Or How to Erect a Mini Billboard. – Part 2

Welcome to part two of “How to Erect a Mini Billboard” using your vinyl banner.

We have already covered steps one and two about keeping your vinyl banner level and making sure you get it as high as possible. This week I will cover the third and in my opinion, just as important step “How to tie your Vinyl Banner”.

I will assume you have already have an appropriate location in mind, one with high visibility, and plenty of passing traffic and somewhere where your local council won’t take your vinyl banner down for you – unannounced.

What we want to achieve is a way of tying your banner so it won’t sag over time. There is no point in going to the trouble of making sure it is the right height off the ground and that it is nice and level if it sags within 24 hours of your putting there in the first place.

I usually use nylon rope to tie up my vinyl banners, it is cheap and very strong. I tie the rope to the eyelets in each corner of my banner making a small loop that goes through the eyelet rather than not it directly. This allows the eyelet some degree of freedom to move and it helps prevent the banner scrunching up in the corners.

Most of the banners I use personally are the temporary Billboard style that you see while driving down a road. The one pictured above is my $99 banner, the size being 1800mm x 600mm, you can see that this size can be very effective (see my previous post).

I look for two trees about a third further apart than the width of my vinyl banner (so in this case about 2.4 metres apart), I want them to be angled in such a way that they will allow the banner to face the on coming traffic squarely at about 100-150 metres. This is allows my banner to come into maximum view while it is at a range where it will catch the eye as well as able to be read.

To make certain that your banner remains neat and easy to read, tie your ropes so they split the corner of you banner. Imagine your banner was on a “Rack” and you wanted to stretch it in all four directions at once. This helps keep your banner surface flat, exposing the maximum message potential of your vinyl banner in the clearest manner possible. If it sags without your holding it or a wind pressing against it, chances are that it needs to be tighter or the ropes need to be spread further apart. (see last weeks post)

As I said I tie my banners along road ways, and usually to trees. My favourite trees for this use are one solid sturdy tree with a younger flexible, partner (a bit like life really – however I digress).

Tying you banner between these two types of trees allows you to load the smaller tree a little. This not only acts as a shock absorber in a high wind, it will help keep your vinyl banner looking neat and tidy as a result of the gentle pressure being applied by the smaller tree. This is very important to keep getting the most from your investment over a period of weeks.

I hope this helps you get the maximum from your banner, if you gave any thoughts or need some help, email me or leave a comment on the blog. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Cheers

Steve