Putting Windows To Work

Bristol based Voodoo DesignWorks takes a spoonful of its own medicine and refreshes with some window graphics...

Big expanses of glazing are practically everywhere you look on the manmade landscape. They help keep the wind and weather out of building's interior spaces, they let natural light in, and they also afford views in and out.

As part of its 'Refresh' marketing campaign targeted broadly at the emerging opportunities as the country powers up from times of lockdown, Bristol based Voodoo DesignWorks decided to take a dose of its own medicine and brighten its home on the A38 north of the city in the expectation of welcoming customers on site again.

One area of particular attention was a stairwell connecting the building's production floor and design studio. The stairwell has seen a lot of foot-traffic recently due to the lift being out-of-bounds and it was decided that it could be turned toward a promotional role.

A wall mural was considered and actually had the go-ahead until one of Voodoo's designers threw a curve-ball by suggesting a window graphic. The window in question is huge, it only supports a view out to the busy road beyond, and it could be better employed, reasoned the designer, displaying a graphic that reflected the weather conditions and mood outside the building.

In recent history, Voodoo DesignWorks supplied a number of window graphics with designs that hint at the prevailing weather's moods without actually allowing it indoors. The stairwell mural does just that.

During the morning, when the sun's shining, the space-walking astronaut appears to be blasted by a distant sun. When the conditions are more 'British,' the whole things cools down and the mood swings the other way. There's a Voodoo logo rendered into the design which gets the identity continuation into the mural and it contributes rather than detracts.

The mural was printed on an HP Latex printer using Metamark Etch Effect Materials. It's applied to the exterior of the glazing and takes the brunt of the weather. The material in question uses Metamark Apex Adhesive. This solvent based adhesive resists the tendency apparent in some materials to become milky over time so the mural will look good for years.

Voodoo plans to keep a mural on the window but to change the design from time to time and in keeping with the season. The astronaut got the gig this time round because, say the Voodoo creative team, 'it's always sunny in space.'