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If you’ve strolled through the New York City Theatre District and gazed at all the marquees, billboards, wall displays, flags and banners, then chances are you’ve seen the creative handiwork of King Displays Inc. The Manhattan, N.Y.-based graphics house now outputs about 90 percent of all the Broadway show signage being produced.
King Displays opened for business 71 years as a photo shop; farming out film and negatives to a contractor. In the 1990s the company decided to bring the printing in-house, and in that time, has expanded into wide-format digital printing.
“Our motto has been that we are always ready to deliver any job, and we are consistently able to meet our clients’ expectations for top image quality in the fastest turnaround time,” said Wayne Sapper, president of King Displays Inc.
”Most of our clients provide us artwork, but the jobs themselves can have as little as five working days to print, install, and be ready to go by opening night. Sometimes it can get a little hectic, but we always get it done before the curtain goes up,” he added with a smile.
“We will like to keep our clients in the loop throughout the entire project, from its inception to its completion. It is our goal to give them everything they need to meet their deadlines and to ensure that are totally satisfied when the work is complete,” he said.
Sapper explained that theatre jobs can be printed on a wide variety of substrates and media, from vinyl to backlit to fabrics. He reported that color is a critical element when working with different forms of media.
“Matching colors across various media and applications is one of the things that we are famous for. Consistency can be difficult thing to achieve. Some types of signage, such as banners, are really meant to be viewed in daylight, while others, like backlit signage, are viewed in evening hours. So getting the color and quality of the image right is essential,” he said.
Currently the shop has in house a number of HP printers including an HP Scitex XL1500. The company recently relocated to a new two-floor location at 333 West 52nd St. With the move they purchased and installed the EFI VUTEk QS3200 flatbed and roll-to-roll UV printer with the heavy duty winder and vacuum table.