Last year when IBM decided to establish a major presence in Monroe, they leased 30,000 square feet of temporary space in the city’s Tower Place until their new permanent facility is completed in 2017. The offices would face the building’s multistory atrium.

 

Seeking to afford IBM’s office staff a measure of both privacy and brightness, Tower Place recommended frosted window graphics for the new offices – the designs for which would adhere to the digital giant’s whimsical “eye,” “bee” and block “M” logo treatment.

 

 

The project for the frosted window graphics was no small job. Over 80 windows and doors on IBM’s one and one-half floors of offices facing of the atrium called for designs with selective, “see-through” die-cuts.

 

To meet the order, Tower Place co-owner Joe Holyfield turned to his trusted, local and long-time signage and graphics resource – Signs Now Monroe.

 

While challenging, the large order fell well within the Center’s expertise. Working closely with building managers at Tower Place and designers at IBM, Signs Now Monroe confirmed measurements and finalized designs before embarking on a four-step, production and installation process.

 

 

Signs Now Monroe first created the frosted window graphics on vinyl employing a wide-format digital printer and then used a vinyl plotter to produce the die-cuts integral to the design. As accurate and advanced as these processes are, significant “weeding” by hand was required to remove the shreds of cut-out material that clung to the vinyl.

 

As an added measure of quality, Signs Now Monroe’s installers elected to go the more complex wet application method to help ensure exact positioning of the finished vinyl graphics on the window and door’s glass surfaces.

 

Highly pleased with the results, Tower Place co-owner Joe Holyfield has awarded Signs Now Monroe significant new orders, whereas IBM has suggested even more might projects come its way once construction on its new facility nears completion.