Cima Network Fabricates Building Signs for Iowa Cinema-Brewpub

Mark Lockett is a business-development executive for Cima Network (Montgomeryville, PA).

Flix Brewhouse is America’s only first-run movie theatre to incorporate a fully functioning microbrewery. This brilliant new concept, like many great ideas, originated in Austin, TX. Cima was introduced to the Flix team in 2013 by JKR Partners, a Philadelphia-based, architecture and environmental-design firm that understood Flix was a growing concept that demanded unique, iconic signage to boost its brand. Over the next year, Cima worked with Flix’s management team to develop exterior and interior signage standards that would maximize the impact of its logo and elevate its customers’ experience with the brand.

For its second location, Flix selected the Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines, IA, which opened in 1959 and, according to its website, houses more than 90 stores and restaurants, and remains a key shopping destination for its region. Becoming an anchor tenant at this site presented numerous branding obstacles – its entry point, on the mall’s south side, has no frontage that faces the primary entrance road on its east side.

From the outset, the stakeholders’ principal goal focused on creating an inviting and impactful entry with visibility from multiple sides. The main entry includes large, glass windows and unobstructed views of Flix’s brewing tanks. Therefore, our goal was to design signage elements that would accent the entry and complement the impressive tanks.

Idea fermentation
Keith Denny, Cima’s design VP, worked with Flix and the mall’s architect, DLR Group, to develop a branded, 55-ft.-tall, tower feature that would extend high enough for patrons on the mall’s opposite side to locate Flix’s entry.
After several design revisions, Denny’s concept included breaking the plane of the roof’s top tower with a logo sign and a background cladding structure built with Mitsubishi Plastics Alpolic MNC Mica skin. From our fabrication partner’s previous success with this material, we were confident it would perform well. Building the tower allowed the mug logo to extend above all other structures and become a recognizable beacon at all entry points of the 1,000,000-plus-sq.-ft. property.

The Flix logo’s design presented its own challenges; creating a version that yields consistent lighting and is easily interpreted at 50 ft. above grade. After having sampled several logo versions, Cima developed one with a subtle white outline around the shape that clearly defines the mug and filmstrip details.

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Once the client accepted the final design, we handed it off to Cima’s technical designers, Tom Kay and Will Wray, to outline fabrication and installation details. Collectively, the Cima team detailed the 8-ft.-tall, illuminated mug logos, with surrounding rings and custom decorative caps, to sit atop the tower feature. Translucent-plastic inserts, which illuminate the tower’s edge, became the final touches in creating an entry statement that elevates the customer experience.

The brewery
Mark Wells, one of our lead fabricators of custom signage and architectural elements, directed the production of the custom ring and mug logo. Wells has more than 20 years of experience manufacturing casino, stadium and entertainment-venue signage. Keith and Will discussed the project’s design intent with Mark.

The timeframe was tight, and Des Moines’ city government required a variance to approve the components, which reduced Cima’s lead time. To meet the condensed timeframe, we assigned two additional fabricators, Larry Cellucci and Chris Paszynin, to tackle accompanying channel letters.
The white background behind the mug logo took shape; a 0.125-in.-thick, aluminum face covered a 6-in.-deep, aluminum-angle frame. A vertical seam filled and finished for a flawless appearance.

Cima fabricated the outer ring with 0.080-in.-thick returns and polycarbonate faces decorated with Avery Dennison Graphics Solutions MPI 2025 sunflower-yellow, translucent vinyl, illuminated with MaxBrite warm-white LEDs. Looking ahead toward installation, Wells’ team fabricated the ring logo in three sections with ship-lap seams and a removable bottom section that easily accommodates mounting hardware.

The project’s design intent presents the mug logo as the featured element; it sits proudly within the surrounding ring. This mug logo presented various challenges. First, we played with the printed mug image and experimented with several color options before we struck the right balance of the logo’s warm colors and accentuation of the glass’ condensation beads.

While printing this image, we noticed the mug blended with the surrounding filmstrip, and could create difficulty for new customers trying to understand the logo. Denny devised a sign variation – a slight, white outline around the entire image that better defines the separate elements. We printed the final logos with Avery Dennison’s MPI 2025 translucent film on our Roland SolJet Pro III XJ-640 printer with eco-solvent inks. Then, we applied the prints to a white, polycarbonate background. The mug logos feature frosted-acrylic back panels spaced 2 in. above the white background, which allows a warm halo effect and adds brilliance to the logo.

