At last month’s International Sign Association Expo, we introduced our 2019 Vycom booth “The Idea Factory.” We enjoyed brainstorming innovative applications for our expanded Celtec line, now with the widest range of thicknesses available from a single manufacturer, as well as our introduction of Polycarve to the sign and graphics industry. The Idea Factory invited visitors to develop creative, challenging projects that call for colorful, flexible, lightweight materials to bring dreams to life.
Celtec is already well known for its broad range of colors and sizes, combining aesthetic flexibility with consistent workability. We were excited to launch Celtec® Woodgrain, adding a cedar-like texture to our highly durable and highly beautiful material. And on top of that, the addition of Celtec Thick Gauge sheets in 32mm and 38mm thicknesses means that even the most demanding practical applications can still include some colorful imagination.
Visitors at The Idea Factory brainstormed new Celtec projects with exciting ranges of color, size, thickness and texture. It didn’t feel like work – it was fun! We want to keep that sense of creative play going all year.
So we were delighted to learn that a bunch of little kids recently brought their enormously creative vision to life with Celtec!
Benfield Elementary School, in Severna Park, Maryland, commissioned artist Gayle Mangan Kassal (GMK Fine Art) to create a mural with students. Kassal chose to create the piece on Vycom’s Celtec® expanded PVC material to make it safer and easier for third, fourth and fifth graders to be hands-on in the process. “[Celtec] is student-friendly because it does not splinter or warp like old, traditional methods of mural work using wood products. It’s flexible and half the weight,” explains Kassal. With the students, she designed a colorful mural to unify the space and honor the school. Sailboats ride on the “wave” pages of an old, well-loved book of dreams.
Meanwhile, in Cleveland, kids were inventing with Playboard. Vycom donated Playboard material to fifth graders who were designing and building a “human-sized hamster wheel” for “Design + Do,” a design and prototyping competition for students.
Those Cleveland kids embraced the idea: Vycom offers versatile materials that can be applied to a broad range of diverse projects. So we hope they didn’t mind this Idea Factory announcement: our Polycarve products are for GROWN UPS, too. Originally designed for use in playgrounds and skateparks, Polycarve® is a multi-colored HDPE material that showcases five standard color combinations and a contrasting central core color that becomes visible when routed. The Polycarve line offers endless possibilities for creativity in sign and graphics applications in marine, amusement park, golf course, resort, campground, city or neighborhood environments and more.
The Idea Factory, at ISA 2019, was a fun place to unveil important extensions to our industry-leading signage families. We look forward to hearing more about creative new products designed by our innovative customers. We’re going to keep our own imaginations fired up. And we’ll try to keep up with all these genius kids!
