Jeremy chopped up a wrap for the bathroom door last night. Pretty funny design. It actually has some text carved in the design for those who want to read it. The door wrap was printed on a cheaper vinyl like we print stickers on. The print was then laminated to protect the inks from cleaning supplies. After all it is the bathroom door. Now we need some spare time to wrap more around the new shop.
509 Media has been pumping out some stickers while getting moved into the new store in Dothan, Alabama. JMR Manufacturing needed some stickers to mail out to those looking for a FREE JMR Sticker. If you are interested in a FREE JMR MFG sticker be sure to visit the link. The stickers are printed and laminated to be a thick and heavy duty sticker.
JMR Manufacturing builds some of the best tubing benders in the world along with tube notchers, dimple dies, and belt sanders. Be sure to check out the Fabrication Tables offered by JMR Manufacturing. By the way the new 2×4 fab tables were my idea…. LOL Yeah I have a fabrication background.
Chad at Fletcher’s Customs hit me up there other day for a custom Sponsor Board for a race industry trade show held in the Chicago area. When he called to give me the address I laughed because I was flying there to work a trade show booth for JMR Manufacturing.
The customer supplied a thumb drive loaded with the logos needed. We took them and put together a sponsor board to highlight the many companies who helped out with the car. While walking the trade show I stopped by the BMR booth to check out the car and to see the sponsor board in use.
The graphics were printed on 3M CV3 and laminated. The vinyl was then applied to Coroplast which is a plastic cardboard type material. Coroplast is corrugated for strength. The graphic was then trimmed to the edge for a clean finish. The end result is a very clean and effective sponsor board that can be used at car shows, trade shows, and other display settings.
It has been a couple weeks since making a blog post here on 509 Media. We have been very busy keeping up with our work load and moving into the new location. We wrapped the 509 Media storefront today with perforated vinyl.
Perforated vinyl or more commonly known as window perf can be a very effective tool advertising your business. The traffic count in front of our business is roughly 20,000 cars per day. When compared to other local advertising methods window perf can deliver customers to your cash register for a small investment. Window perf is vinyl with little holes in it. The holes allow people inside the building to see out as if there are no graphics on the window. The window perf on the 509 Media store front is a 50/50 ratio. This means the area you can see through is equal to the area printed on. 50/50 window perf allows you to see out of the building much easier than 70/30. On 70/30 the print covers 70% of the window and the holes cover 30%. One benefit of 70/30 is the ability to have more detailed prints.
The design on window perf can include what ever you want to promote your business. You can have pictures of your product, or a graphic to grab attention. Here at 509 Media we wanted something that would stand out as people drive by our door everyday.
Check out the view from inside 509 Media looking out. You can not see the graphic and still have a full view outdoors.
Country Crossing located outside of Dothan, Alabama has been surrounded by controversy over the past few months as Alabama state government officials and Country Crossing Developer Ronnie Gilley battle it out over gambling laws in Alabama. While I am not taking an official position I could not help to think of wasted money as I flew over the Country Crossing grounds earlier today. We circled the Country Crossing facility a couple times from 2000 feet to check the place out. I did not visit Country Crossing before the forewarned raid by state officials. From the air it appears a lot of money was spent developing the property. You can also see from the air additional space where the developers plan to expand the facility. Country Crossing can create many jobs at the facility and with many supporting companies in the local community. Alabama citizens have a big decision ahead of them deciding gambling laws. I would hate to guess the amount of tax payer dollars being spent to fight this bill on both sides. With the difficult economy we face here in Alabama I hope both parties figure something out soon and stop wasting tax payer dollars. I would rather spend tax payer dollars on bettering our education system rather than parking Alabama State Troopers outside Country Crossing.
Here are the aerial pictures I took this afternoon. You can see the main building, rv parking area in the rear, and the large amphitheater that Country Crossing calls the “Party Pavilion”.
509 Media and crew spent the weekend banging out two full vehicle wraps for Servpro. The install process took all weekend but we got them done on time. The rear bumpers and tail lights on both trucks were removed to allow better access for the install on the rear corners. We also removed the side mirrors, and door handles for a cleaner install. After the wrap was installed the lights, bumper, and door handles were reinstalled on the trucks.
The graphics were printed on 3M CV3 and laminated. After the wraps were installed reflective vinyl featuring the Servpro company logo was placed on the doors, hood, and tailgate. Wrapping fleet vehicles like the Servpro trucks can have long term benefits to the company’s bottom line. When the business owner decides to sell the truck the wrap can be removed without decreasing resell value of the truck. Not to mention a fully wrapped truck help preserve company image effectively advertising the company.
If you would like to talk to 509 Media about wrapping your company vehicles feel free to CONTACT us anytime.
A lot of years have passed since building my old red Jeep YJ. I started building the red YJ about 12 years ago while in college. Carla and I had just gotten married. A few months before I sold my previous black Jeep YJ rock crawler sitting on full width axles to help fund a new place to live for Carla and I. The urge to get back in the shop lurked in my thoughts but did not take long before I had to build another Jeep. Carla and I found this red beauty in the Truck Trader magazine and bought it for 4500 dollars. One week later I ripped it apart to the bare frame and starting building a new rock crawler. I admit it was difficult working full time, going to college, and recently getting married to get the Jeep built. My wife worked at night as a nurse so I did have some time to bang on some steel.
The Jeep was built the first time in Birmingham and then rebuilt after college in my dad’s barn. I sold the Jeep 8 years ago to a guy in Birmingham. I hated to see the Jeep go but swore I was done with offroading. LOL I guess you can say the bug never left me. It came back hard in 2001 when I founded Blue Torch FabWorks. My history in offroad fabrication has spanned many years and I think I will always love building things and love offroading. I sold BTF out last year and moved home to focus on family. I am looking forward to building a new buggy with my son. It is going to be a change as I have not built a buggy for myself in roughly 4 years. I have spent all of my time bending tube, welding, and planning builds for other people for way too long.
