We were approached about painting wall graphics for NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. Plum Brook Station is a remote test facility for the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Located on 6,400 acres in the Lake Erie community of Sandusky, Plum Brook is home to four world-class test facilities, which perform complex and innovative ground tests for the international space community (source: NASA).

The research center needed a large door to be covered in the NASA logo, the American flag, and lettering. This door is over 58 feet tall and 24 feet wide. NASA wanted graphics 12 feet wide installed on the door. Our initial idea was to apply a large format vinyl print to the door, a modern sign industry standard, but we were told the project specifically required painted graphics.

To accomplish this task we needed to pool our resources from a couple of our divisions. Even though the final product on the door wasn’t vinyl graphics, a large stencil pattern was created by our Express division and applied to the door in order to create some of the large elements of the design. Our Custom Shop painting crew manned a JLG lift in order to access the area where the graphics would be created. They applied the stencils and began the painting process.

This project took some skills that have fallen to the wayside of the sign industry in recent years. Hand lettering was needed in many parts of the project. Our master signmakers had to apply paint to create letters without the use of aid of stencils. This process used to be the only way to create a sign before the invention of computer cut vinyl. Easy Sign was up to the task!

This project allowed us to showcase a great mix of modern and traditional sign making techniques. It is just another example of the commitment that Easy Sign has to getting the project done the right way. This mural will be proudly displayed in the Plum Brook Station for many years to come!

Installed: August 2018

Location: Sandusky, Ohio

Sign Products: Wall Murals & Graphics

Division: Custom Shop