Wide-Format Printing Company Cushing Revamps Apartment Buildings

The Lake Meadows Apartments project came together in 18 months thanks to Cushing, a wide-format printing company in Chicago, Illinois. 

From design intent and fabrication to production and installation, Cushing oversaw every step in the process to get the high- to mid-rise apartment buildings easily navigable and noticed. Torque Digital, a marketing company, oversaw the design intent.

Marketing manager Jon Davis tells GRAPHICS PRO, “We originally met in early 2019 to discuss, in March things came together, and the first order was placed in May 2019. The ADA signage is the most recent part of the installation, completed in August/September 2020.”

Details of the project are as follows:

Non-illuminated monument sign

• Fabricated aluminum cabinets
• Graphics were “frisket painted” (A frisket is a plastic sheet with an adhesive backing used to mask off specific areas of an image, so only the exposed area is covered with paint)
• There’s a mix of double- and single-faced signs
• The result is a 70″ tall monument sign (2′ W X 8″ D)

Illuminated monument sign

• Installation includes a 12″ cement base that was set in the ground
• Used direct embed mounting into a cement base
• Acrylic “push through” backlit lettering

Laundry room signage

• Heat applied vinyl
• Vinyl cut textured wall graphics heat applied to brick
• 3M LX480 cV3 – Envision wrap film with laminate with 8548 gloss laminate

Elevator lobby wall graphics

• Applied in four buildings
• Printed on 3M IJ 180 C with a 3M 8520 Scotchcal matte overlaminate
• Installed to painted drywall

ADA signage

• Interior wayfinding graphics
• Aluminum panels direct printed and wall mounted

Room ID signs

• For 1,280 apartment units
• 1/8″ thick P99 acrylic sub-surface painted with brushed aluminum paint
• Charcoal raised copy and border and grade 2 Braille