By Melissa Donovan
Corporate environment graphics are trending. Including anything from frosted window film for office partitions to a silicone edge graphic poised behind a reception desk, the commercial work environment presents many selling opportunities for print service providers (PSPs).
Office Space
With humble beginnings out of a co-worker’s living room in Tolleson, AZ, AZPRO got its start in 2004. Co-founders Jason and Chris Prenovost were initially the only employees, with help from various family members.
Today AZPRO staffs over 70 employees out of a 35,000 square foot location in Phoenix, AZ. It specializes in retail point of purchase/point of sale signage, corporate environments, and vehicle fleet graphics for medium- to large-sized businesses nationwide.
Corporate environments are a good portion of the work the PSP produces. Traditionally, work completed for offices spans many applications from wallcoverings to window graphics, which decorate behind reception desks, columns, floors, glass, doors, hallways, and furniture. Other common areas include lobbies, hallways, meeting rooms, workstations, cafeterias, and even restrooms.
Design-wise these graphics often support a company’s marketing message or branding colors. Sometimes the work is to honor employees of the month in a “hall of fame” type scenario or created to act as a privacy barrier between offices.
Architectural finishes are another common design theme, allowing for the change of color or texture with vinyl graphics. These are applied to desks, workstations, furniture, columns, and walls available in solid colors and wood, sand, marble, stone, tile, and leather. Different finishes allow for gloss and matte, in addition to textures.
At press time, Scott Wellman, director of client services, AZPRO, noted that with the COVID-19 pandemic, the company experienced demand for clear acrylic pieces that protect employees and business patrons. In addition, informational graphics printed as floor and window clings or poster inserts, are also in high demand because of the continued changes in business operations.
To produce all of these graphics, AZPRO houses many digital printing devices in its shop. These include an HP Inc. Scitex 11000 Industrial Press, EFI VUTEkHS 125 Pro, two HP Latex 3000 printers, two HP Latex 570 printers, and an HP Scitex XP5100.
The printers are complemented by two Zünd cutting machines, a Summa America plotter, and several roll laminators.
Media choice differs depending on the job. “We use a wide variety of materials from companies with whom we have built trust. Those materials are optimized for use with our printers and other machinery,” explains Wellman.
Promoting Client Goals
Digital print is a huge influence on the design, production, and installation of corporate environment graphics. “It has made the possibilities of what we can do practically infinite. Modern day digital printing allows us to create quality graphics of any size and install them on practically any substrate, so when it comes to transforming corporate environments there is almost an endless list of options from which our clients can choose,” says Wellman.
A recent corporate environment job was created for Collins Aerospace, a repeat customer. It hoped to impress clients visiting the facility with high-quality graphics that reflect the state-of-the-art work it achieves.
3M Commercial Solutions Controltac Graphic Film with Comply v3 Adhesive IJ180Cv3 paired with 3M Scotchcal Matte Overlaminate 8520 made up multiple wall murals. 0.5-inch PVC, 0.5-inch black acrylic, and 3/16-inch canvas foamcore were also used to create smaller signage applied to a wall that details company information like employee spotlights.
Digital printing was necessary for this project, according to Wellman, because without it the detail of the graphics and the locations in which they are placed could not have been executed without it.
“Features that made this job standout from others are the three-dimensional aspects that the client utilized to show off the different employees they wanted to spotlight for the month, their products, clients, goals, and values,” adds Wellman.
Going Corporate
PSPs interested in creating corporate environment graphics have many tools at their disposal. The application variety is great and more often than not they already offer much of what these types of clients look for.
Oct2020, Digital Output
