Rainier Takes Home the Gold

After our successful participation in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Rainier was excited to bid on a number of exhibit projects for this year’s games in Vancouver, B.C.  After the intense bid process, Rainier was one of five Washington companies selected to produce Exhibit and Display Graphics.  Rainier was given the mission to fabricate twelve 40-foot tall way-finding towers, the infamous “Kiss and Cry” booth where anxious figure skaters await their results, and a few other signage and banner projects.

The towers were assembled with a steel frame system and aluminum staple track system for digitally printed fabric graphics. They rise stalwartly from a concrete base with sustainable decorative beetle-wood — wood from forests heavily damaged by wood-boring beetles.

The vinyl wraps were made from a two different vinyl’s; a digitally printed translucent vinyl made for repurpose by the manufacturer and a blockout vinyl. The translucent vinyl was digitally printed on our Durst Rho printers using the white ink capability for a backlit design. The blockout vinyl used for the corner wraps were created by our steadfast Plotter Cut Vinyl and SGS heat transfer method. The internal lighting for the backlit graphics rotates through three different colors green, blue, and white minimal energy usage LED lights, with a two-minute rotation. Construction of the towers drew from the core strengths within each division at Rainier: an established group of engineers in DTS, skilled artisans from the frame shop, woodshop, and fabric shop, as well as expert designers and technicians from the Display Division. 

The name for the infamous “Kiss and Cry” booth was coined by the Olympic Game Committee because it acts as a backdrop for the figure skaters to kiss and cry while they wait for their scores.  The booth was fabricated by Rainier using high-end acrylic, sintra and plywood with applied digital graphics printed by our family of Durst Rho printers.   The Kiss and Cry was the most visual project on TV, and when the games began, all Rainier’s players were all waiting to see it in action.  Our connection to this year’s Winter Olympic Games is like bringing home the Gold.