The Ultimate Goodbye...Spoken With Meaningful Images

A Delicate Subject

At the risk of making some folks uncomfortable, while also providing "a good ( "ah ha" moment/idea)  for future reference for others, I am going to tell you about one of Vital Sign's newest product offerings. Now before you decide that we have crossed the lines of decency, please let me paint (or wrap as it were), a picture of the possibilities for you.

We were recently approached by a funeral director who wanted to know if we did "Casket Wraps"?

" Um, well...um, we haven't done it before, but perhaps we could?! " So there it was, an idea we had certainly never thought of, and a market we never anticipated being a part of (at least not until the end of our own lives). But as we always say, we love thinking out of the Vital Signs box, and this request definitely met that criteria. No pun intended.

Specifically, our customer had a life-long friend who was about to pass and had always asked his dear friend to fulfill one of his very specific and personal last requests. That was, to be buried in a casket that looked like a Budweiser Beer Can or if not a can, to at least to pay tribute to this gentleman's lifelong beverage of choice. Our customer obtained the necessary permissions from the Anheuser-Busch company and we were off to pop the lid on this new project concept.

A Humorous Goodbye To/From A Gentleman Who Played Hard & Looked At Life Smiling

A Lasting Tribute

The casket was delivered to Vital Signs, where we disassembled the handles/railings for easier wrapping access. While it was a first for us and initially a bit unsettling, from a wrap standpoint, it was a large object like any other that we wrap.

This idea however, really made us think about Vital Signs offering Casket and Urn Wraps. We decided that while this type of end-of-life personalization might not be for everyone, for others it would be the perfect compliment to saying goodbye. The Casket/Urn Wrap does not have to be comical or irreverent. I can think of many comforting ideas that would enhance this always sad occasion. We are now working on designs for many categories which a family might choose from. For instance: Many topics/categories of interest may have/had a very personal and deep meaning to the deceased and/or family. Creating a wrap design that might speak to a person's life-long hobby; a loved sports team; a beloved pet; a family home; military service; gardening; firefighter/policeman; a humorous tradition or just meaningful scripture with a religious themed wrap may serve to complete the service in a very comforting way for the family, as well as for those in attendance. 

Funeral Homes are offering many personalization options within the context of themed funerals for it's customers. End-of-life Wraps are just one more aspect of this personalization. Vital Signs Design Team will always work to provide a Casket or Urn Wrap that is complimentary and tasteful to the desires of the decendent's family wishes. This specialty wrap will add a 2-3 day delay to the beginning of the Funeral Home viewing schedule.

Military

Hobby

Pittsburgh Specific

Gardening

A trademarked name/brand cannot be used without permission. Vital Signs would prefer to create designs that do not have any trademarked brand/product included in the Casket Wrap design(s). But for the sake of showing you the Casket Wrap concept, we did use some content above that would require permissions if we were actually creating one of the trademarked brands shown.

Oddly Peaceful & Comforting...

We understand that this idea is not for everyone. We also know that this type of customization will likely appeal only to a family or individual who wishes to have a very individual-specific personalization. We truly believe that an 'End Of Life' Wrap will memorialize a decedent in a very comforting, personal and unique way. When I think about all of the deceased members of my family who proudly served in our military services, I can't help but think about how nice it would have been to honor them and to say my last goodbyes in such a beautiful way. It's almost as if they are being wrapped in a final hug by an image of something that they greatly loved or enjoyed in their lives while living. And that makes me smile.

What Do You Think?

Please share your thoughts with us on this new 'End Of Life' Casket/Urn Wrap idea. Can you think of any design ideas that would have been meaningful for someone who passed on in your family? 

Honus Wagner ~ Another Home Run!

Where Legends Are Made...

One of the things that we most enjoy about being involved in the sign and graphics industry, is the variety of interesting projects that we work on. Recently, Vital Signs was approached to work on a very historically significant project. 

Below is a re-post of the article that was written and featured by Dona Dreeland in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

On behalf of the Vital Signs Team, we are honored to have worked on such a meaningful project. 

Honus Wagner Sign to provide fresh look for Carnegie, PA.

This sign, created by Vital Signs of Carnegie, will hang on the Historical Society of Carnegie building and remind visitors that Carnegie is the hometown of Honus Wagner, the legendary Pittsburgh Pirate.

There's plenty to see on Carnegie's Main Street.

New shops and old shops sit side by side. Turquoise-painted lampposts mark the little bridge, and visitors soon will be able to look up and gaze at a giant.

A sign will be installed on the side of the Husler Building that will remind people that Carnegie is Honus Wagner's hometown.

The sign's location couldn't be better because the building is home to the Historical Society of Carnegie and the Honus Wagner Museum.

