Printed Banner Mesh - Scentre Group by Mesh Direct

How Branded Banners Can Help Your Business

October 04, 2017 / in Blog / by Helen Scheuerer / No Comments

If there’s one thing we’re incredibly passionate about here at Mesh Direct, it’s branded banners and helping clients build their construction business. Using branded banners is a fantastic way of cementing your business’s reputation in high regard, as well as increasing your brand awareness with potential new clients.

People often underestimate the versatility and benefits of branded banner, but here’s how you can optimise your company’s reach using these simple and affordable products.

1. Use professional artwork

No matter what type of branded banner material you choose (premium banner mesh, standard banner mesh, wind mesh or shade cloth, to name a few), it’s vital that your artwork looks professional.

For those of you who have an in-house designer, be sure that your logo and company colours are high resolution and crisp, and that the dimensions of the artwork are to the material’s specifications.

If artwork is not your strong suit, we highly suggest you take advantage of our in-house design services, so you can be sure that your branded banner mesh does your construction business justice. There’s no point in using branded banner mesh if you don’t represent your brand well through the artwork the banner features.

2. Utilise high traffic areas

If you’ve got a development or construction site that features temporary fencing along a heavily trafficked road, this is a great place to feature your branded banner.

These areas are great for exposing your brand and message to a new audience, as well as creating some familiarity with your brand among the general public.

Statistics show that it takes numerous encounters with a brand’s message for the average consumer to start trusting the business. Branded banners are a great way of getting eyes on your company and the incredible work you do.

3. Include your details

One common mistake we see made time and time again when it comes to banner mesh designs is the lack of company details included in the artwork. At the very least, you need to include your company website, so that any interested parties who have seen your signage know how to get in touch.

All too often the benefits of using branded banners are lost due to silly mistakes like missing details. Where possible, be sure to include a website and phone number at the very least, in addition to your company logo and colour scheme.

For more information branded banners, be sure to check out our product range here, or give our experts a call on 1300 368 978.

Building Wrap for Gowings Building Sydney by Mesh Direct

Building Wraps: Changing the Face of Construction

September 11, 2017 / in Blog / by Helen Scheuerer / No Comments

Here at Mesh Direct, we’re always looking for ways to reinvent the wheel when it comes to construction and development sites, and one product we’re incredibly proud of is our building wraps. Building wraps were originally more common in Europe, where at world-renowned tourist attractions, buildings needed repairs and maintenance but the local governments didn’t want to lose the tourism revenue. From Switzerland and Paris to Florence and London, using a building wrap became the solution that many organisations came to rely on.

This meant that things like scaffolding, equipment and unsightly construction sites were not such an eyesore in areas so heavily populated by tourists (and their cameras!). While construction and renovation work is often necessary, it’s not necessary that the building’s aesthetic suffers in the process.

A building wrap is essentially a large-scale canvas that acts as a ‘skin’ around the structure of a building. Whatever the look of the building’s facade, one of the massive benefits of using building wraps is they leave a truly memorable and magnificent impression on anyone who lays eyes on them.

Mesh Direct’s building wraps can be customised for each job, and can feature any artwork required. Some organisations (like in the tourism industry for example) opt to replicate the building’s structure on the wrap, so that at first glance, the building looks completely in tact. Other companies choose to add more colour to their skylines by featuring nature scenes – forests, flowers and animals to pique the interest of passersby.

Another popular option is to showcase advertising. Often construction and development sites are a missed opportunity to gain exposure for your business and services. Usually the structures where building wraps are utilised are in high traffic areas, which means there are plenty of people passing by to advertise to.

We’ve provided some big name brands with building wraps and development signage over the years, and pride ourselves on the outstanding quality of our products. Our building wraps boast sharp, effective print reproduction, making them ideal for use on high-rise buildings and developments. We’ve also got an in-house design team who have a real knack for creating impressive graphics for large scale signage in case you wanted assistance with creating your featured artwork.

Whatever your vision for your building wrap, Mesh Direct can bring your idea to life. We have the experience, the expertise and the equipment to take your dream from concept to reality. We’re able to offer a large range of options to our clients from direct to facade, applied to scaffolding or hoarding, temporary framing or a more permanent system. Mesh Direct can even wrap enormous windows or apply cut out vinyls, it’s completely up to you as our client.

For more information on how building wraps can work for your business or new development, be sure to contact Mesh Direct on 1300 368 978.

Case Study: Meriton

September 10, 2017 / in Blog / by Helen Scheuerer / No Comments

Mesh Direct was approached by Meriton to assist them with a large scale development and building wrap. Founded in 1963, Meriton is now Australia’s biggest residential apartment developer.