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The large logos’ final challenge involved creating an adjustable frame that allows them to flexibly straddle the top of the tower; building measurements couldn’t be verified prior to fabrication. We joined the two logos together with a 4 x 4-in., aluminum-angle spread frame with mounting that’s adjustable in ½-in. increments, which allows a snug fit over the Alpolic tower cap. A rolled, 0.080-in., painted-aluminum cap seamlessly joins the two logos.

Fill ’er up
For installation, Cima engaged our Des Moines-based, preferred local installer, Signs-N-More, to work alongside Jim Rose, our director of field services. Gary Mills helped coordinate installation, and Doug Lee, Signs-N-More’s lead installation technician, also played a huge part in a successful job.

The tower and signs’ installation were slated for completion in five or six working days. As expected, Des Moines December weather didn’t cooperate. A few weather delays crunched our installation timeframe to three days for completion. Rose and Lee’s team attacked this project full throttle, working into the weekend to get all of the elements installed within the committed timeframe. The mug logo’s construction enabled the final cap’s dimension to be measured onsite; installers adjusted the aluminum spreader frame and installed the logo.

Like an orchestra, our team began the installation just a few hours after the Alpolic cladding was completed. Using its Elliott G85R Hi-Reach, the Signs-N-More team started placing signs on the tower’s south end. Working on a JLG 600s boom lift, Rose assisted with securing the logos.
Once they’d placed the first logo, the team moved to the tower’s north side and mounted the second.

They secured the angle frame to create one large logo structure that straddles the top of the tower. Once they’d placed and wired the logos, the team installed the sets of facelit, LED-illuminated Flix Brewhouse channel letters on each side of the tower. Next, our team exited the Des Moines cold and finished wiring the elements inside the tower.

The client was extremely pleased with the result. As movie-theater owners and operators face increasingly stiff competition for the public’s entertainment dollar, innovative concepts are required to make moviegoing a more attractive proposition. Flix Brewhouse provides an enticing atmosphere for next-generation movie buffs to enjoy films in a lively, comfortable atmosphere. And, as always, compelling signage helps get them there.

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EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS
Printer: SolJet Pro III XJ-640 eco-solvent ink printer, from Roland DGA Corp. (Irvine, CA), (800) 542-2307 or www.rolanddga.com
Vinyl: MPI 2025 translucent film, from Avery Dennison Graphics Solutions (Painesville, OH), (800) 282-8379 or www.averygraphics.com
Lifts: Elliott HiReach G85R aerial crane truck, from Elliott Equipment Co. (Omaha, NE), (402) 592-4500 or www.elliottequip.com; boom lift, from JLG (McConnellsburg, PA), (877) 554-5438 or www.jlg.com
Router: Eight x 12-ft. CNC router, from MultiCam (DFW Airport, TX), (972) 929-4070 or www.multicam.com
Substrate: Alpolic MNC mica, architectural-cladding material, from Mitsubishi Plastics Composites America Inc. (Chesapeake, VA), (800) 422-7270 or www.alpolic.com
Software: SketchUp 3-D software, from Trimble Navigation Ltd. (Sunnyvale, CA), www.sketchup.com; CorelDraw Graphics Suite X7, from Corel Corp. (Ottawa, ON, Canada), www.corel.com
Lighting: Warm-white, 4,500k, waterproof LED modules, from MaxBrite LED Lighting Technology LLC (San Jose, CA), (800) 297-2210 or www.maxbrite.com
Coatings: Acrylic-polyurethane paint, from such vendors as Matthews, a division of PPG (Delaware, OH), (800) 323-6593 or www.signpaint.com

More About Mark and Cima Network
Cima Network (Montgomeryville, PA) designs, fabricates and installs exterior and interior signage, wayfinding and environmental branding for clients nationwide. Mark Lockett, Cima’s sales manager, has worked in the sign industry for 10 years, and for the Cima team for more than four years. He helps manage Cima Network’s growth and expansion by synthesizing clients’ needs with Cima’s process. His project-management experience includes supervising sign-production programs for such large-scale, multi-site projects as airports, stadiums, healthcare facilities and entertainment venues. Mark’s capabilities include sourcing, selecting and managing subcontractors, and honoring budgetary guidelines.
For more information, visit www.cimanetwork.com