Out with the Old

The 2010s is the decade of status updates, fashion trends that shift each week, and the perpetual “new year, new me” mentality. Being built to last is not seen as timeless in our disposable society – it’s outdated. Long-established brands like Google, Southwest Airlines, Olive Garden, and Holiday Inn have traded in old logos for new and fresh identities, and smartphone apps like Twitter, Spotify, Netflix, and Starbucks continually tweak (and sometimes completely redo) their look and feel. Today’s constantly changing digital world has fully embraced the words of Robert Frost: “Nothing gold can stay.” Or rather, nothing at all can stay. Out with the old, in with the new.

Retail, corporate, and commercial entities are attuned to this growing trend, seeking out ways to frequently refresh. Whereas a brand may once have been considered a static concept, today they’re fluid and open to reinvention. The same goes for a brand’s interior design: Revamping décor is another way for businesses to evolve and stay relevant.

Dolby Laboratories, an international company that creates audio, visual, and voice technologies for cinemas, home theaters, PCs, mobile devices, and games, has more than 35 offices around the world that often require new graphics and artwork. The technology company relies on Ferrari Color to keep the workplace interiors looking sleek and professional. Based out of Salt Lake City, Ferrari Color has offices in Sacramento, California, and San Francisco – the latter just a few miles away from Dolby’s Bay Area headquarters. 

Dolby recently enlisted Ferrari Color’s services updating HQ’s silicone edge graphics (SEG). “The client loves SEG frames for their various offices,” says Shara Meredith, director of marketing at Ferrari Color. “SEG frames are great because it allows them to change out the printed graphics and showcase new artwork on a yearly or even semi-yearly basis.” Ferrari Color output a number of 60 x 60-inch SEG prints using the shop’s MS Impres 4320 and Monti Antonio Heat Transfer machine to image Fisher Textiles GF 8874 Tri Poplin fabric with dye sub paper. Dolby’s in-house team installed the graphics with Testrite Charisma SEG frames.

With SEG, the challenge is to ensure graphics fit properly into existing frames, says Meredith. Fabric stretches differently each time a graphic is produced, so “at Ferrari Color, we’ve put together some tips and tricks to try and reduce the challenges that do come up using SEG.” 

And with good reason, as SEG is a major part of the growing demand for digitally printed interior décor that Ferrari Color is witnessing – in particular, for corporate décor projects. “Over the last 18 months, interior décor has become one of our fastest growing industries and we don’t see any signs of it slowing down,” says Meredith. “Wall murals and cut vinyl, window graphics (both decorative and privacy glass), framed artwork, and wrapped canvas, in addition to SEG graphics” are some of the shop’s most popular décor applications. And with so many clients like Dolby seeking to rejuvenate their look on a recurring basis, say hello to long-term customers that come back again and again and again.

Explore more interior décor + textile trends and case studies from Big Picture's 2018 special edition.