Liquid Gears, the most ambitious project yet undertaken for Winzeler Gear, is the result of nearly a year of experimentation and production. It started out as a large blank wall in the new plant addition. John Winzeler saw the possibilities of an oversize mural filling the space with design and color, and contacted Schrempp Photo Digital to come up with ideas for the art. Many proposals later, we decided upon a highly graphic, colorful depiction of gears dripping with color which would lend a pop art feeling to the clean open spaces of the new plant.
The five-color palette is drawn from the five accent paints used in the plant to highlight mechanical and architectural details: Teal green, bright orange, deep purple, a reflex blue and a brilliant yellow. Each of the colors was acquired in the form of epoxy paints into which the various gears were submerged and then lifted out. The dripping gears were then photographed in studio digitally and the resulting files hand outlined and assembled into a long, wide rectangle.
As the image evolved, the eighteen individual shots were kept on discrete layers so that they could be nudged and arranged to accomodate the realities of the site. A large doorway and existing permanent equipment had to be taken into account, as well as the height at which people on the shop floor could view the piece. Future machine installations also had to be considered.
The scale of the piece itself, some 14 feet high and 44 feet in length, created production issues that required calling in the folks at Chicago Scenic Studios for their expertise in creating and installing large graphics. Working with Pete Rahill at CSS and the enormously patient folks at Brooke Graphics, we output the photograph on heavy self-adhesive vinyl with a UV lamination to protect it from sun and moisture. The installation itself was completed in half a day.
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