Challenge: Use interior wall and window graphics to enhance employee privacy yet maintain an open-concept office environment.

Customer:

Central Graphics, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

National Interstate Insurance, Richfield, Ohio

Application: Interior wall and window graphics

Solution: Mactac IMAGin^® B-free® Frosted Window Films

Project Summary:

When National Interstate Insurance decided to renovate its Richfield, Ohio headquarters, the specialty property and casualty insurance company wanted its new office space to have a welcoming, open-concept design. One of the ways National Interstate sought to create this transparent and engaging environment was by building employee offices that featured a combination of interior glass walls and windows. However, National Interstate also wanted its employees to have a sense of privacy in their workspaces. To achieve the perfect balance of openness and privacy, National Interstate garnered expertise from those at nearby Central Graphics.

For many years, Central Graphics has been designing, printing and installing wall and window graphics to meet their customers’ unique needs. Upon learning of National Interstate’s objective, Central Graphics’ interior designer devised a plan to create custom color-specific wall and window graphics to apply to the glass offices throughout the building. The graphics featured different gradients of color – with one primary color theme on each of the building’s four floors. Additionally, since the interior windows contained double-paned glass, Central Graphics suggested installing the graphics to the second panel of glass, leaving the first panel exposed so employees could use it as a dry erase board.

To complete the job, Central Graphics chose Mactac’s IMAGin^® B-free Frosted Window Film (JX5796MBF v2) – which is known for its ability to apply quickly and easily while eliminating any graphic wrinkling or bubbling. Central Graphics created the finished graphics using an HP Latex printer, followed by a plotter cutter. They applied a premask to mask the graphics for 24 hours then installed them to the glass surfaces using a wet application technique. *Disclaimer - Mactac does not recommend wet application when installing B-free media. View our window media selection technical assistance guide for more information.*

“We always have better luck with graphic application when using Mactac’s B-free products,” says Dave Soulsby, President and CEO of Central Graphics. “With B-free Frosted, installation is extremely easy – whether installing via wet or dry application methods.”

IMAGin^® B-free Frosted Window Film is a 3.1-mil translucent, matte-frosted polymeric PVC film. It is coated on one side with a micro-structured, repositionable permanent clear acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive and is supplied with 80# polycoated layflat liner. The unique adhesive allows for the increased speed of application, without air bubbles or wrinkling. For best results, Mactac recommends dry application when installing IMAGin B-free Window Films.