Signs of the Times - February 2013 - (Page 24)
STRICTLY ELECTRIC
Jim Wasserstrom is president of
Advance Sign Group (Columbus, OH)
By Jim Wasserstrom
The Butterfly Effect
Advance Sign Group creates “fluttery” hospital signage
Editor’s Note: According to chaos
theory, a mathematical field of
study developed by Edward Lorenz,
a meteorology professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
small differences in dynamically
changing environments (such as
weather systems) could yield wildly
divergent outcomes. The title of his
academic paper on the subject was
titled, “Predictability: Does a Butterfly’s Wings’ Fluttering in Brazil Set
Off a Tornado in Texas?” Thus,
the theory became known as “the
butterfly effect.”
The analogy may seem a bit
melodramatic in comparison to the
project Wasserstrom recounts in this
column, but, given the positive
image that quality signage can
incubate for an end user, installation of attractive signage, with
decorative butterflies, reasonably
will only build a positive image of a
place where physicians wish to build
their medical practices, and patients
remember as an ideal place for sick
or injured children to receive competent, compassionate medical care.
In March 2012, Turner managing an
Construction,
the general contractor
expansion of Columbus’ Nationwide
Children’s Hospital, awarded us the
contract to fabricate and install the
project’s exterior-wall-sign package.
The job comprised four sets of
halo-illuminated letters, which
read “Nationwide Children’s”, and
incorporated a logo that features
various species of butterflies indigenous to Ohio. We also mounted a
large set of butterflies to an exterior
side wall of the new expansion
hospital. “Team ASG” immediately
assumed full production mode to
meet the ironclad June 8 completion
deadline – the opening date for
the hospital’s new section (with
an accompanying fundraising gala
Advance Sign Group (Columbus, OH) fabricated channel letters and framed butterflies
for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. The project carried an ironclad deadline: the opening date of a new hospital wing (with, predictably, an accompanying gala).
planned by the hospital).
The City of Columbus granted us
a variance that greenlighted all sign
sizes and locations.
To the letter
The four sets of individually mounted,
halo-lit channel letters range in
height from 3 ft. 8 in. to 7 ft. We
used CorelDraw 6 to create all
renderings, which included those
developed for our shop, the contractors and project stakeholders.
CorelDraw offers dimensioning
features that Adobe doesn’t, which
allowed a seamless transition from
customer renderings to product
drawings.
The hospital’s marketing team and
a group of design firms collaboratively
24 SIGNS OF THE TIMES / FEBRUARY 2013 / www.signweb.com
developed the logo. Executing the
sign program required balancing
the design and its colors, shapes
and lighting without compromising
the pattern details in each butterfly’s
wings. This phase’s biggest challenge was devising the butterflies’
antennae, which appeared to be
thin lines in the design phase. To
produce them, we changed the sign
cabinets’ contours to encompass
the antennae, and allow printed
graphics to produce the appearance
of thin lines.
The end user wanted to see a
full-size mock-up of the butterfly
to review prior to releasing the
entire project for fabrication. Team
ASG’s production department
worked overtime to create the
http://www.signweb.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - February 2013
Signs of the Times - February 2013
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Electric
LED Update
Software Update
Technology Review
Technology Review
Sign Museum News
New Products
Dressed to Impress
Uniqlo’s In-store Digital Signage
Pursuing a Different Rout
Word on the Street Signs
Industry News
Advertising Index
Editorially Speaking
Signs of the Times - February 2013
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