Behind the signs: Genoa Twp-based image360 keeps up with trends
GENOA TWP. — People who have never heard of image360 are likely still familiar with their work.
Countless signs at businesses, schools, hospitals, and residential communities in Livingston County and other communities have something in common: they were made by image360.
Genoa Township-based Image360 owner John Nagel has been in the signage industry long enough to remember the days before digital printing technologies were king. Nagel said the design, fabrication, and installation firm is constantly upgrading.
"The biggest thing is the technology change, from the screen print, one color at a time, to the giant flatbed printer we have back there," Nagel said.
With their screen printing equipment "long gone," the firm is constantly budgeting for large format digital printers, routers that cut acrylic, metal, wood and other materials, and other fancy equipment, some of which can run in the hundred thousands.
The firm also recently added about 2,000 square feet to their studio to create a bay dedicated to wrapping vehicles in imagery, and they sprung for a new utility "bucket truck" used for sign installation.
Signs for numerous local businesses are theirs, including at Simply Fresh Market, D&D Bicycles, Bourbons, and others in the Brighton area. In Howell, you can see their work at 2Fog's Pub, Bramlett Heating and Cooling, the Soapy Bucket Car Wash, and the McPherson Mansion, to name a few.
"Most of the cool signs are ours in town," Nagel said, laughing.
He said the largest sign, possibly the largest in the county, is the "Brighton Bulldogs" letters on the newly constructed sports fieldhouse next to Maltby Intermediate School. The letters are about six feet tall and 100 feet wide.
Several year ago, the firm and graphic designer Joe Agius were tapped by Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg, who co-owns fitness company F45 Training and Wahlburgers, a burger restaurant chain.
Their work has also appeared in a blockbuster Hollywood film. They were hired by the Transformers franchise to design signage for buses and trucks that appear in the movie "Transformers: Age of Extinction." Scenes from the 2014 film were shot in Michigan. The company designed graphics for a city bus, among other vehicles. They also made signage for a Coke delivery vehicle that crashes and catches fire in the film.
Being in the signage industry puts Nagel on the pulse of economic and societal trends, he said.
"Right now, we're working on a sign for an apartment community in Saline. Apartments and condos are a big customer of ours. They are buying, selling, and renovating these apartments because the housing market is so crazy right now," he said.
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One "unfortunate" trend is the need for one-way security film to protect people inside places like schools, banks, and hospitals, as mass violence hits an all-time high.
"That's a huge, growing business. It's so sad, but it's the reality of the world and somebody has to do it," he said. "The schools are going to be the biggest user of it. It's really in the last year it's been something we're getting calls on all the time."
— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Behind the signs: Genoa Twp-based image360 keeps up with trends