More than 70,000 apartments have been developed, designed and built by Meriton across Australia’s east coast. Additionally, Meriton is responsible for some of the highest residential towers in the Gold Coast, Sydney and Brisbane.

Naturally, Meriton has an impressive portfolio and offers sales and leasing, as well as property and strata management services. Meriton’s luxury accommodation brand Meriton Serviced Apartments spans across more than thirteen locations country-wide.

When Meriton began to develop their latest large scale construction site, they came to Mesh Direct for solutions to their scaffolding and high-rise development needs.

After much communication with the established brand, Mesh Direct provided the organisation with premium banner mesh in the form of north and south facing banners across the development.

Mesh Direct organised the design and printing of the large-scale banners for the high rise building and scaffolding. The building wrap was created and then transported to the construction site.

We had to use Ropetek and abseiling techniques in order to install the massive banners.

During the installation process, challenges arose due to the significant winds plaguing Parramatta at the time. While premium banner mesh offers great wind durability, the conditions were extreme and Mesh Direct worked extra diligently to provide Meriton with solutions to these unforeseen issues and challenges.

The result of this project was an impressive building wrap that withstood both the test of time and the blustering conditions of the high velocity winds.

Mesh Direct has maintained an ongoing relationship with the Meriton brand, and have since been commissioned to provide banner mesh for another large scale development.

If you’re interested to see how building wraps and large scale printing can work for your development, get in touch with us here.

Printed Shade Cloth: Your Budget Friendly Solution

July 17, 2017 / in Blog / by Helen Scheuerer / No Comments

This post delves into the affordable and practical nature of Printed Shade Cloth at Mesh Direct.

When it comes to creating effective printed signage, most businesses have one thing in common: budgets. Unfortunately, budgets rule the majority of our business decisions, including what we’re able to print!

Luckily, Mesh Direct offers plenty of options for printed shade cloth and printed signage for those who need to be a little conservative with their purse strings. Printed shade cloth, otherwise known as ‘scrim’ is an affordable and useful option for small and large businesses alike.

Most commonly used in the construction industry to cover temporary fencing around unsightly development sites, printed shade cloth has a number of benefits for just a fraction of the price of its more premium counterparts.

Our printed shade cloth is crafted from a permeable substrate, making it the ideal solution for your advertising and branding needs while on a budget. It’s built to withstand the harsh Australian weather as well, and allows large wind loads to flow through with ease.

We always we recommend that our clients make the most of the advertising opportunity that comes with any temporary fence covering by printing their business logo or details onto the printed shade cloth. The print reproduction is good quality, and makes for a welcome distraction and an impressive branding option when it comes to revamping your temporary or permanent fencing around a site.

As we’re all about budgets meeting practicality, and ensuring that our customers are always 100% satisfied, we offer numerous shade cloth options: unprinted, partially printed or fully printed shade cloth in lengths of 50 metre rolls.

Mesh Direct’s printed shade cloth is crafted from knitted monofilament polythene, making it durable and only has a stretch factor of around 2-3%. This ensures that your sign won’t droop over time after your installation. With a density of 70%, our shade cloth boasts a great print quality, that doesn’t lose the benefits of its substrate permeability and its wind load versatility.

This type of material is generally used in longer runs where there isn’t much room for wind forces to escape.

to handle wind. Shade cloth is most commonly used in longer runs where there is not much room for wind forces to escape. This isn’t a problem as our printed shade cloth is well suited to windy areas.

Mesh Direct has a great logistics network and therefore can produce large orders of shade cloth and can usually guarantee the delivery of your banners within 10 days from the date of payment confirmation and/or artwork approval. All of our shade cloth banners, both printed and unprinted are only available in 50 metre rolls with a minimum order of 2 rolls.

Why You Should Have Festival and Events Signage and Banners

May 07, 2017 / in Blog / by Helen Scheuerer / No Comments

Here at Mesh Direct, we specialise in large format festival and events signage. We’ve got over a decade’s worth of experience in the industry, and have worked with numerous music festivals and sporting events on a regular basis. Which is why we understand the importance of using this type of signage and banners. Have you heard about large format printing for events but don’t know if it’s right for you?

Let’s dive into three reasons why you should have signage and banners at your next festival or event…

1. Take advantage of advertising space

With signage and banners across your event site, you can take advantage of otherwise under utilised, high value advertising space. From mesh banner fencing, stage signage and crowd control barriers, we can guarantee there’s definitely room for advertising your brand.

