The signage company carefully designed 13 shock-absorbent and traffic-tolerant steps, which display superior-quality text, images, graphics, videos, or a combination of mediums.
By Sonia Yooshing
As one enters clothing retail store Uniqlo Canada’s newly created third floor at Cadillac Fairview (CF) Toronto Eaton Centre, they are greeted by an array of dazzling lights that line the 8.5-m (28-ft) wide staircase, which makes an impressive, grand entryway for customers.
To enhance the store’s ambience, Axxys Construction, the company responsible for the store’s expansion project, subcontracted UTG Digital Media, an Ottawa-based manufacturer of indoor and outdoor digital signage solutions, to design and install a light-emitting diode (LED) stairway along with an LED ticker. The signage company carefully designed 13 shock-absorbent and traffic-tolerant steps, which display superior-quality text, images, graphics, videos, or a combination of mediums.
To achieve a seamless visual display, custom-made LED cabinets, independently tailored for each project, were inserted into the front panel of every step (riser). Each cabinet features a specialized magnetized receiving card and
is skillfully interconnected using a daisy-chain wiring system. Once the technical components were in place, a durable transparent plexiglass cover was fitted to protect the LED cabinet modules. The tempered glass not only provides a clear, unobstructed view of the visuals, but also offers a quick and simple access to the cabinets behind. Once the installation was complete, customized software programming was created for and applied to each project; the content is synced through a high-definition control system.
The 59-m- (194-ft-) long custom LED ticker extends from one end of the store to the other, wrapping the inside and outside corners of the Uniqlo T-shirts (UT) area, and displays high-resolution scrolling text.
The project earned third place in the digital category of the 2019 Best of Canada’s Sign Industry Awards (BOCSIes) for its avant-garde design concept.
