Winning Performances from Stadium Signs

In the creative production, as in sport, flashes of brilliance are common. Those who go on to be champions, however, must consistently produce winning performances – a much more challenging proposition. Stadium Signs in Melbourne has discovered the formula for success, with a track record that proves they’re the team you want on side for sign, display and branding projects, large or small.

Like an elite athlete, Leigh Onions from Melbourne’s Stadium Signs has plenty of natural ability, which he’s honed by putting in the hard yards. Since qualifying as a sign writer more than 40 years ago, Leigh built a career, and a business, on his creative flair, aptitude to stay at the forefront of new production technology, and willingness to be on the ground before the crack of dawn and late into the nights, providing signage, displays and other branded graphics at sports stadiums, events and almost any other location you can imagine.

Raw talent, however, will only get you so far, and for Stadium Signs, the magic extra ingredient was added when Leigh’s business and life partner, Pamela Hammond, brought her organisational skills and business acumen to the mix over eight years ago. Since then, the company has really upped its game and is now unquestionably one of the country’s leading providers of high-profile sign, display and brand activations.

“As anyone in elite sport will tell you, talent is only part of the equation,” Pamela explains over a coffee at the company’s Ferntree Gully headquarters during the lead up to the AFL Grand Final.

“To win consistently, ability has to be underpinned by a strong organisation, a talented team, reliable procedures and robust data and technology. That’s what transforms individual brilliance into repeatable success.”

All of those elements have come together at Stadium Signs, resulting in an impressive track record which is seeing them consistently win some of the country’s most impressive and prominent sign, display and branding work, for major events, venues and top echelon clients, as well as return business year after year.

Leading up to the AFL Grand Final the projects underway in the factory provided ample evidence of the scope and scale of what they are now able to provide, with 300 metres of Coca Cola parapet signage being completed on the company’s huge Elitron cutter, in time for installation that night to Melbourne’s iconic MCG. The brief, received just two days prior, specified Grand Final Eve installation, but Stadium was – as it often is – ahead of schedule, delighting the client with the brilliant production values and speed of the turnaround.

Meanwhile, out on the front driveway, a large shipping container was being converted into a giant lunchbox for a ‘Woolworths Fresh Food Kids’ activation. Leigh painted it ‘Woolworths green’ (itself a challenge given Melbourne’s fickle weather), fabricated a giant handle, fitted magnetic walls and printed the magnetic fruit and vegetable decals for interactive play.

These projects were just a part of the myriad projects that Stadium completed for the Grand Final, ranging from staff engagement window graphics for NAB, to fabric hanging banners, fence banners, bar and video screen signage, menus and wayfinding signage for the Carlton Bar at the AFL Live Site, market umbrellas, flags and football targets for MLC, a container with flags and banners for TAC, and a branded archway, media wall and 150 table pieces for Crown Casino. The company’s work was also on show at the Brownlow Medal Presentation, with a huge 1.8 x 1.8m 3D crown roundel, created by Leigh and painted in gold, providing a spectacular backdrop.

“Footy finals season is always busy, as many of our loyal clients come back year after year for their custom-made signage and branding, and every year we seem to pick up new work as well,” Pamela says, adding that this is typical of major event seasons throughout the year.

“The ability to scale up quickly is critical, so we’ve invested a great deal of time and resources over the past few years to put in place the systems and processes which allow us to kick straight into gear and meet client expectations, whether that’s for a big job in double-quick time, or for a creative response that will help them create a really memorable experience.”

As well as the latest Mimaki large-format digital inkjet flatbed and roll-to-roll printers, which enable them to image almost any substrate, flexible or rigid, the Elitron Kombo SD+ digital cutter enables precision cutting at high speeds and is so easy to operate that every single member of staff has quickly become adept.

Underpinning production is a custom-modified management information and workflow system which provides fully digitised workflow and also captures, catalogues and archives all the data for every job, from the brief, to creative resolution, artwork, digital production files, photos of the finished job and itemised invoicing.

“It’s a fantastic resource to have at our fingertips because, while every job is different, we often draw on successful projects from the past to help us find a solution that perfectly fits the requirements of a new job,” Pamela says.

“Our clients continue to throw down challenges every day, but with the creativity and skills of our team, fantastic production technology and systems, a collaborative work environment and 30 years of experience under our belts, we find that Stadium Signs really can achieve just about anything!”