Our numerous mesh products and fencing options allow you to make the absolute most of these areas. Products like mesh banners allow you to put advertising in places where you wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity. These areas are usually in high traffic, high exposure positions, which helps get as many sets of eyes on your branding as possible.

2. Create a uniform look across your site

Another advantage to using festival and events signage and banners around your site is that they create a uniform aesthetic which looks both impressive and professional. Tying the look of an event together with uniform branding across all signage solutions is a great way to get your business’ name out there.

However, in addition, a uniform aesthetic also makes your brand, your event and/or your festival more reputable. It potentially provides you with the opportunity to reach new audiences, and potentially new clients.

3. Brand awareness

On a similar note, another reason you should have festival and events signage and banners is to create brand awareness for your company and/or product.

Utilising otherwise under-utilised, high traffic areas for your branded signage and banners can help create awareness of your festival or event with an entirely new audience.

Festival and Events Signage Recommendations

So, as Mesh-experts, what products do we recommend that you use in order to create the best possible results with your festival and events signage?

We recommend using a winning combination of our most popular products across your entire event. These products include: premium mesh banners, crowd control barriers, mesh fence panels and media walls.

The draw card for festivals and events are that they’re entire experiences, and our products can help that experience be more uniform and wholesome for all involved.

If you’d like more information on how Mesh Direct can help you master your festival and events signage, be sure to drop us a line here, or give us a call on 1300 368 978.

How-to: Prepare Your Own Banner Design

April 05, 2017 / in Blog / by Helen Scheuerer / No Comments

Here at Mesh Direct, we’re naturally big believers in the power of large format printing and the magic of a good banner design. We do everything we can to ensure our clients’ banners are as aesthetically pleasing and as effective as possible before we go to print. Because of our insider knowledge of the print industry and our decade’s worth of experience working with printers and designers from all walks of life, we thought we’d give a new ‘How To’ guide, this time, we’re looking at how you can prepare your own banner design in order to get the best possible results… Here’s what you need to know…

When supplying logos for banner design…

A common mistake made by businesses supplying print companies with artwork is not supplying the right logo files. Any artwork (logos included) should be supplied to the printer as a vector image. This sort of file is supplied as the following: .eps, .ai or as a .pdf

It’s vital that the business provides the right file type in this case, or they risk not getting the job done on time or the having the print job turn out incorrectly.

If you’re ever in doubt about whether or not your files are compatible and accurate, always check with your printer before approving the job.

Don’t include printer marks

Another common error made by businesses approaching printers with their banner designs is that they include premade printer marks. What do we mean by printer marks? Printers marks include bleed marks, crop marks and colour bars.

Including these can cause confusion for your printer.

Know your artboard size

For Mesh Direct’s printing services, we require artboard sizes to be set at 10% of the full print size. So for example, a 50m x 1.6m banner should be set up at 5000mm x 160mm. Remember that we don’t require crop marks, bleed or colour bars.

Like most printers, we ask that you only provide one artboard per file.

Get your colours right

For those of you who aren’t particularly familiar with artwork specifications for print, you’ll need to use CMYK. All of your files need to be converted to CMYK in order to be used on your printed banner.

Have your fonts ready

Remember when you’re preparing your banner design for print that all your fonts should be entirely legible and should suit your brand aesthetic. You also need to be sure that the fonts are outlined or that the font files are supplied to the printer.

Many people assume that getting the fonts right is the easy part of printing, but it isn’t always that simple. Think long and hard about the fonts you’re using and if they’re the best solution for your banner design.

Imagery should be hi-res

If you’re keen to include images and photographs on your banner design, you need to ensure that these images and photographs are high-resolution and need to be supplied at 300dpi.

For more artwork specifications when it comes to preparing your banner design for printing, check out our instructional videos here.

How-To: Use Contrasting Colours On Your Mesh Fencing

April 04, 2017 / in Blog / by Helen Scheuerer / No Comments

When it comes to creating artwork for your mesh banners, we know not everyone is an artist or graphic designer. While we have an expert art department on hand at all times, we thought we’d share some insights into what makes great banner art, and how you can make your branded mesh products as eye-catching and impressive as possible.

One of the most commonly tried and tested techniques our designers themselves use is using contrasting colours. Contrast is something that should be featured on every design, no matter what it’s purpose is. Contrasting helps determine a hierarchy within the graphic, and shows the viewer which part of the image is the most important (usually the name of your brand, your logo or your website).

However, more than just making your brand name stand out, using contrasting colours within artwork creates layers of interest, and generally makes your artwork more aesthetically appealing.

