The Making of a Mural

Not many people can say they had a hand in designing a wall mural. Even less can say they worked on a 24’-6” wide by 16’-10” high mural – but that is exactly what I was up to for the last eight months. It was my very first week as an ISCG employee when they told me about the project, “We want you to design something for this large wall over here”. I felt like a deer in headlights. Not only was it a very large wall, I didn’t even have a grasp on what the company was all about. Luckily, because of my graphic design background, I was pretty confident I could put something together; I just didn’t know what that something was yet.

I grabbed my design book (one of the few books I actually reference from college) to look for inspiration. Coworkers were also trying to help: IKEA postcards, paint splatter apps, Pinterest finds, you name it – every idea was on the table. We even threw around the idea of hanging picture frames in bold colors that surround an assortment of textiles we could periodically swap out.

With all these ideas floating around, it was time to put them to paper. The biggest design challenge was leaving an area free for our projector screen, which we use for meetings and presentations. After noting where the projection landed, I began.

Like any well thought out masterpiece, it was more than just my opinion determining what the final result would be. Trying to interpret what “artsy” means to multiple people is a challenge all its own. Nevertheless, it was back to the drawing board for new and revised ideas.

Next we started playing around with layers, colors, text, and shapes – trying to find the right balance of “artsy” feel. We were also working to incorporate branding by manipulating our letters into different patterns and forms.

Then we finally landed on an idea that clicked. We were able to include color, show our process through floor plans, add depth through texture, incorporate branding with shapes, express our fun side, and most importantly – use our projector.

Although we had numerous revisions before it finally became what it is today, we were in the home stretch. After the sample prints arrived there were a few more tweaks before our eight-month-long project came to a close. On to the next adventure!