How to

Your Complete Guide to Choosing, Installing, Maintaining and Removing Ice Logos.
Have you ever watched a hockey game and admired the cool, crisp, colorful appearance of the on ice logos? Do you wonder, as an arena manager, “How can I use ice logos on my arena surface to increase revenue and strengthen my ties to the local community?” Perhaps you manage a minor hockey team and want to boost your team profile using a colourful logo at center ice? A logo is a powerful symbol of brand image and identity. A logo can consciously or unconsciously influence a spectator to remember and recognize your brand or team. Logos can brighten your ice surface and improve the overall appearance of your facility. Using the sections below, discover how to choose, install, maintain and remove your on ice logos.

Before you begin, it is best to contact a knowledgeable supplier of logos (and ice paints, if you choose to use a logo stencil pattern). An experienced vendor will help you choose the best on ice locations for your logo(s). As well, they will help you size any logos for optimum spectator visibility and impact. A good supplier will give you a price quote based on the size of the logo. It is helpful to know the approximate cost of the logo before approaching any potential advertisers in your community (or, in the case of a team logo, the Board of Directors of the team/club).

Today, there are many choices for logos. For each option, you must consider how you use your ice surface.
Paper Stencil “Pounce” Patterns
Is your rink used primarily for ice hockey/figure skating? If so, you may want to use the traditional paper stencil “pounce” pattern along with custom colored ice paint.

Other types of logos (fiber, vinyl) can be an on-ice risk for skaters. If the ice is not maintained at a sufficient level on top of the fibre or vinyl logo, there is a chance that a skater’s blade could hit the logo and cause the skater to fall or injure him or herself. This could be a liability for the arena.

Painted logos, applied using the paper stencil pounce pattern, pose no problem to skaters. These stencils are re-usable and cost-effective. Painted logos provide a crisp, clear and bright image.

In-Ice Fiber Logos
Fiber Logos are ideal for use on Curling Ice (where all of the action takes place on the surface of the ice). Often, these logos are not re-usable. However, technology is changing – check with your logo supplier to find out if they offer a re-usable fiber logo.
Less labor-intensive, but often more costly than logo painting, fiber logos can display complex shading and rich detail.

Fabric or Vinyl Mesh Logos
As with fiber logos, fabric or vinyl mesh logos are more suitable to Curling Ice, where there is no risk to injury for the on-ice participants.
Fabric (particularly poly/silk blends) can be an expensive option. However, both Fabric and Vinyl Mesh logos are re-usable. As with the fiber logos, fabric logos can display more detail (like gradient shading). However, vinyl mesh logos do not display the same level of detail (due to the holes in the mesh) and are better suited to larger logo patterns.

So, you have your advertisers (or approval for your team/club logo) in place and you have chosen the type of logo (pattern & paint, fiber, fabric or vinyl mesh). How do you proceed? This is where your experienced logo supplier can be of value.

It is most important to keep in mind that brand image and corporate identity is of primary concern to advertisers. Their logo is their symbol of the company. If a logo is badly reproduced, or if the color of the logo paint or logo material is not matched correctly, it can reflect badly on the advertiser and your facility.

ICECO Advanced Arena Products, as your logo supplier, can help you obtain the advertiser’s artwork that is needed to maintain the integrity of the logo. We will tell you which electronic formats best produce the most authentic representation of the logo (typically files in formats such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw or Adobe EPS). Don’t hesitate to call us to step in and communicate directly with your advertisers – an experienced vendor such as ICECO will know what to ask for to produce an exact replica of the original logo.

Remember: Don’t re-invent the wheel! Avoid costly art charges by using pre-existing artwork for your logo.

So, you now have your logo in house and want to know, “when is the best time for me to install this logo”? Ideally, your logo, should be installed at the same time as the installation of the hockey line markings or when installing the curling lines and houses. It is important that your ice surface be completely frozen, level, and smooth before applying the logo stencil.

Logos can also be installed at a later time – please see “Adding/Removing your Logos” section.

Some stencils are manufactured and shipped in sections. If your stencil is in sections, lay the logo onto the ice surface and join the stencil pattern together using masking tape. Tape along the complete edge(s) to be fastened.

Locate and lay the paper logo stencil onto the prepared ice surface. Anchor the stencil by freezing the four (4) corners to the ice surface using your fingers dipped into a small container of warm water. If the logo is large in size, anchor the stencil in several locations along the edges.

The stencil is now ready to pounce.

Begin by using pounce chalk (supplied with most stencil pounce patterns) and a cotton rag. Place the pounce chalk onto the cotton rag so you can form a small sack to pounce the stencil.
To assist you in pouncing a pattern, attach the sack of chalk onto a hockey stick handle or broom handle, using tape. This prevents stepping onto the pattern throughout the pouncing procedure.
A handy tip: to pounce larger logo patterns, use a Micro-fiber dust mop (can be purchased from any hardware store). First, lightly sprinkle your logo pattern with chalk. Then, apply the chalk to the outline of the logo allowing the chalk to penetrate the perforations. Pounce the complete outline carefully, and also rub the same outline thoroughly with the pounce stick or mop to ensure the chalk has penetrated the perforations.

Carefully lift up the pounce pattern stencil from the ice surface using a number of people and walk the whole pattern off of the ice rink without spilling any chalk onto the surface. The pattern is reusable and should be stored in the shipping /storage tube, after it has been cleaned off. NOTE: Do not walk onto the chalk imprint that has been produced on the ice surface when removing the pattern stencil.

Using a garden sprayer/knap sack sprayer or equivalent, lightly mist over the chalk imprint several times to ensure that you can walk onto the imprint without disturbing it.
Painting the Logo
It is recommended that different sizes of quality natural hair paint brushes,(available from ICECO) be used for the painting of your logo. If the pattern is large in size, use paint rollers or a natural hair curling broom to expedite this procedure.

When completely painted, lightly mist the logo over many times to ensure the pattern will not be affected when building extra ice in completing your ice surface installation.

Similar to the installation of the paper pounce pattern, prepare the ice surface to ensure that it is completely frozen, level, and smooth and dry before applying the logo. Measure and mark out the ice (you can do this using outlining thread or marking pens). Place your dry logo on a dry sheet of ice. Secure the edge (or one side) of logo to the ice with your thumbs. The heat from your hands should be sufficient to keep the logo in place. Lift up the opposite edge of the logo and keep it raised. It is best not pull or stretch the fiber, as it might release the logo from the ice surface.
Using a clean garden sprayer/knap sack sprayer or equivalent, spray water underneath the raised section of logo starting at the edge that is secured to the ice.

As the ice becomes wet, slowly drop the logo down into the water, working your way towards the other edge. It is important to ensure that the logo is thoroughly soaked to avoid freezing the pattern prematurely into the ice.

Using a clean paint roller with extension handle, push the excess water from under the logo. Start at the middle of the logo and roll out towards the edges. For larger logos you will need to start to roll the water out before all of the logo is down.
Be careful not to wrinkle the logo during freezing. If you have large wrinkles or air pockets in your logo, cut the wrinkles with a small knife and lay the edges flat. Then, put a small amount of water in the cut and refreeze the area in place. It is most important to note that when installing in ice logos, you typically have one opportunity only. Please follow the above listed instructions carefully to avoid damaging the logo.

It all starts with the initial installation of the ice surface. Your ice should be 3/8”-1/2” thick and level across the complete ice surface prior to painting the base coat white.

Prior to painting any lines or logos (or installing a fiber/fabric/vinyl mesh logo), you should make sure that you have made additional light floods of 3/8” thickness or more! The final floods should be heavier to allow the ice surface to become level.

As mentioned earlier, it is recommended that your logos be painted/installed at the same time as the line markings.

Keep your logos protected from daily use (i.e. skate blade marks) – this means after you have installed your logos, apply an additional ½” or more of light floods. This will seal the surface nicely and guard your logo surface against damage. It is important to protect your logos sufficiently, as it will pay off when you complete your ice maintenance.

Remember: it is always better to apply too much ice over your work than not enough! You can always scrape excess ice off the ice surface and still have untouched logos and lines.
Plan well by using sufficient ice over the logos. You’ll be rewarded during ice maintenance as you can cut or scrape down to clear ice (on top of logos/lines) without affecting or touching the logos.
Once you see clear ice, you know that you are within ½” or more of the top of the logos.

Follow these simple guidelines and your logos will look as first-class as the day you installed them! Of course, your ice usage can sometimes limit the amount of time to complete ice maintenance, but adhering to a regular maintenance is imperative in keeping your ice surface logos and markings bright. Regular ice maintenance will keep your logos crisp and effective throughout your ice season.

More visible advertisers’ or user group’s logos can mean unfounded revenue for new additional logos and customers in the future. Keep those logos looking good!

Occasionally, you may have to remove/replace or add a logo(s) to your ice surface during the ice season. This could happen for any number of reasons. Possibly, you could have a change of advertiser. Or, maybe you want to commemorate a special event at your arena with a unique center ice logo mid-way through your season. Or, as it sometimes happens, a logo could get damaged due to driver error (guys, stay alert on those ice resurfacers!). This is where proper initial ice installation will pay off dividends!

If you have a reusable fiber, fabric or vinyl mesh logo; simply melt the area with hot water to complete removal. Non-reusable or painted logos can be scraped off the ice.

As mentioned previously, building 3/8” or more over the white base coat and making sure the ice is level prior to painting/installing logos, will assist you in scraping off any painted or non-reusable logo or adding a logo. The extra ice over the white will help prevent you from scraping any white base coat off when you scraping down to these types of logos.

Keep in mind; you still have to be careful when you scrape down the area over the logo with your ice resurfacer. Insure that the ice resurfacer blade is sharp and level prior to starting.

You can easily remove the logo by dropping the ice resurfacer conditioner at the logo edge and dragging it across the logo top surface area, then picking the conditioner up again. You will have to do repeated passes over the logo to accomplish a successful logo removal. It is important to adjust your blade to cut only a little at a time and not a whole lot at one time!
Dry scrape the area over the logo to be removed until you reach the logo. Continue scraping that specific area until the logo is removed.

If you are repainting a logo in the same spot, or applying a new logo in this same space, insure the area that was scraped down is large enough for the new logo and free of any snow/ice debris.
Remember, allow yourself enough time to remove and/or paint logos and rebuild the scraped area with ice prior to allowing user groups access to the ice surface.

Logos are a powerful team or corporate symbol. Using logos is an excellent way to increase revenue for your facility or boost recognition or your team or user group. A knowledgeable logo supplier such as ICECO can assist you in choosing the type of logo material, and provide you with a quote – don’t hesitate to use us as a resource!