So for those of you who aren’t artistically inclined, here’s a little breakdown on how you can use contrasting colours in different ways to make your brand’s mesh banner pop…

1. Use light and dark

When it comes to contrasting colours, this is probably the option that most people think of first: contrasting light and dark colours. For example: white and black, light blue and dark red, light coloured text on a dark background or dark text on a light coloured background.

This is definitely one way of making your brand’s logo or message stand out, and a method that is used to great effect with mesh banners and mesh fencing.

This technique helps make different aspects of your design more visible than others, and can be incredibly eye-catching, particularly in high traffic areas such as sidewalks and when featured on high rise buildings.

Our premium mesh banners have a fantastic print resolution that makes working with these types of colour contrasts incredibly simple and effective.

2. Play with temperature

When it comes to design, all colours are separated into three different groups based on their ‘temperature’: warm, cool and neutral. It’s obvious to some, but colours like reds, yellows and oranges are on the warm side, whereas blues and greens are categorised as warm colours. Finally, white, black and grey are considered neutral.

You can contrast the intensity of the same temperatures, or alternatively, contrast with warm and cool colours. It’s completely up to you and what suits the aesthetic of your business and brand.

Playing with contrasting temperature colours is another great way to create visually appealing branding for your business. You want to utilise the advertising opportunity that banner mesh offers, and using colour in clever ways is the ideal solution to making your mesh fencing as striking as possible.

Both our premium banner mesh and our standard banner mesh options are particularly suited to printing stunning, full colour designs on.

3. Experiment with monochromatic colours

Here’s where things start to get a little technical, but don’t worry, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. Using monochromatic colours essentially just means using the same colour of varying intensities. So you might use a range of different shades of blue, or a range of different shades of red.

This is probably the least popular of the three options, as it doesn’t always have the same intensity or impact as light & dark or contrasting temperature, however it’s still a good choice to consider when questioning your brand’s aesthetic.

No matter how you choose to use contrasting colour, Mesh Direct’s in-house design team and art department can help you achieve a sleek and professional look for your branded mesh products. Whether it’s for an event or a construction site, you can rest assured that you’re in good hands.

For more information on how we can make banner mesh and mesh fencing work for you and your business, don’t hesitate to give our sales team a call on 1300 368 978.

How to Create a USP for Your Construction Business

November 01, 2016 / in Blog / by Doodles / No Comments

A USP (unique selling proposition) is the basis of effective marketing for any construction business, converting features of your company into key benefits that consumers will recognise. All aspects of your marketing system should pinpoint to your unique selling proposition; for customers to detect why you are different and better than the rest. Every business can benefit from having a USP, particularly new business owners. USPs help clientele identify your company as a reliable and professional source, contributing to profit.

A clear and creative USP will establish your business as the go-to business as the go-to resource for your clients needs and should be advertised in your website or printed banners with and eye-catching, easy to follow design; including testimonials and relevant images of your work. This reinforces who you are and what you do, generating reviews and referrals that will potentially lead to loyal clients. Your USP is what drives your company and ultimately the success of the business. All based around differentiation, USP’s require a reflection overview and discussion.

Questions that you should ask yourself are:
1. What characteristics and values does my business offer to construct a USP?
2. What makes my business more valuable and visible than your competitors in this highly ambitious market?

Although, for consumers to really grasp the concept of your USP, converting the features into benefits is key. This way they will understand what your service or product does, but also what they will gain from it; creating a better customer client relationship, therefore generating a sales lead. One way of forming a USP is to research your competitors and identify what they have to offer. This could give you a useful insight into their attitudes, politics and priorities. It is healthy competition, allowing all businesses to create and distinguish their very own USP, leading to a competitive advantage and greater profitability.

One of the most harmful things for a new business owner is not proposing a unique and creative selling proposition to their target audience, and researching their competitors to try and achieve this. In these selling points, besides from the obvious – ‘What do you offer and why are you different?’, you should talk about different angles of customers possible concerns or questions. This way you are tackling the situation head on, giving them all the information they need. Promotional and price strategies are always going to be the most common in the competitive market. However, the quality of the product or service you are promoting allows you to have a huge advantage; this adheres to the recognition or product recall of the company. When your objectives are clear and concise, your primary mechanism for your USP should include all forms of advertising on social media, local papers, and outdoor advertising.

With a USP you can expect to see changes form both the external and internal structure of the company. Generating more leads, trust and loyalty from your customers as they believe you are the best person to provide them with what they need. Internal changes include, more confident and focused staff members, which leads to a better planning system.

Use your unique selling proposition effectively, consistently and you are sure to see the results.

