Gamut Media Murals Help LA Eatery Feel Saladish

Los Angeles Laker basketball player Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest) has become notorious for outlandish acts. He once incited an audience-participation brawl in Detroit, and recently missed an entire playoff series because of a flagrant foul that injured Oklahoma City’s James Harden. However, he acted sensibly by investing in Saladish, a quick-service, casual restaurant that offers healthy salads, soups and wraps at two, Los Angeles-area locations.

World Peace made an even more prudent decision by investing in distinctive wall graphics. He and his fellow owners hired Gamut Media, a Brea, CA-based full-service design/graphic shop, to develop an entire graphic complement for both restaurants. In addition to wall murals, Gamut Media also designed its logo, menus and collateral promotional items. John Kim, Gamut Media’s sales director, said murals represent approximately 10% of its work.

The crew prepped for the series of wall murals, which encompass 1,300 sq. ft., by sanding down wall areas that didn’t already have a wallpaper-ready, grainy texture. Gamut Media prepped all their designs with Adobe Illustrator.

For the project, Gamut selected GMI’s flexible wallpaper, which features a removable, repositionable adhesive. This was especially important for one of the murals, which features a flowering tree that arches with the ceiling over the dining area. Gravity became an enemy. For the flat walls, the design features Saladish’s earthy logo and an appropriate array of green hues. Here, durability was especially important because of close customer contact.

They printed the job on the shop’s Roland DGA VersaCamm SP-540V 54-in.-wide printer/cutter with Eco-Sol Maxx eco-solvent inks. For thorough color saturation, Gamut Media executed the job in eight-pass mode at 360 x 720 dpi.

Predictably, installation of the tree mural proved challenging because gravity attempted to pull it down. Installers patiently applied the mural with 12-in.-wide, felt-tipped squeegees. The tree mural spans over recessed, can lights, so installers had to make precise Olfa® knife cuts to ensure they meshed seamlessly into the design. It also flows effortlessly into vegetation that stretches across crossbeams under the roof’s skylights.

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The project earned a Creativity Award from Roland, and also won the company’s People’s Choice Prize for November, where it prevailed among 95 North American entries.