner printer can handle is nearly four feet to eight feet; thus, some special industrial devices can print offering size of 16 feet. Since the material used exists as a role it may have no limits considering the size (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). The most widespread shape of a banner is rectangular, but it may be changed according to the wishes; still, if the edges are not cut properly, it may worsen the properties (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). As it follows, the maximum size of a printed banner is not unlimited in theory; the rectangular shape of banners is the most often used.

Color and quality are the next steps to be mentioned in the banner creation process. The color depends on the material and the inks as well (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Vinyl-based banners allow to use of bold colors, such as red or yellow, more and more often, still the fabrics have always been the main color determinant (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). The final color depends on the printer to a great extent; there is an issue with the accessibility of the white color, but it may be defeated with the help of special adapters (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). The wide-format devices can print various colors, namely thousands of them; less expensive printers have an issue with creating shades, but most of them do not have this disadvantage (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). As it is not hard to guess, the quality of the final product depends on the quality of materials and inks used. Vinyl-based products may not lose their qualities for many decades, depending on the surrounding weather conditions, materials that are used, and whether the solvent inks were involved in production (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Therefore, the range of colors and the quality stand in direct relation to the inks and materials used.

Pole Banner Applications

Vinyl-based banners, as well as the ones made of other materials, have a great range of applications. They may be created both for business and personal purposes and hung up both outdoors and indoors due to the mentioned longevity feature. To make custom banners, a certain person may use his or her own photos or graphic designs and hang a banner in his own room; glue may be used to make the products more applicable (Rocket Banner, n.d.). A banner, according to Printastic (n.d.), is an effective way to promote a business brand and its products; moreover, it is an affordable method when vinyl material is used. Kumar (2017) also supports the previous authors, stating banners are good for outdoor promotion. They are most of all used as local marketing by small businesses; the big corporation started their advertising with this type of production as well (Kumar, 2017). Vinyl banners may be used by corporations may for trade fairs and releases of certain products, while certain individuals may use these products at birthday parties (Kumar, 2017). Therefore, banners are a great means to promote a business as well as can be used at private parties and other celebrations.

The low price for vinyl banners makes them very appealing for low-cost promotion. It may be good, according to Hill (2016) to place the website’s name and other social media services on the banner to attract the attention of the viewers, so they may be seen at trade shows, as well as sponsorships. Another good use of this type of product is to hang it up at the high-traffic intersections (Hill, 2016). USAOnCanvas has an even greater range of banner application and according to them, vinyl banners may be used at fashion shows, sporting, and red carpet events; these types of the banner are called step and repeat ones as they are continuously viewed by the visitors, where the brand name or the image is well seen (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Next, this type of advertising can be hung on in the form of billboards – a large outdoor structure, which is, besides, often printed on vinyl. Therefore, vinyl banners are great for fashion and trade shows, as well as for billboards.

The variety of banner applications does not end with the mentioned places. If the budget is modest, according to USAOnCanvas (n.d.), then the pre-printed banners may win their popularity as the means to create big “sale” signs where the white letters are put on the red background. Pole banners which can often be found on the lamp posts are also often made of vinyl and have a vertical shape to be nicely put on the post (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). Then, the backlit banners, placed on some source of light, may find their application to grab somebody’s attention; they are created for advertising events that are to happen soon and are often seen in the subway halls (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). As well, banners can serve as a table cover and can often be seen at recruitment sessions as well as trade shows; they may be canopy banners, often seen at marathons, many active outdoor events, and street fairs (USAOnCanvas, n.d.). According to USAOnCanvas (n.d.), other applications of these products may be aerial advertising, displaying text in a large font which may reach 90 feet in size; as well, there are personal banners, used at special personal events or places, such as neighborhood fences, birthdays or engagements, and other occasions.

Conclusion

The aim of this paper was to discuss printed vinyl banners, namely their production process and application in everyday life. On the basis of the research, it can be argued vinyl banners are the most accessible type of advertising products due to the cheapness of the materials and the quality they give. This type of banner has great longevity and can be placed indoors and outdoors not losing its features. The colors used may be different, but even the cheap printers allow to print a good quality production. The solvent and latex inks are the most often used when applied to the vinyl material. Most of the banners are extended to one side. They may be used at festivals, personal birthday parties, to decorate the fences, at trade shows, as flyers at marathons, and other active events held in the cities. Therefore, these features make vinyl banners very appealing not only for business but for personal use as well.