BroadBased Communications Captures Gold ADDY Award

How do you make a chemical feeder pump scream excitement at a trade show? By designing a booth that assembles into an SUV-sized photograph of the product. BroadBased Communications, with a team of Jacksonville imaging professionals, joined forces to create graphics for a trade show booth for G.H. Stenner & Co. that generated a buzz among industry professionals.

Creating a 150 dpi image the size of a Ford Expedition was a technical challenge even for BroadBased’s experienced team. To implement the booth design, the graphics manufacturer required a full-size, high-resolution image that was nearly 20 times larger than the actual product, which measures approximately one foot in length by six inches in height. Even so, the manufacturer had never produced a seamless image that spanned 16 feet and couldn’t guarantee results.

“First, we needed to capture an exceptionally sharp image, so it wouldn’t degrade at 19X magnification,” said Jan Korb, president of BroadBased. To create the image, photographer Darryl Bunn bypassed his state-of-the-art digital imaging equipment and instead chose to use his traditional large-format 8-by-10 camera, which hadn’t been used for a dozen years.

The film—special-ordered from Chicago—was scanned, enlarged and carefully retouched by Webster Color to eliminate even the tiniest imperfections, which could have compromised details of the product. Even a speck of dust would be readily apparent at the final size. Webster then overcame a variety of technical obstacles to save the final image as a seamless 16-by-7.5-foot enlargement for application to the booth panels.

“This was a team effort that required everybody’s best work,” Korb said. “In the past, we’ve produced graphics large enough to wrap a train car. But this process was different because the final product is so high in resolution that you feel as if you could walk into it.”

Stenner President Tim Ware added, “The response to the booth has been incredible. It’s unlike anything else people have ever seen, and it shows off two of our primary selling points—the quality of our manufacturing and the innovative simplicity of our design.”

In response to inquiries, Stenner has arranged a luncheon at Daryl Bunn Studios on Thursday, July 25, to display the booth. Representatives from BroadBased as well as Darryl Bunn Studios and Webster will be available to answer questions regarding this innovative project.