Printed Signs
Custom Step and Repeat Banners Chicago
Logo backdrops for press walls, events and photo opportunities. Laid out so the logos read properly in a photograph, which is the only place this banner is ever seen.
- Laid out for the camera
- Matte, non-glare finish
- Frame or stand available
- Licensed Chicago sign contractor
- Printed in our own shop
- Ships anywhere in the US
- One team from quote to install
The problem
Why most step and repeats photograph badly
What customers tell us before we start, and what we do about it.
What usually goes wrong
- The logos sit behind people’s heads and no complete one appears in any photo.
- The material is glossy and every flash photograph has a hotspot across it.
- The repeat is too large, so a tight shot catches part of one logo and nothing else.
How SignFreaks handles it
- A repeat sized and offset so a complete logo appears in frame whoever is standing where.
- Matte material that does not flare under a flash.
- Layout planned around the crop a photographer will actually take, not around the full banner.
What you get
How we lay one out
The parts that matter, and why each one is specified the way it is.
Repeat spacing
Close enough that any crop contains at least one full logo. This is the single thing most step and repeats get wrong.
Offset rows
Staggered rather than aligned, so a head blocking one logo does not block the whole column.
Matte finish
Non-glare vinyl or fabric, because flash photography is the whole point of the object.
Logo scale
Large enough to read in a cropped, compressed social media image.
Multiple logos
Sponsor sets rotated through the pattern so each gets fair coverage.
Frame or stand
Tensioned frame, adjustable telescopic stand, or pole pockets, depending on how often it travels.
Compare
Vinyl or fabric?
How often it travels usually decides this.
| Matte vinyl | Fabric | |
|---|---|---|
| Glare under flash | Low | Lowest |
| Creasing in transit | Creases can persist | Falls out, or washes out |
| Weight | Heavier | Light |
| Reuse | Good | Excellent |
| Best for | Fixed or occasional use | Frequent travel and repeat events |
Swipe to see the full table.
Artwork
Getting the artwork right
Send these and the print goes straight through. Send a logo pulled off a website and we will be asking for something better.
- Vector artwork where possible: AI, EPS, PDF or SVG, with fonts converted to outlines.
- Raster images at around 100–150 dpi at final size for large format, which is plenty at normal viewing distance.
- CMYK rather than RGB, since that is how it prints. Give us Pantone references for brand colors.
- Include bleed past the trim edge, and keep text well inside it.
- Allow for hems and grommets on banners: anything within a couple of inches of the edge can end up folded.
- Tell us the finished size you want, not the size the file happens to be.
Approvals
Permits and what to expect
The part of the job most likely to move your timeline.
Indoor event backdrops are not regulated signage, so there is no permit and no approval. The real deadline pressure is the event date, and the usual failure is artwork arriving late. Send logos as vectors as early as you can, particularly sponsor logos, which are the ones that arrive last and in the wrong format.
We handle the drawings and the filing as part of the job. There is more detail on our sign permit page.
Our work
Projects we have built
Real installations, photographed on site.
Get a real number for your step and repeat banners
Send a photo, a rough size and your deadline. You get a written quote with line items, not a range and not a guess.
Who uses it
Industries we build this for
The requirements change with the building. These pages go into how.
Corporate Buildings
Learn moreHotels
Learn moreCommercial Businesses
Learn more
Delivery
We ship nationwide
No installer, no permit, no reason it has to stay in Illinois.
Step and repeats ship nationwide, and fabric ones travel particularly well because they fold into a small box and the creases drop out. Local customers can collect by appointment. Tell us the event date early and we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable.
Budget
What moves the price
Roughly in the order they matter.
We do not publish price lists, because a number without your size, site and deadline attached would be fiction. Give us those three and you get a real quote.
- Finished size, with 8ft × 8ft and 8ft × 10ft the common ones.
- Vinyl against fabric.
- Whether a frame or stand is included.
- Number of distinct logos in the pattern.
- Artwork preparation if logos need redrawing.
Questions
Questions we get asked
Call (872) 250-4743, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Questions we get asked
What size should a step and repeat be?
8ft × 8ft is the usual for a few people at a time; 8ft × 10ft gives more room for groups and more margin for the photographer. Height matters more than people think — anything under 8ft and tall subjects end up with the top of the frame in shot.
How big should the logos be?
Large enough to read in a cropped image on a phone. That is usually bigger than the first layout anyone proposes. We will show you a mock-up with figures in it, which makes the answer obvious.
Vinyl or fabric?
Fabric if it travels regularly — it packs small and creases drop out. Vinyl if it lives in one place or gets occasional use. Both are available matte, which is the more important specification.
Can we include sponsor logos?
Yes, and we rotate them through the pattern so each gets comparable coverage. Get the vector files early; sponsor artwork is reliably the last thing to arrive and the most likely to be a low-resolution image.
Do we need a stand?
If it is not going on a wall, yes. An adjustable telescopic stand is the standard and handles the common sizes. For repeat events a tensioned frame gives a flatter, better-looking surface.
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