Inside the museum are treasures connected with the baseball legend, who played much of his career from 1897 to 1917 with the Pirates. The sign is a magnification of the first Honus Wagner baseball card. The sign was designed and created by Vital Signs, a local business, and supported by the Carnegie Arts Initiative, an organization formed to promote arts and artists.

“We want to bring art into public spaces,” said Bob Podurgiel, who serves as the group's treasurer. “Art changes people's perceptions of the town.”

Four years ago, the sunflower paintings were installed on another side of the society's building. Harry Demel hand painted the panels, coated them with acrylic to withstand the weather, and had the pieces framed and bolted to the wall. Demel called it a “movable mural.”

In addition, a sunflower garden nurtured by rainwater runoff from the roof was planted. The project was funded by a grant from Pennsylvania-American Water Co., Podurgiel said.

One project generated the other, and Vital Signs took the Wagner design submitted by the historical society to its staff. It was enlarged, printed on vinyl material, adhered it to a metal backing and laminated to protect it from the sun. Steve Burkett, one of the owners of the company, anticipates its placement on the building at the end of June or early July.

It's a part of Dan McGrogan's plans to attract people to the history inside the building by “freshening it.”

McGrogan took over the directorship of the society when his mother, Marcella, its founder, retired.

The Wagner sign is only a hint of all of the items in the museum, which contains photographs, clippings and cards from the former Pirate's illustrious career. Many of the items had their first home in the Elks Lodge, where Wagner had been a lifelong member. When the Elks found there wasn't enough space to display the items, they gave them to the museum to exhibit. The Wagner artifacts now are in their own room, ready for a morning of browsing by any baseball fan.

That was enough for the five-person arts initiative board to get involved in the sign project. Its membership also supports those involved in film and music. September's jazz concert will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Carnegie, and the proceeds will be used for music lessons for children there. In its third year in Carnegie, The New Works Festival will bring playwrights from all over the world to the borough.

“For six weeks, we're a very cosmopolitan town,” Podurgiel said.

Dona S. Dreeland is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-388-5803 or ddreeland@tribweb.com

Which One Of These Cars Has Almost 200,000 Miles?

Come On...Take A Guess!

 

If you guessed the one on the top AND the bottom, you are correct! Struggling to stay alive and living on it's second transmission (the car), Steve wrestled with a big decision. Do we wish the car well and send it off to the automotive grave yard...or do we breathe new life into it? Well let's see... new car payment or continue to save for our once-in-a-lifetime gourmet vacation? 

Well, as you can see, we chose the latter. And just like a mid-life crisis, Steve is sporting a new, swanky 2003 Honda Accord. Yes, I said a 2003 Honda Accord. The vinyl we used for this excellent color change wrap, is an Arlon Vinyl in an Aztec Bronze color. 

To Make Things Interesting..

We decided to use a contrasting Carbon Fiber Black colored vinyl for the hood. The cool thing about this Arlon Vinyl and others like it, is that there is a real, tactile texture to the vinyl. Not only does it look (as our kids say)..."Sweet", it gives a neat reflecting movement in the sun. 

Quick, Call The Wrap Medics!

  

It was touch and go for awhile, but thanks to the certified skill sets of the Vital Signs Team ( Adam, Bob and Ed), Steve's new sporty ride came through just fine. 

Details Matter!

 

 

Attention-to-detail is always important, but this is especially true when considering a Color Wrap. While a color wrap can be a less expensive option than a new paint job (depending upon the quality of the paint job), the end result should be just as professional. Of course, the end result will also depend upon the condition of the vehicle to begin with. Adam did lots of body work to the rhythm of fill, sand and repeat. 

We Can Do It For Your Car Too!

Let's face it, we get tired of our cars like our cell phones. We want the newest, latest and greatest version. But if it still runs perfectly fine and you're just tired of the color (or maybe you want to protect the finish of a brand new car), then Vital Signs can help! Allow us to introduce you to some vinyls that will blow you away. Prismatic, cobra texture, or color-changing, we have a selection that will make you feel like a kid in a candy store.

Call Us Today So We Can Wrap About The Possibilities!!

 

It's All About The Color...

Well, That Depends

Did you ever go to a car dealer in search of a new vehicle and find the right model, but the wrong color? Or maybe the dealer offered you a great deal on the funky colored edition that no one will buy..yes, many of us have been there done that.

But Vital Signs has a solution for you. Car wraps are no longer just for displaying graphics and marketing text. One of the newest vehicle crazes in the signage industry, is what we in the industry call, a " Color Wrap ", or more simply, Vehicle Color Change.

In some markets, this new product offering is called 'automotive restyling '. Whether you wish to wrap your 'old faithful ' set of wheels to make it look new or you simply want to protect the paint job on your new vehicle, color change wraps are exploding in popularity.

