Achieving Coast to Coast Consistency with Caldera
Been to the Super Bowl in recent years? Watched the Grammys or the Academy Awards on television? The chances are you’ve seen graphics created by CGS – Creative Graphic Services. Supplying a range of graphic services to highly-visible entertainment events all over the United States, CGS places a premium on being able to provide quality and consistency to the most demanding of clients. We spoke to Jersey City General Manager Kyle Niner about how CGS hits the sweet spot for the live events industry.
Bringing Family Values to Big Business
You won’t find names bigger than the Super Bowl, the Grammys or the Academy Awards, but CGS started as a small family business 45 years ago, and has held onto those family values ever since. Everything they do is underpinned with a commitment to the company mantra: if we do things the right way, we will get the right results. This encompasses not only investing in the technology that allows them to create outstanding graphics but also the way in which they build relationships with their clients based on exceptional customer service.
The company has expanded from its original 1,200 square foot shop to more than 27,000 feet of state-of-the-art printshops located in Los Angeles and Jersey City. General Manager Kyle Niner explains what the company offers: “We provide event entertainment graphics for the experiential and live events industry. That can be anything from backdrops and banners to exhibit and retail graphics to vehicle and even building wraps – anything or everything that you might see at a big live event.”
One example of the sort of events CGS facilitates is the Super Bowl, which they’ve been supplying graphics to for more than 30 years. “We do most of the graphics for the Super Bowl Experience,” says Kyle. “This is a fan-facing NFL theme park, incorporating autograph signings, games and meet-and-greet events that happen for a couple of weeks leading up to the Super Bowl in the host city. We also do a range of graphics for other NFL activations on the weekend itself.”
Equipped for Anything
CGS has built up an impressive fleet of printers and finishing equipment to ensure that the company can supply whatever its clients might need. They can print on a wide range of materials, up to 10 feet wide for dye sublimation and 16 feet wide on Grand Format – and they can do larger custom jobs if required.
One area of recent growth the company has seen is in textile printing, particularly in Jersey City and the Northeast. “We’re doing more silicone edge graphics, wall wraps, fabricated set flats for red carpets and photo ops,” says Kyle. “We can also provide pop-up banners, trade show graphics, pillows and flags.”
Consistency is Key
To cover so many applications on such a wide range of media demands quite an inventory. One key concern for the business is maintaining consistency of quality and colors over so many devices in two locations – which is where Caldera comes into the picture.
“We’ve been using Caldera RIP software for about 10 to 15 years, and we’re very happy with it. We like the customizability it offers. Our print operators are constantly changing their individual preferences in color management, and Caldera caters to this. It allows us to achieve overall color management consistency over both locations, which is pretty important to us. Other benefits include ease of use – it has a really user-friendly interface. Caldera allows us to keep our offerings at a consistently high quality,” Kyle tells us.
Watch This Space!
As the pandemic loosens its grip on the live events industry, CSG is looking forward to a busy 2022. “We’ve just finished up with a lot of music festivals, including doing the graphics for Made in America in Philadelphia,” says Kyle. “We’re just now starting to get into the Super Bowl work, and Broadway is coming back in New York, which is exciting – we’re starting to do some theatre front posters for windows, doors and marquees. Experiential events are coming back finally as well – we create pop-up activations for guests to come through and experience products hands-on.”
So look around next time you’re at a live event somewhere or going to the theatre in New York – you can bet that CGS will have done some or all of the graphics.
Visit www.caldera.com for more information.