Long-time client Seattle Tennis Club wanted a new swim record sign to grace the wall near its newly renovated pool and issued us the assignment with some challenging requirements. Make the sign enduring and classy and make it simple and inexpensive to update the records (which could be several times per year). Oh, and their budget didn’t necessarily match their ambition. Between our designer and our sign-making team, we met their budget and timeline, and exceeded their expectations.

We printed the static elements of the sign on our VuTech UV press onto a large white rigid PVC board, then routed an 12” x 18” channel for each age-category record—the elements that change (name, time, year)—so that a single sheet of GPA-manufactured rigid vinyl that we printed in black ink on our HP Indigo small-format digital press nested perfectly into the slot. With a design template we made for each record, changing out “record sheets” in the future will be both easy for STC staff, and inexpensive to print.

We covered the entire board with a clear acrylic sheet held tight by special screws, so that it both protects the printed portion from the elements, and also tightly holds in the rigid vinyl sheets. Finger holes on the outsides of each section allow for the sheets to be easily grabbed to slide in and out. The sign both held together and affixed to the wall with standoffs, and was installed by STC’s own facilities team.

Production Notes:
Product concepting and design, printing onto 3/16” thick polycarbonate our EFi VuTek hybrid UV press, CNC routing on our MultiCam CAD cutter, hand finishing.