My life seems to go in cycles around fabrication and offroading. I guess you can see a pattern emerging as I build, then step back, and jump back in deeper. I have not built anything since leaving the shop in September 2009, but I do plan to start something very soon for my family and I to have some good times with. I don’t think I will ever go back into the fabrication business. I think I will keep it as a hobby this time. Thinking about all of this brings back memories of building this red Jeep YJ when fabrication was done simply for the love of it. This Jeep was built before rock crawling competitions were ever heard of. As a matter of fact the very first rock crawling competition held in 1999 was in my sights until I found out I could not compete because of my last college finals. I had to finish school rather than go play with a Jeep as my wife would say. I look back at the last 10 years in amazement of how the offroad industry has evolved.
Anyway, enough of my rant. Here are some pics of my old red YJ.
I am sitting here at my desk tonight thinking of all the fun everyone is having on Means Dry Lakebed tonight in anticipation of tomorrow’s 2010 King of the Hammers race. So many people have called to ask if I am in Johnson Valley on the lakebed in the makeshift town called “Hammertown”. Hammertown is not an actual town it is a gathering of like minded individuals with a common goal. The goal at KOH is to have a good time either watching the race or for those prepared to get behind the wheel and let it all hang out in the worlds toughest one day race.
King of the Hammers for those who do not know is the ultimate in offroad racing. It takes some of the most difficult rock crawling trails in the world and combines them with harsh flat out desert racing. I have been involved with the offroad industry for many years. I have watched and participated in the evolution of this sport. I sit back in awe tonight as I read all of the comments on the internet about tomorrow’s 2010 King of the Hammers race wishing I would have made the trip out to the be more involved. Just think a class 1 desert buggy could not win KOH, but at the same time a cone dodging world class rock crawler could not win either. Someone in the middle is what a KOH style race vehicle is evolving to. It is truly awesome to see the birth of a new sport developing.
The actual race may be a one day event but I can tell you from a first hand point of view it is a year round endeavor. KOH is not something you wake up and decide to do a month before the race. It is something you have to live for and prepare for. The race concept started about 4 years ago as an idea discussed between Jeff Noel and Dave Cole. Today the KOH race is shaping the offroad industry. KOH is pushing fabricators to think outside of the box and reach for new ideas. KOH is also pushing people within rock sports to reach out to professionals in the desert racing community for their experience in the go fast department. As I typed the last sentence I can not help smiling. A desert racer with no experience rock crawling is going to have a difficult time on the technical rock sections which can eat up a car and destroy it before you know what happened. On the other hand KOH is not all rocks, the desert racers entered in this year’s event have more experience than any other past driver in the desert which can also destroy a car in the matter of minutes. So, the big question is who will win tomorrow’s 2010 King of the Hammers race? Will it be the ever popular and favorite to win Shannon Campbell, last years winner Jason Scherer, or a champion of desert racing like BJ Baldwin? Tomorrow morning the race will begin. The cars will line up and leave Hammertown two by two with a cheering crowd looking on from around the world.
I have to be completely honest here. Some have asked this week if I regret selling the shop and not going to KOH this year. My answer is absolutely not. I could have made the trip out to the lakebed this year but decided to give myself a break. I am back home in Alabama hanging out with my wife and kids. I missed Valentines day to be in the desert last year. This year I am going to take my wife out on the town to show her off for a change. Next year she may need a set of dirt bike goggles to keep the dust out of her eyes.
Good luck to everyone tomorrow. I hope the race goes well and everyone comes home safe.
For more information on KOH you can also visit www.kingofthehammers.com
You have to check this out. While surfing around the internet late last night I came across a rather interesting website called Dirty Car Art. Scott Wade the artist on the site does some very amazing work with dirty car windows. I think it would be very difficult to wash my car if Scott created a masterpiece like the ones on his website on my car. Simply amazing. The idea is really simple. He creates artwork on your dirty window using nothing but the dusty dirty window.
Check out this video on Modern Marvels
Many of you may know my history with Blue Torch FabWorks, Inc. I started the company as a dream and worked on branding the company everyday up until I sold the business to Jason. If you would like to read more about the shop I have a couple articles posted HERE. I was going through some old pictures the other day and found the following screen shots of the old Blue Torch Fab website design. I think the site did an effective job projecting the company image and letting people know what Blue Torch Fab was about. The screen shots pictured are of the front end of the website. The online shopping cart was driven by Oscommerce / CRE Loaded which was themed with a similar header and graphics. What you see in the attached pictures was created in Photoshop and sliced for the web. This version of the website was taken down in favor of WordPress about 6 months ago.
If you have any questions about designing a website or would like a quote for your website be sure to post up or use our CONTACT page for more details.
Milwaukee Porta Band Saw Vertical Conversion FOR SALE: Recently I designed and fabricated a vertical band saw conversion for use with a Milwaukee Porta Ban...
Profender Premium Suspension Vinyl Banners: Profender Premium Suspension was in need for custom printed banners to help promote their brand and ...
QR Code Business Cards for Frontier 4x4: Check out the most recent business card design for Frontier 4x4. The new design includes a QR Code ...
Yummy Jerky Online Beef Jerky Store and Wordpress Blog: I have been buying beef jerky from Yummy Jerky for a couple years and been very pleased with their s...
Full Color Envelopes for Durden Ourdoor: Most who know me well know that I have been very busy at Durden Outdoor working to create a one of a...
Recent Comments