ARTfx Develops Sign System for CT Credit Union

Charter Oak Credit Union, a Waterford, CT-based financial institution, wanted the environmental graphics at its headquarters to provide a powerful branding impression. Working with Point One Architects, which designed the exterior signage, and Outthink, which laid out the interior signs, ARTfx (Bloomfield, CT) fabricated the comprehensive program, and prepped the files using CorelDRAW X6 software.

Steel Art (Norwood, MA) fabricated the 3 x 110-ft., reverse-channel building letters, which comprise satin-finish stainless steel, and were stud-mounted with ½-in. standoffs. ARTfx constructed two tree sculptures from 4-in.-thick Sign*Foam high-density-urethane (HDU) panels laminated with Chemetal light-stainless-steel-finish, anodized aluminum. The shop sprayed the edges with Akzo Nobel’s Grip-Gard® coarse-finish, silver paint. ARTfx illuminated the job’s painted-aluminum channel letters with 5,000K, white LEDs, and backed them with frosted polycarbonate to further enhance Charter Oak’s exterior identity.

Inside the facility, glass-panel graphics were created from plotter-cut Avery Dennison Graphic Solutions’ Etchmark film, and wall graphics from plotter-cut, custom-printed Gerber 220 cast film. The five-part, pictorial display – which features the institution’s mission statement – and building-dedication panel were built with 3/8-in.-thick acrylic with polished edges with reverse-applied digital prints. ARTfx secured all sign groupings within their frames with Gyford Standoff Systems hardware.

3Form’s Chroma Reflect substrate, some of which was decorated with reverse-applied copy on overlaid acrylic, provides the “floating” panels. The “Hello” letters and bank logo, which measure 12 in. tall x 2.5 in. deep, were fabricated from ¼-in.-thick acrylic that’s bonded to 1/8-in.-thick returns. The shop airbrushed letter interiors with translucent, orange paint, and lit them with white, 5,000K LEDs. ARTfx handpainted Charter Oak’s two murals with Benjamin Moore acrylic-latex paint.