Specialty Fabrics Review November 2023 - 34

A tent manufacturer with
" Consumers are
driving demand for
bigger and bigger
sporting events. A
lot of brands are
noticing that and
getting more creative
with how they show
up to these events. "
CORY STOKEN
FLOOREXP INC.
in-house printing services, Fred's
Tents has completed several unique
tent graphic projects, such as a New
Jersey boardwalk replica, a traveling
tradeshow exhibit resembling a house,
and an under-the-sea theme complete
with ocean sounds and smells to play
on all senses. " I think that's where the
industry is headed, " Tracy says. " With
sporting events, trade shows and
exhibits ramping up again, we have
good roads ahead of us that will
allow for more creative graphics
at more events. "
Designing from the ground up
When you're building an experience
that people are paying to participate
in, flooring cannot be an afterthought,
says Cory Stoken, co-owner and chief
operating officer of FloorEXP Inc. and
Mod-Fence Systems LLC in Santa Fe
Springs, Calif.
Stoken was drawn to the events
industry because of its similarities to
his initial career goal-film production.
" You're collaborating with a large crew
to put on a show. But instead of being
on screen, the show is in person, " he
says. " I quickly fell in love with the
many ways branding and visual effects
can help tell the story of an event. "
From custom carpets and runners to
vinyl, turf and synthetic grass, FloorEXP
designs flooring for all types of tented
events, though sporting events have
taken the lead recently. " Consumers are
driving demand for bigger and bigger
sporting events, " Stoken says. " A lot of
brands are noticing that and getting
more creative with how they show up to
these events. "
Handmade carpet inlays are Stoken's
favorite product to design and fabricate.
He creates a custom design template
in Adobe® Illustrator®, prints it to any
scale using a wide-format printer, and
then staples it to a piece of carpet for
easy tracing. Using a knife, he cuts out
shapes based on the template design
and hot glues them together.
His company prints products as
well, but Stoken says the craftsmanship
and quality of the handmade inlays
are second to none. " Technology for
printed flooring-carpet, especially-
is certainly getting better. And we
use dye sublimation, which gives the
carpet deep, rich colors that really pop.
However, the carpet we can print on is
thin and wears out quickly for longerterm
events. So, it always depends on
the customer's needs and finding a
delicate balance between aesthetics
and functionality. "
Using its Pebble Beach Turf, the FloorEXP team hand-cut and pieced together this 50-by50-foot
inlaid turf design for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier. Image: FloorEXP
34 SPECIALTY FABRICS REVIEW / November 2023
Determining the
best ink for the job
Tent graphics have come a long way
since the cumbersome cut-adhererepeat
process from decades ago.
Today, companies typically use UV,
latex or solvent ink to digitally print
designs directly onto the tent fabric.

Specialty Fabrics Review November 2023

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