ICON’s Arizona Centennial Exhibit Graphics

This year, Arizona proudly celebrates its statehood centennial. To commemorate it, the Arizona Dept. of Tourism’s Centennial 2012 Foundation contracted Entertainment Solutions, which subsequently hired ICON Themed Environments, a division of Phoenix-based Image Craft, to develop a series of interactive, educational kiosks for a year-long, traveling mini-museum that will crisscross the state. The project entailed 24,000 sq. ft. of graphics for five, 30 x 60-ft. pavilions that will highlight a series of three-day festivals.

In turn, Icon enlisted JRC Design, a Phoenix-based environmental-graphic-design (EGD) firm, to develop the graphics. The firms had previously worked together on an exhibit series for the Arizona Science Center. Jamie Cowgill, a firm co-principal, said, “The client specified seven themes: general history, military history, storytelling, sports, natural resources, science and the future. Each theme has a sponsor, and they provided stories for which we developed EGD content.”

She continued, “For some sections, we took a hands-on approach and wrote and edited the copy as well as developing the graphics. For others, the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and Arizona’s government employees were very helpful; their staffs gave detailed accounts of their jobs and goals for the state’s economic growth. Arizona’s state historian, Marshall Trimble, also provided a wealth of knowledge. Representatives of Arizona’s professional sports teams also pro-
vided key assistance.”

Along the way, Cowgill learned of several “firsts” Arizona has achieved, despite being the 48th U.S. state. It’s home to the oldest U.S. rodeo nationwide. Arizona is known as the “Softball Capital of the World.” Many of its players joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, active during World War II, which was depicted in the 1991 movie, A League of Their Own.

JRC Design developed all of its exhibit content using Adobe Illustrator. Cowgill marveled how evolved printing and software technologies made a “silk purse from a sow’s ear.

“We had to work with many low-resolution files, yet Icon was able to use Photoshop® and make them look like high-resolution images while printing at only 100 dpi,” Cowgill said.

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Douglas Knab, Icon’s director of sales and design, said the shop has maintained a 20-year relationship with Entertainment Solutions; past collaborative work has included signage, banners and stage graphics for college football’s Fiesta Bowl.

“Ken [Koziol, Entertainment Solutions’ owner] knew that I understood the graphic needs for a traveling museum,” he said. “We’re proud to play a part in showcasing Arizona’s wonder and glory for the centennial.”

Icon’s pavilion-wall panels were constructed from luan plywood and then coated with a smooth, white laminate. The shop printed the graphics on 3M’s Controltac repositionable vinyl on its HP DesignJet L65500 latex-ink printer. Arlon’s Series 3200 clear, matte-finish overlaminate, applied with a Seal 62 Pro laminator, will keep the colors vibrant as the exhibit traverses the Grand Canyon State.

Icon also fabricated several life-size cutouts by printing images directly onto 3A Composites’ 13mm-thick Sintra® composite material on the shop’s EFI-VUTEk QS 3220 hybrid printer. Then, the figures were cut to shape on a MultiCam 3000 CNC router, and the figures were edge-painted black with Matthews acrylic-polyurethane paint. Icon also accent-uated the façade exteriors with 3-D signage similarly fabricated to the figure cutouts.

For the entrances, Icon created 30 x 18-ft. facades from 1-in.-sq., tube steel. The graphics were printed on 13-oz., frontlit banner material, stretched over the custom-fabricated steel structures, and mounted with screws and Velcro® adhesive strips. The graphics were printed on an HP Scitex XLJet solvent-ink printer and laminated with an Arlon topcoat. Icon also created side and rear, exterior wall graphics applied to frontlit banner material and installed with pole pockets and conduit attached to
the tent exteriors.

“There was a tremendous challenge in distilling a tremendous amount of information and imagery down to a manageable size without compromising the whole story,” Knab said. “We signed the contract in July of last year, and the pavilion graphics had to be ready in time for the Prescott Best Fest, which took place in September. It was a proud moment for all involved to play a role in educating Arizonans about the history of our great state.”
 

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