Gordon Russell Middle School in Gresham, Oregon, reached out to Infinity Images to design, make, and install a school wayfinding system. The plan was to create a map for the entrance, wayfinding signage, and inspirational quote graphics to be placed around the school. During our first meeting to see the school’s space and obtain as-builts, we were challenged to push the boundaries of the initial ask and design a few “wow” moments of discovery.

The Thunderbird school mascot and previously painted décor are based on the artwork of Pacific Northwest Native American tribes. Within Native American tradition, the Thunderbird can have different meanings depending on the region or tribe. It’s widely considered a powerful symbol of life, truth, energy, and destiny.

The new graphics we designed needed to be cohesive with the existing interior décor without appropriating or misrepresenting Native American culture. The school principal actively engaged Pacific Northwest Native American community leaders and Native American art teachers to ensure that what we created respected and honored their history.

The discovery conversations inspired us to bring more than wayfinding signage to the table. We wanted to add something to the school that would encourage students to “Believe” and “Achieve.” So, we direct printed three graphics to .25 and .5” Sintra, and then welded and installed the display in sections. The rest was an engaging lenticular in the school hallway.

For wayfinding signage and pole wraps, we used 3M™ graphic film with an ultra-matte laminate. Using this material allowed for the signs to be easily read under bright lighting. Some classroom signs were accented with direct printing onto birch plywood plaques.

The wayfinding system functions as planned, but with careful design consideration and experience, we elevated the entire look and feel of the school and added a few “wow” moments of discovery along the way. We hope the new graphics give students and staff school pride for many years to come.

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Summary of Infinity Images Services

• Project Management – All materials, budget, timelines, and graphic production was tracked by our project managers.
• Design – We designed the layered acrylic school maps and wood labels with cultural touchpoints.
• Engineering – Our 3D engineering team ideated and digitally constructed the multi-view lenticular wall.
• Prepress – Prepress operators finalized all creative files for large-format printing and cutting.
• Printing – We digitally printed direct to wood, vinyl, acrylic and Sintra to create the directional signage, maps, column wraps, and lenticular wall.
• Cutting – The vinyl gym signage, Sintra lenticular graphics, acrylic dimensional map, and wood hallway labels were digitally cut on our Mimaki and Zund cutters.
• Fabrication – Our fabrication team mounted and fastened the dimensional map layers.
• Finishing – We assembled the lenticular wall in-house, securing the cleats and applying the dual-sided fin graphics.
• Installation – At last, Gordon Russell’s hallways sported their new branded wayfinding graphics, all installed by our team of 3M Certified Installers.

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Wayfinding graphics are a great way to introduce visual branding into otherwise standard directional signage. We’ve created branded wayfinding signage for clients ranging from schools and corporate headquarters to athletic facilities and stadiums. If you’re in the market for something similar, contact us to learn more!