Mesh Direct are the leading suppliers of printed banners for the construction industry. We help construction businesses get their message and brand out there to generate much needed business. To find out more about our printed banners, please call us on 1300 368 978 to speak to one of our friendly team members or fill in an enquiry form here.

Which grand format print solution is best for my building site or outdoor event?

May 20, 2015 / in Blog / by Mesh Direct / No Comments

With advances in print technology and substrates the construction and event industries have been taking advantage of free advertising and branding opportunities on a grand scale. Building signage and outdoor event banners have been growing steadily in popularity as marketers look for cost effective ways of spreading their message.

Construction sites and property subdivisions need to have erected fence panels around their sites for security and dust protection. The fences tend to border roads giving great exposure to passing motorists and pedestrians. Organisers of musical events and sporting events also need erect temporary fencing for security and crowd control creating huge canvases for advertising their own or other brands.

Fence Advertising and Building Site Signs represent fantastic value for money branding opportunities. These days printing is not expensive, certainly not compared to other ways of spending marketing dollars to build brand recognition. Banner mesh, printed shade cloth and vinyl banners all offer different solutions and varying aesthetic results.

So, which printed banner material is right for your project?
With a variety of printed banner materials available, a little product knowledge and consideration of the key selection criteria of cost, print quality, longevity and durability can assist you to select a printed banner material that is ideal for your brief.

PRINTED SHADE CLOTH

Printed shade cloth is a budget solution which yields a high impact result. Shade cloth is a permeable substrate which allows wind to easily pass through. It is made from knotted monofilament high-density polyethylene which makes it a strong and durable substrate. Otherwise known as scrim, fence mesh or fence fabric signage is attached to scaffolding, temporary fences, chain wire fences or building facades. Shade cloth provides a good print quality whilst allowing wind flow with an expected lifespan of 12-24 months if handled and installed correctly.

Printed shade cloth is ideal for printing logos and text or block colours. Plain writing on a single coloured background works best. This type of scrim can make colours look washed out. The mesh material is very porous so imagine that you are printing on 50% material – 50% air. Black can look grey, dark blue will look mid blue. It is not recommended to print intricate images, logos or photographs as they do not reproduce well.

Shade cloth can be re-used but it can look a little tired if not installed properly and tensioned. It is possible to wash any dirt off with water although care must be taken not to use high pressure cleaners too closely as it may remove the inks.

The disadvantages of shade cloth are that the design really needs to good to make the brand or message jump off the substrate.. It does need very good installation and maintenance if is to look good as it can tend to get a little loose and billowy. Shade cloth only comes in 50m rolls at 1.8 high.

BANNER MESH

Banner mesh is the most popular product used within the printed banner industry with its high print quality and durability. It is less permeable than shade cloth and delivers great print reproduction whilst allowing for wind flow. Printed banner mesh, also known as PVC-coated mesh, fence fabric, mesh banner and shade mesh is a versatile substrate which can be used on temporary fences, scaffolding, cyclone fences, billboards, wooden hoarding, containers and just about any application. The PVC coating allows the inks to be very well absorbed. Banner mesh has a guaranteed lifespan of 12 months although it is not uncommon to get up to 5 years use from banners. Like shade cloth, banner mesh is easy to install with cable ties. New nylon supertuff seatbelt style webbing ensures banner mesh is durable and can withstand heavy winds without tearing.
At Mesh Direct generally sell two types of PVC mesh banner, our budget solution which is 9 threads per inch, and our premium solution which is 12 threads per inch. High wind-load and fire rated mesh is also available.

Budget mesh is terrific substrate for photo quality image reproduction at an economical price. It is priced just slightly more than shade cloth and the print result is a great deal better. 9 by 9 banner mesh is also finished with supertuff webbing on the edges.

VINYL BANNERS

Vinyl banners, otherwise known as PVC banners produce a photo quality print result with its non porous solution. This has its advantages in the fantastic print reproduction but can limit the size of the vinyl banner because of stress loads from wind. Vinyl banners are ideal for building sites and in particular timber hoardings.

*NEW* POLY MESH BANNERS
Poly mesh banners deliver a high quality print result at a low cost which is ideal for festivals and events. Poly mesh banners are the best printed banner solution for short term purposes as its lifespan is the lowest of all printed banner materials available at Mesh Direct.

ABOUT MESH DIRECT

At Mesh Direct we are a truly national business delivering all over Australia. All our products are printed in Australia using the finest substrate and inks on the market. Please give us a call on 1300 368 798 for a no obligation quotation for your next project.

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New Zealand’s leader in grand format printing and out-of-home advertising, supplying printed signage nationwide.

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