Wide-format Graphics: Digitally printed office decor

by all | 16 February 2017 10:15 am

By Holly Douglass
There are countless studies that suggest the atmosphere in an office greatly affects the productivity of its workers. One component of creating a positive atmosphere is how the space looks. Many people say they would prefer to work in offices with tasteful and engaging design and decor. This presents an immense opportunity for graphics companies, which can work with their existing and new corporate clients to transform office spaces in visually appealing ways.

Contributing to workplace culture
The thought process for this type of graphics project needs to begin by considering how a given space might be made more appealing without becoming too distracting for its occupants. This requires a balancing act between infusing some style while still appeasing everyone who works in the space.

‘Workplace culture’ is now widely recognized as being just as important as more traditional aspects of business, such as customer service. Happy employees tend to perform more effectively and exhibit a better attitude. Further, as the ‘personality’ of an organization, workplace culture helps attract good employees in the first place and retain them longer.

While workplace culture is largely defined by a company’s leadership, values and management practices, it is also informed by the physical appearance of the working environment. Digitally printed graphics and cut letters are a cost-efficient way to transform this appearance with a range of colour, depth and imagery options. Whether the company’s focus is adding light and colour to a drab space or branding an area with logos and inspiring quotes, graphic films are an effective way to make it happen.

Motive Media, a large-format graphics provider, recently moved from Mississauga, Ont., to a much larger facility in nearby Bolton, Ont. As the first tenant in a new building, the company was able to really make its mark with respect to interior design for the space.

At the beginning, all of the walls were painted a simple white. Next, the team designed the entire look and feel of the space. Finally, the concepts were brought to life by printing and installing graphic films on a broad variety of surfaces. This allowed the space to attain a fresh look at a very economical price point.

Decorating surfaces
Any surface, after all, can be wrapped with graphics, as long as the right material is being used. For sign and graphics companies planning to alter other organizations’ spaces, it is important to meet with those clients and first determine what they are trying to accomplish from a practical standpoint. In some cases, for example, colourful graphics are added to glass walls for the purpose of increasing privacy. Then the salesperson and graphic designer can walk through the space and make recommendations that both (a) keep the needs of the client in mind and (b) are based on the layout of cubicles, walls and other architectural features of the space.

The following are a few simple examples of how an office space can be decorated with wide-
format graphics:

Walls
Walls may be the most obvious place to start. They are certainly among the easiest.

White walls can quickly be updated by printing and adhering graphic panels or even just die-cut lettering. Beyond commercial-style imagery, a favourite go-to is a brick print, which can provide the illusion of an exposed brick wall. That said, most clients are not seeking realism so much as inspiration.

Canvas artwork
Another way to add imagery and texture to a wall is canvas artwork. Many wide-format inkjet presses have the ability to print onto fabric-like materials, including canvas. And it is inexpensive to buy a frame and stretch the resulting graphic over it as in-house service.

Some companies will implement this type of application featuring their logo in their lobby, but there are also other possibilities to display digitally printed art throughout their offices.

Floors
The floor is one of the biggest surfaces in any office, yet is often the last place to be considered for printed graphics, if it even ends up considered at all, despite the prevalence of floor graphics in retail stores and other spaces.

Directional arrows and images (e.g. ‘Boardroom this way!’) can always be helpful to office visitors and guests. There are also lots of fun and surprising possibilities, such as a printed graphic of an area rug.

Windows and glass panels
As suggested earlier, adhering opaque films to glass walls can be a great way to introduce some privacy to an open-concept office in a modern, visually appealing way. The films can be computer-cut into a wide variety of shapes and designs.

Digital imaging is also an option. Printing onto a translucent film can introduce subtly colourful images to a boardroom, while perforated films on windows can display graphics to the outdoor world while still allowing sunlight in. The possibilities are endless.

Whiteboards/chalkboards
Another option for adding personality to boardrooms and other meeting spaces is to digitally print artistic elements on whiteboard and chalkboard films, then adhere them to the walls for interactive and collaborative use by staff.

Filing cabinets
Even in the age of computers and cloud-based data storage, filing cabinets often take up an enormous amount of space in a workplace—and most of them are fairly drab in appearance. With the ability to wrap them with vinyl, they can suddenly become complementary components of the interior decor, rather than just ‘necessary evils.’

Desks
Individual workspaces can also be decorated. When Motive Media moved, the company owned a series of Ikea desks with simple birch-coloured tops, which were refreshed by wrapping them with plain white vinyl films. This made the workspace look instantly new, with no printing necessary.

Combining ingredients for success
The technology that makes these applications and others possible is incredibly vast in terms of the variety of films, adhesives and laminates available today.

There are generally three levels of adhesives: permanent, removable and changeable. With that in mind, one of the first questions to ask the client is, “How long will this need to last?” It is important to keep in mind the performance of the adhesive will also affect the ease of installation. Air-release ‘comply’ adhesives, for example, were developed separately from repositionable adhesives, but some pressure-sensitive vinyl films are equipped with both.

In most cases, clients who want to add interior graphics to their workspace are in favour of a permanent application. And most would prefer a film with a matte finish, given how interior lights can otherwise cause glare on gloss films.

The laminate is also an important consideration. While some designers believe opting out of a laminate is a good cost-saving option for office graphics, this is generally not the case, as even indoor applications can otherwise be damaged by the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays and cleaning chemicals.

Also, laminates make installation and removal simpler. This is because the combination of film and laminate is thicker and, thus, easier for the installer to handle, which means it can save measurable time and money on a job.

Finally, there is the issue of appearance.

“Overlaminates not only protect the image, but also provide the best way to meet the client’s requirements for a consistent overall finish, such as matte or ultra-matte,” says Jeff Uzbalis, a wide-format digital imaging specialist for 3M Canada.

Indeed, the overall look and feel of digitally printed interior decor can depend on the selection of the laminate. Beyond basic choices like matte and gloss, there are also textured options, graffiti-resistant coatings for graphics in public areas and special visual effects like sparkle features.

“Today’s range of overlaminates let you create combinations of colours and textures like never before,” says Uzbalis. “You can tap into key design trends like ‘raw,’ ‘untreated’ and ‘artisanal’ with laminates that replicate nature’s random imperfections for a more organic effect.”

Motive Media, for its part, used a durable, 0.05-mm (2-mil) thick vinyl film with a pressure-sensitive, repositionable and removable adhesive, along with a matte cast vinyl overlaminate that is conformable across curves and rivets. This combination proved sufficiently versatile—and easy to install—for the company’s various decor surfaces, including painted drywall, metal filing cabinets and wooden desks and doors.

Engaging and inspiring
Thanks in large part to the availability of these materials, many workplaces are now changing from once-drab landscapes to engaging and inspiring spaces for employees. For the young people now joining the workforce, this trend is becoming more and more important, so business managers are taking note and making changes accordingly.

As these organizations come to understand how digitally printed graphics can bring a space to life more creatively than carpeting or paint, wide-format print service providers (PSPs) have a major new opportunity to expand their business.

Holly Douglass is director of sales for Motive Media in Bolton, Ont. For more information, contact her via e-mail at holly@motivemedia.ca[6].

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/wide-format-graphics-digitally-printed-office-decor/

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