Application Spotlight: A Welcome Rebranding for HP

Hewlett Packard’s Welcome Center in Palo Alto, California, recently underwent a drastic rebranding endeavor. HP hand selected SpeedPro Imaging, from Marin, California, for the job, which included six projects in one, with the help of Art Lab Studios in Berlin, Germany. The project spanned a total of approximately nine months with six completely dedicated to conversations and planning.

The project entailed multiple applications including traditional and multi-dimensional wall murals, window graphics, and a direct-print brushed metal aluminum composite wall treatment. 

“The space was being completed remodeled, which meant multiple site visits and measurements to ensure we factored in all the modification and obstructions that would impact the mural and installation,” explained Steve Moran-Cassese, principal, SpeedPro Imaging – Marin. “We also ran numerous color tests to get the best balance for orange and grey – those two colors can be some of the more difficult ones to hit in CMYK.”

Forest Wall Mural – The mural was made up of two parts.  HP PVC-free wallpaper was used for the primary wall at a size of 38-ft x 11-ft.  The secondary wall area is an inset window spanning 15-ft x 9-ft.  Oracal 3640/210 matte laminate was used for this area, allowing some indirect light to illuminate the print from the back side.  The application was installed in an HP meeting room.  Graphics were produced on an HP 280 Latex printer. 

Mission Walls – SpeedPro Imaging - Marin produced two wall graphics in the guest corridor.  The Mission Wall was a complex project consisting of a first surface mural with a secondary set of overlay graphics, mounted to 6mm PVC.  The secondary graphic prints then had to be precisely aligned over the primary wall mural. “During the print production process, we had to color-match each of the 14 prints on 14 different materials for the Mission Wall to ensure they matched the primary mural,” said Moran-Cassese. The mural was printed on 3M 40c/210 matte laminate.  The secondary graphic prints were printed on multiple media using HP 280 Latex and Designjet printers.

Painted Ladies Dimensional Wall Treatment – The most complex piece of the project, the Painted Ladies (a famous set of homes in San Francisco) was comprised of wall covering media and an overlay of secondary prints.  The primary wall graphic was printed by HP Barcelona. “We were tasked with printing approximately 80% of the secondary prints and color-matching each to ensure they matched the wall mural,” he mentioned. “Each of the 16 prints were mounted on more than a dozen different substrates of the various sizes. All substrates had to be contour cut, creating a puzzle of secondary graphics.  In mounting the prints to the primary mural, we had to account for numerous variables including the print angles, exact spacing between each print and precise alignment overlay of the graphics.” The secondary prints were produced on a HP FB500 and HP 280 Latex.

Vision Wall – This rebrand included an adhesive vinyl application and white acrylic raised letters.  The wall graphic spans 22-ft x 5-ft. 3M 40C/210 matte laminate was used for the wall mural.  The raised letters were ¼-inch white acrylic and contour cut. Wall mural was printed on an HP 280 Latex printer.  Cut letters were produced using an ESKO XN 44. 

Meeting Room Windows – HP had two objectives in mind for this project: 1) Showcase dynamic branding in a high-traffic customer area. 2) Provide some privacy for the meeting rooms. The oversized window graphics were printed and mounted inside and outside the room. The interior graphics were reverse-printed, then mounted the precisely to match the exterior prints. Graphics were printed on Oracal 3640/210 matte laminate and plotted and were produced on a HP 280 Latex. The wet-apply method was used in the installation process.  

Brushed Metal Aluminum Composite Wall Treatment – Given that much of the rebranding for this project consisted of various adhesive and wallpaper media, HP wanted to create a different look, using different materials.  To spice up a long hallway, direct-print to a brushed metal aluminum composite was selected.  This 66-ft x 7-ft ACM wall treatment consisted of three different images, each approx. 22-ft in length.  Angled cuts were added to both ends of the wall treatment in order the follow the lines of the raised wall.  The brushed metal was printed on an HP FB500 flatbed printer. 

The graphics have been up for a year and are intended to stay up indefinitely.