Forest Lawn Memorial Park & Mortuaries had a new mall cart at the Northridge Fashion Center and reached out to us to customize it. We had done similar work for their mall cart at The Shops at Montebello about a year ago so we had a good idea of what they wanted the cart to look like.
Adding illumination always helps attract attention. The cart has an internally illuminated, double-sided panel so both sides of the cart have a backlit panel. We digitally printed the artwork provided onto translucent vinyl and adhered them to the existing panels. We use translucent vinyl so the light can shine through the graphics; the existing panels were already translucent. If we printed the graphics onto opaque vinyl, the vinyl would block the light and would not provide the wanted effect. Most of the illuminated signs you see around that have a color or an image that is illuminated uses translucent material.
The rest of the graphics were non-illuminated and we digitally printed the artwork onto removable adhesive back vinyl. This material was opaque because it didn’t need to be internally illuminated. We used removable material so these graphics could be removed in the future. The illuminated sign faces are installed on panels so removal is not a problem.
Production is fairly simple, we just need to set up the printer with the proper artwork, laminate the prints, and mount them onto the necessary substrate. Since the cart was already at the mall, we needed to go to the Northridge Fashion Center for installation. Regardless of whether we’re installing a large storefront sign or graphics on a cart, we need to come before or after mall hours. Malls are very busy and any floor area is a walkway so we need to come when the mall is closed to do any work.