Sign Company in Kent, Ohio | Campus & Athletic Graphics

In Kent, the wall you want the program's history on is painted block.

That is the whole problem, and it is why so many recognition walls in athletic buildings end up as something hung on the wall rather than a graphic that is part of it. Standard vinyl will not stay on block. The texture leaves air gaps, the adhesive only ever touches the high points, and the graphic starts lifting at the edges within months. So the safe answer becomes a plaque, a framed banner, or nothing at all.

There is a different answer, and it is the one the work at Kent State is printed on. BrickWrap is a printed film that is heated and worked down into the texture so it follows the block instead of bridging it. It is why we will quote walls other shops turn down.

DG Creativ is in Stow, which borders Kent. We measure the wall ourselves, spec the film to the surface, and install it.

The proof: Kent State University

Men's soccer, hallway recognition wall. Historical team photographs printed on 3mm PVC Sintra, set as a corridor display beneath a BrickWrap graphic reading "Kent State Men's Soccer 1965–1990." Sintra for the photographs, because a rigid panel holds a clean flat edge at eye level in a hallway people brush past all day. BrickWrap for the header, because the wall behind it is block.

Softball locker room. Hallway graphics on BrickWrap, die-cut BrickWrap graphics, and door graphics printed on smooth-surface film with a matte overlaminate. Two surfaces in one room and two different films: the hallway is block, the doors are smooth and get touched every single day, and a matte overlaminate on a door keeps fingerprints and glare off the graphic.

Both jobs are published with photographs on the school and athletic branding page.

Two surfaces in one room is the normal case, not the exception

A locker room corridor is block. The doors are smooth painted metal. The trophy case is glass. The floor is sealed concrete. Four surfaces, and a single roll of standard cast vinyl is the wrong material for three of them.

This is the part that decides whether a job is still there in five years. Spec the film to the surface it is going on:

Block, brick, EIFS and stucco — BrickWrap, heated and worked into the texture rather than laid over it. Brick and textured masonry graphics
Smooth painted drywall or metal — standard cast vinyl, with a matte overlaminate anywhere hands reach. Wall graphics and murals
Glass and glazed tile — window film, perforated or frosted. Window graphics, perf and frosted film
Anything that has to read as an object rather than a picture — cut on a CNC table from 3mm or 6mm PVC Sintra, brushed aluminum DiBond or clear acrylic, depending on where it sits and who touches it. Printed acrylic, Sintra and DiBond signage

What goes up in Kent

Recognition and record walls — program history, era boards, all-time rosters and championship displays, in materials chosen for the wall they are going on. School and athletic branding
Locker room and corridor graphics — including die-cut work on block, and door graphics with a matte overlaminate.
Gym and field house wall graphics — mascots, lettering and murals on block, brick or painted drywall. Wall graphics and murals
Dimensional lettering and logos — CNC-cut Sintra, DiBond and acrylic, and sculpted foam for anything that has to stand off the wall. Dimensional foam products
Scoreboard and stadium banners — measured to the frame opening, tensioned flat, installed from a lift. Backlit scoreboard banners
Mesh fence banners — perforated so wind passes through instead of turning the banner into a sail. Mesh banners
Wayfinding and building identity — directories, room identification and donor recognition. Wayfinding signage and directories
Window and door graphics, including privacy film for offices and training rooms. Window graphics and film
Floor graphics, in materials rated for the traffic and removable from a finished floor. Floor graphics

Three things that decide whether a Kent job goes well

Fresh paint and cold walls. Newly painted block needs roughly three to four weeks to cure before film will bond to it reliably, and the surface wants to be somewhere between about 60 and 90°F when the graphic goes on. An unheated field house in January is a reason to reschedule, not a reason to push on. Tell us the paint date and we will schedule around it.

A recognition wall gets added to. Records get broken and eras keep going. The decision worth making at the start is whether the wall is a single printed panel or a system that takes a new name without being rebuilt. We did this for North Royalton with a 5 ft by 10 ft Suburban League board using interchangeable nameplates on a hook-and-loop system, so the board never has to be fully replaced when the lineup changes. The same thinking applies to an all-time roster or a record board.

You cannot spec film off a photograph. Whether a wall is painted block, sealed block, EIFS or skim-coated drywall changes the material, and so does how much relief the texture actually has. On-site measurement across Northeast Ohio is free, and for block it is worth the visit before anyone quotes a square foot price.

Common questions

Will a wall graphic stay on cinder block?
Yes, with the right film. Standard cast vinyl will not — the texture leaves air gaps, the adhesive only touches the high points, and the graphic lifts within months. BrickWrap is heated and worked down into the texture so it follows the surface instead of bridging it. It is slower to install and it is the difference between a graphic that lasts and one that peels.

Do you work with universities as well as high schools?
Yes. Recent campus work includes Kent State University, John Carroll University and Malone University, alongside district work for North Royalton City Schools and the Stow-Munroe Falls, Nordonia and Copley high schools.

When should campus wall graphics be installed?
Whenever the space can be handed over and the temperature suits the material, which wants to be applied at roughly 60 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The thing that most often moves the date is paint: if a wall is being repainted first, build three to four weeks of cure time into the schedule before graphics go on.

Can a record or recognition wall be updated later?
Yes, if it is built for it. A single printed panel has to be reprinted; a board with interchangeable nameplates takes a new name without being rebuilt. Say at the start whether the content will change, because it decides the construction rather than the artwork.

Why are door graphics printed differently from the wall?
Because a door is smooth and it gets touched every day. Door work goes on smooth-surface film with a matte overlaminate, which keeps fingerprints and glare off the graphic. The block wall beside it takes a different film entirely.

How far is Kent from DG Creativ?
Kent borders Stow, where we are based. On-site measurement across Northeast Ohio is free, and for textured masonry it is worth doing before anything is quoted.

Signs and graphics in Kent, Ohio

DG Creativ is a Stow company serving Kent, Ravenna, Brimfield, Franklin Township, Streetsboro, Tallmadge, Munroe Falls, Hudson, Cuyahoga Falls, Mogadore, Aurora and the rest of Portage and Summit counties. Schools and athletic programs, universities, municipalities, manufacturers and healthcare.

Request a quote or call 330.968.0678.