five feet away from it. Dr. Olson wanted a very high-resolution board, and just like his office in general, he didn’t spare any expense on the signage side. “We gave him a choice between 2.4 and 3.8mm, and he plainly asked which would look better,” says Watts. “We gave him our opinion, and that’s the one he went with. It was more like, since he was already making this investment, there was no reason to cheap out and then not be happy with it down the line.” This interior digital display made up of individual tiles sits flush back into a wall to make it look flat. Springfield Sign worked with the architect and construction crew ahead of time to set the necessary depth. “They built around it,” says Watts. “So you have the drywall, then it goes to our screen. Then you go across our screen, and it goes back to drywall.” Springfield Sign used a lift to install the interior display during the early part of the construction process when the building was much more of an open area.
Since this is a modular-based frame system, it arrived on-site in pieces. “We installed the frame to create a grid,” says Watts. “Then we built up, attaching the tiles one at a time to this grid.” One of the biggest challenges Springfield Sign encountered was keeping the tiles flush and even across the 16-by-27foot frame. “If you don’t seat those panels exactly right, your modules might wave a little bit, as you start building,” says Watts. “So when the modules catch up to each other, if one is cocked out (about 1/16-inch or even less), you’ll see lines when a full-color image is shown across a big board like this.” The sign makers worked hand-inhand with Watchfire to make sure it was smooth by assessing the position of tiles as they were put on, which, although time consuming, was necessary. Since the digital display is inside the building, there was actually no need for special permits or regulatory ordinances. “Even though the total point of that ap-
plication is for people on the freeway to see it,” says Watts, “it’s inside a building, and technically the city doesn’t have any regulations on it.” Watts says his company offers in-house content management packages whenever they sell a digital display, but here, they showed them how to use it and the dental practice took it from there.” In addition to the outdoor pylon sign featuring a double-faced 8mm Watchfire display, Springfield Sign also fabricated and installed flat, cut-out lettering and reverse-lit LED channel letters on the building’s exterior at a couple of different elevations. Inside they installed accent wall signs and other such signage. “This is an amazing facility. Dr. Olson is well known for what he does, and people fly in from the coasts to visit him,” says Watts. “Quite honestly it’s nothing like anything I’d ever signed for a dentist.” Note: Portions of this article appeared in a prior written press release.
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Sign Builder Illustrated
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Sign Builder Illustrated
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