In Irvine, CA - this is the Alton Marketplace in the Irvine Spectrum.

As environmental graphics painters, projects like this are "meat and potatoes"... or, "beans and rice"... well, hopefully you understand!

The building is 648 feet on the long portion, 221 feet on the side portion, and 30 feet high. We were given the task of painting this graphic pattern on both portions in a very bright, eye-catching array of colors. This will be accented in the near future with a pair of channel letter signs to read "Alton Marketplace - Irvine Spectrum".

Let the fun begin!

As always, the design starts with a scale drawing - the designers in this case had a pretty accurate set of elevation drawings to do their magic with. Here is the drawing we received:

Here is a typical scale drawing we used in the field:

The best way to recreate this at full size was to make paper patterns for each of the giant spokes of the pinwheel, except for the smallest two sizes which would be full or partial patterns. The paper pattern is perforated with tiny holes, then placed in the proper location based on the scale drawing, then the perforations are dusted with (in this case) white baby powder (about $2.98 at Walmart!!) to transfer the design to the wall. It's laborious, but still the best way.

The client had requested we apply reflective glass beads into the paint before it dried, to be able to pick up some light. That was what we did - I don't think it had a lot of effect, but in some light it does seem to make the graphics glow a bit.

Custom colors were a part of the job. We used One-Shot's Fieldmaster product, satin finish.

We worked in sections. The design was transferred to each section then the painting began. Here are the four sections in order:

And a few progress shots…

Don't mind giving credit to the hardworking, professional crew - Alex Kurakake, James Thomas, Tracey Moloney, Amanda Lutz, and Remy Chwae.

Cut the outside edges, roll paint, blow the glass beads into it, and repeat until done.

Here is a close-up of the beads embedded in the paint - it picks up the sunlight, here:

Finally, in the evening light the glass beads did pick up light - here's how it looked:

Another happy client was the result.

You might be thinking about getting this kind of project done, Do you know where to start? I can tell you - contact me, Paul Borne (president of Big City Signs) to find out more.

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