Like It's Been Dipped In Vinyl

The time and attention that is given to a color change wrap is much more detailed than a commercial wrap. Care is given to wrap each and every surface of the vehicle. The car is broken down by removing side mirrors, lights, and handles. Each and every panel is wrapped.

Because of the rapid growth in the vehicle restyling arena, vinyl manufacturers are quickly being driven to produce a variety of new vinyl colors with unique finishes. Equally, the vinyls have strict performance criteria that must allow them to perform on the car in a way that makes them appear and function as if they are a beautiful paint job.

 

Not To Worry..

If you didn't get the car color that you really wanted or your old set of wheels is demanding new life, Vital Signs can help! Our certified wrap installers can wrap and re-new your car's exterior surface just like new!

Why Paint When You Can Wrap!

Vital Signs Offers Residential Products!

RE-SI-DEN-TIAL Products??

Yes! Bet you didn’t know that Vital Signs offers products that have to do with decorating someone’s living space? Think Again.

One of the things that I particularly enjoy about the sign and graphics business that we are in, is our ability to design & produce many creative applications.

When Steve (my husband & Vital Signs Co-Owner) & I sprinted into ‘ Empty Nesterhood ‘, we decided to sell our big house & buy a condo. One of the things that I thought might be fun is to infuse various art applications that we have the ability to design and produce in our business, into our home decorating space.

What Kind Of Design Applications?

We began this process by finding decorative artwork that we would like to display in our home. There are many stock art sites online which allow individuals or businesses to purchase a digital art file(s) at a very affordable price. Even taking one’s personal photographs or sketches can become custom art, like we did below. There are various printing media choices that Vital Signs offers in which to print the designs on. For instance, we could have chosen a poster paper-type media to print on, put the print in a frame & hung it on the wall.

A Touch of Pittsburgh!

Or we might have chosen one of our newer self-adhesive fabric medias, which is an easy re-positional, peel & stick type. This media can be moved, re-used and is a wonderful choice for apartment dwellers and those who do not wish to make nail-holes in their walls.

However, what we chose for a few different art pieces in our home, was to print on canvas. Canvas now comes in multiple textures and finishes which allows for interesting effects. We simply stretched the canvas across a frame & then installed the art piece .

Glass Art ~ Picture taken at Phipps Conservatory

Forever Blowing Bubbles!

Custom Wallpaper, Too?

One of the popular trends with wallpaper, is to create a “focal wall”. That is, to apply wallpaper to one wall within a room to highlight it for effect. With this in mind, we chose a downstairs bathroom to apply our dramatic birch tree design to one wall. For a mural, wall wrap or custom wallpaper, Vital Signs has a few materials to choose from. We can use traditional wallpaper (which does require wallpaper glue & some type of lamination or over-protection). We can also use the above-mentioned peel & stick fabric media or even a low-tack removable vinyl, which is what we chose for our bathroom. If we get tired of it or want to try a different design, we simply peel it off the wall. So easy and no raw fingertips, broken nails or bad language involved.

Our Bathroom Birch Trees

What Else Can You Make?

I had always wanted to create a wall collage paying tribute to Steve’s alma-mater, West Point. So I chose the perfect living room wall space in which to do this. I started with his very large, framed college diploma. I surrounded the diploma with a lovely West Point plate on one side and an artist-commissioned irreverent metal donkey bust (the Army Mascot) wearing a ” Go Army “ scarf on the other side. I then added the Vital Signs-produced coup de grace design element to the top of the grouping, a room-matching engraved sign with the humorous, yet serious message, ” Eat, Drink and Beat Navy “!

EAT, DRINK & BEAT NAVY!!

Every room should be so fun!

Our most recent Vital Signs-generated design contribution is a frosted vinyl window application that we (Steve) applied. Our condo design includes a tall, slender window which lives above a stairway landing. It has always looked rather lonely. Off to the stock art sites I went in search of the perfect design. I was able to find a very simple, meandering bamboo tree design. Frosted vinyl is a neat application. It can give any window or glass door an expensive and custom etched glass look. There are two types of frosted vinyl that we use. One is a matte type, while the other includes very subtle sparkles which delicately twinkle when the sun shines through them.

A Touch of Bamboo

Steve may have just thought that the remodeling & ” honey-do ” list would shrink because our living space did. Au contraire..  not with all of the many custom design capabilities at Vital Signs.

Got It..

So the message here is that Vital Signs can do this for you too! We pride ourselves on our creativity and ‘ thinking outside of the box ‘ (or architectural space) ideas. But those creative ideas are not limited to use in only commercial spaces. One-of-a-kind art pieces and design applications don’t have to break the bank!

The next time you are thinking about the design prospects for your work or home living space, keep Vital Signs in mind. We are happy to brainstorm all of your creative and one-of-a-kind design possibilities!