Rivers Crossing Church in Mason, Ohio, was in need of an interior update in their new wing and additional location. The team at Fastsigns of Cincinnati – Mason collaborated with the church for the modern face lift, which included 408 square feet of work.
“The Fastsigns team highlighted the different age groups and organizations throughout the church space with dimensional letters on various colored wall graphics,” says Karrie Brock, franchisee, Fastsigns of Toledo, who nominated the project for the 2020 Best of Wide Format Awards. “Graphics were incorporated into their high-visibility areas to show parishioners how their group efforts are helping their outreach challenges.”
In Rivers Crossings’ new location, the signage and graphics project helped kick off their grand opening.
“The retro-fitted monument sign informed the community that a new church had arrived” says Brock. “The museum-quality acrylic pieces, wall murals, and dimensional elements really showed the community that the church was making quite a significant investment in their community outreach, not just in church services, but also in the children’s’ programs.”
Installation included half-inch thick acrylic with reverse-printed graphics installed on walls with standoffs and dimensional restroom icons. Fastsigns added an interactive map with dimensional, movable pieces, as well as a mission statement on an acrylic panel. Goals were placed on standoffs near the panel on the Join the Movement wall.
In addition, one wall featured a background map of Cincinnati with dimensional lettering #FORCINCY for emphasis. Backlit signs that highlighted a theme word were also featured on the Word of the Year wall. In their Church Merch section, dimensional letters were used to designate the area with a creative definition of what church merch is.
Brock says the most innovative graphic used in the project was for the Next Gen wall.
“Fastsigns laser cut half-inch acrylic and routed .030 styrene as a template after carefully measuring the shape of the wall to fit the graphic up and over the door frame,” says Brock. “Then, they tediously cleaned the acrylic about six times before direct printing so when the graphic was installed, the public could not scratch the ink. Then, they applied cut white vinyl and printed 3M Controltac print film 40C. These elements were applied to the first surface to give the graphic more depth.”
Challenges arose in the planning stages. Fastsigns needed to work with the construction company to find proper space and time for install.
“Then the team had to let the wall paint dry,” says Brock. The areas where wall graphics were being installed needed to be primed and painted with two coats of paint. “Wall paint needs to cure at least three weeks before you can safely install wall murals.” The entire installation process took place over three “solid long” days.
Tools and Equipment
- Fuji Acuity UV flatbed printer
- Epson SureColor S80600 printer
- Durst P10 320R printer
- 3M 7125 Series white vinyl
- Acrylite half-inch thick clear acrylic
- 3M Controltac print film 40C
- 3M 8508 Scotchcal overlaminate
- GFP 463th 630-inch Top Heat laminator
- Stinger III CNC router