Wallscapers

How many of you have made your very own personalized Snowman, Woman, or Animal.  These are just a few of the neighborhood creations.  Notice the stylish clothing and unique foliage arms.  While driving through various communities, my attention is always drawn to a lawn that has a snowman or snow family.  The family usually depicts all the people in the home according to their size and sometimes shape.  I have even seen snowmen sporting their favorite team logos and colors.

It is a fun pastime and something to do outside with the frozen precipitation that has recently blanketed your lawn.  The transformation can be so unique and creative that no 2 are ever alike.  We will have to bundle up next time and get out to see how unique our snow creation can be.  I challenge everyone to think outside the box.  How about a snow bunny, penguin, elephant, turtle, or whatever comes to mind.  We would love to see your favorite snow creation.

Having a business which incorporates a lot of visual stimulus, it became time to add graphics to our vehicles and jazz them up.  Why not promote our business in an affordable and effective manner.  The graphics allowed us to boost our advertising, while reinforcing our company’s brand and identity.  Traveling to new job sites throughout the triangle area would allow us to reach a wider audience than traditional newspaper and TV ads.  We didn’t even have to share our space with other advertisers as we would in ads and mailers.  It just made sense.

We began the process by consulting with our brand design guru, Elena Davis of Galanova.  She gave us a mission to find vehicles that caught our attention.  After a week of looking at a wide variety of graphics we decided that keeping it simple was key.  The bigger the message, the easier it would be for someone to read it.

Elena of Galanova designed the perfect color scheme and layout for us while Charlie Neal of Impact Graphics did the install.  We could not be happier.  Complete strangers often ask us about Wallscapers  in parking lots while others take our information down and call or email us.

If you are in business and want to get more exposure, we suggest you try some vehicle graphics or possibly a wrap to promote your brand and business.  Don’t forget to wave when you see us around town.

Check out the amazing floorcloth that Jerry Tobin of Wallscapers created with the Carolina Creative Artisans chapter.   Not bad for his first try.  Here is a little history on these artistic accents.

Floorcloths, also called painted canvas, oilcloths, and floor canvases, are a part of our American heritage.

It is known that at least three of our President’s have had floorcloths based on the inventories kept on their estates.  George Washington’s was purchased from Roberts and Company in 1796 at a cost of $14.82.  Thomas Jefferson had at least two and John Adams at least one.

Floorcloths became most popular around the turn of the 18^th and 19^th centuries, when many great houses ordered them for their entrance halls.  Smith and Barber of Knightsbridge England did a considerable amount of trade not only in Britain but also exporting floorcloths to America.

The patenting of linoleum by Frederick Walton in 1860 was the start of the decline in floorcloth sales.  The floorcloth industry could not recover after this new alternative to hardwood floors hit the market.

This once flourishing industry has been all but forgotten, mainly because so few examples have survived.  In 1960 artisans wanting to create one of a kind items caused a resurgence in the making of floorcloths.  Breaking away from the conservative motifs they began using bolder colors and patterns.

Today, the desire to preserve and restore the great historic homes has helped to keep this art form alive.