One of the many perks of being an elite bloggonaut is that occasionally people approach you with special offers. Special incredibly nerdy offers. Usually these offers amount to nothing particularly tangible or worthwhile, but every once in a while an idea is brought forward that piques my interest enough to actually follow through with it. A representative from Banners on the Cheap approached me about a month ago with a bold proposal. Help him show off his company by creating a radical yet nerdy vinyl banner, which would then be sent to me for my review. I’ll admit I was skeptical at first, but after being shown some examples from his past clientsI was won over. I put together an intricate design and sent it over using their online submission system. A short time later this arrived at my door.
“But Mike?” you ask, “Why isn’t this up on your wall yet?”. My answer is simple: I have not found a wall that is worthy enough to bear this banner. Also, I ran outta wall hooks and this thing is real big (3 feet by 3 feet).
What is the quality like? Extremely good, and much better than your run-of-the-mill vinyl printing facility. Those of you who follow the blog regularly know that I have a graphic design background, and I can tell you from experience that most banner shops are crapshoots when it comes to print quality. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Banners on the Cheap did not follow this trend, and delivered a product that you don’t have to stand 30 feet away to see properly. Check out this super close up to see what I mean:
I chose Super Mario World for the design because it was one of the first video games I owned, and it holds a special place close to my heart. If you don’t possess the same nostalgia for Italian plumbers, don’t fret. You can submit any design you like at a variety of sizes! Some other options I was considering were:
- Onett overworld map (EarthBound)
- Tomb of Horrors dungeon map (1st Edition D&D, to use as a PnP playing surface)
- Level 1-1 (Super Mario Bros, in an extra wide banner format)
Needless to say, you got a lot of options here.
If you haven’t deduced it by now, I was very pleased with my whole banner printing experience. I am likely going to order another design somewhere down the line (probably a dungeon map for Pathfinder), and I highly encourage you to do the same. You can place orders using the online submission system at Banners on the Cheap, and if you’re so inclined they also sell magnets and signs.
If you are interested in printing the very same banner as I have then just pop me off an email. I would be more than happy to send you the original artwork I used in a high-resolution format. Just for kicks, here’s a web ready version below:
