I recently wrote an article for N2 Publishing for Sponsor of the Month on my dad and our shop, Graphitti Sign and Graphics! In case you missed it… here ya go!
The new business on the block just so happens to be my dad’s business, Graphitti Sign & Graphic Studio owned by Steven Culp. Graphitti Sign & Graphic Studio has stirred up popularity in the Franklin area since just January 2016. Graphitti Sign & Graphic Studio designs, builds, installs all you can think of from traditional signage, vehicle graphics and wraps, wall and floor graphics, window graphics, and even more. Graphitti Sign & Graphic Studio services commercial businesses and private clients.
Before the start of the business, Steven grew up in Southern, IL but has moved all over the US and even spent some time in Canada for his former career. He first moved to Nashville in 1993 and lived in Nashville for a little over a decade, then proceeded to move to the Virginia Beach area. Culp says, “In the ten years that followed, I looked for ways to move back to the Nashville area. In early 2013 I purchased a home in Brentwood and returned.”
Steven is married to my mother, Inna Culp, who is from Russia and came to the US about 18 years ago. He met my mother in Atlanta, GA they married in 2013, shortly after moving to Brentwood, TN. She is an employee at Regions Bank as a Corporate Trust Associate. I am a Senior at Brentwood High School and I play USTA tennis competitively. My brother, Stas Christiansen, is 27 years old and just recently moved from Atlanta to a place in 12 South.
Steven didn’t always have the knack for signs and graphics; his former career was in the construction industry managing marine work on navigation locks and dams, large bridges, ports, water and wastewater projects, underwater pipelines, etc. For over a decade he managed the marine construction division of Nashville based WL Hailey & Company. Culp says, “Along the way, I had to develop and acquire projects, and I enjoyed working with clients to develop approaches to projects and win jobs.”
Steven’s line of education and experience continues; like completing a Bachelor’s degree in marketing at Lipscomb University; performing marketing and business development for construction and engineering firms; completing a Master’s degree in Sustainability, also at Lipscomb University, while also leading a research project with Vanderbilt interns and The Wheelhouse Project. This project had the goal of advancing applications of biophilia in the built environment. “This work led me to start Graphitti Sign & Graphic Studio. At Graphitti Sign & Graphic Studio has given me the opportunity to leverage expertise in project management, marketing, and biophilia to develop and complete creative projects for clients,” Culp says.
This shop isn’t just like any other; my dad has really tried to think outside the box by specializing in interior and exterior wall graphics, floor graphics, window graphics, and skylights. The latex print process is specifically geared for use indoors. The print gives off no smells, no off gassing, and is not associated with any health hazards.
In advice that Steven gives out to the residents he says; “Wall graphics is a niche type of discipline. Work with a firm that specializes in custom, unique, wide format printed wall graphics creation and installation. This is NOT wallpaper. There are a variety of specialty medias. Traditional “wallpaper” firms do not use these medias on a regular basis. Most “sign shops” understand graphic design and wide format print, but are not specialist in selecting media for wall applications, or installation… and they are certainly have not studied the effects and applications of biophilia.”
As if owning a business isn’t enough, my dad is highly active in the community. He is an Ambassador with Williamson Inc (Williamson Co. Chamber of Commerce); a New Member Advisor for the Nashville Chamber of Commerce; on the Board at the Nashville American Marketing Association (NAMA), as well as serving as Vice Chair of the Hospitality Committee, and is a member of the Membership Committee; member of the Nashville Propeller Club and a variety of other networking groups.
Steven Culp, LEED AP, ENV SP
Graphitti Sign and Graphic Studio 114 SE Pkwy Ct. Suite 120 Franklin, TN
37064
(615) 656 8420
www.graphittisigns.com
sculp@graphittisigns.com
