When Paint's a Pain- Metamark MDU

Links Signs and Graphics produces a characterful applied sign with a bang-up-to-date Metamark material…

Lots of people found ways of keeping themselves occupied during the pandemic and a few found true vocations and went gone on to build successful businesses as a result. Among them, is JimBrew. It’s now a popular microbrewery based in Preston.

What started as more-or-less a hobby went on to become a success to the extent it needed premises and a home. It found both, ‘out in the sticks’ and Blackpool-based Links Signs and Graphics got a call to provision a sign on the brewer’s newly occupied premises. 

That plan was, to paint JimBrew on the building’s brick-built elevations in white which would contrast nicely with the weathered blocks. That met with objections though. The premises are rented, and the company’s landlord didn’t like the idea of something as permanent as paint. 

The landlord had a point. So-called Ghost-Signs, earlier echoes of painted signs maybe a hundred years old can still be seen on buildings’ gable-ends long after the businesses that occupy the building have gone. 

The Links Signs and Graphics team went looking for a solution and picked up the phone to Metamark’s man in the area, Tim Dawson. Tim had no hesitation in recommending Metamark’s MDU, featuring MetaGrab® adhesive for the job. It’s a sticks-to-anything member of Metamark’s MD-Class printable material portfolio but, being white, would “be ideal,” said Tim, for what Links Signs and Graphics had in mind.

The sign itself is a relatively simple cut-and-applied graphic that simply says JIMBREW with an outlining treatment to break up the words. It’s applied vertically and is brilliantly legible. 

It was the Links Signs and Graphics’ teams first outing with MDU and it took two attempts to get a result that satisfied Links Signs and Graphics very high standards for quality. The finished article looks like crisply executed paint, hugging the bricks’ texture, but make no mistake - it’s digital print media.

The Links team worked the material into the wall’s textured surface using skilled hands and plenty of heat to help the conformability and ultimate bond of the adhesive. If and when the sign needs to be removed, the same techniques will see it done and a clean surface will remain.

There lots of challenging surfaces that can be home to signage made from MDU and the Links team can advise and supply. If paint looks like it not going to get the job done, give Links Signs and Graphics a call you’ll soon have something even better.