Floor graphics

Floor graphics: communicating at eye level, downwards

A floor graphic uses the one surface in a space that everybody looks at and where nobody expects anything. That is exactly what makes it effective: the floor is free of other messages, while walls and shelves are already full.

We print, cut and supply floor graphics for shops, department stores, trade fairs, offices, hospitals, schools and events, from a few arrows to a complete route through a building.

What they are used for

Routing

Arrows, footprints or a continuous line that takes visitors to a department, a till, an entrance or an exit. In large buildings a line on the floor often does more than three signs on the ceiling, because people look down when they are searching.

Promotion

A graphic just in front of a shelf or at the entrance, at the point where the buying decision is made. This is the form most used in retail.

Zoning and safety

Marking of walkways in a warehouse, of a zone around a machine, or of the separation between pedestrians and forklift traffic. Here the demands on wear resistance and slip resistance are higher.

Distance and queueing

Marking of waiting positions at counters and tills.

Anti-slip is a requirement, not an option

A graphic on a walking route makes the floor slippery unless it is made for the job. So work only with laminates that carry a slip-resistance rating, and ask for that rating. That is not a formality: if someone falls on a slippery graphic, liability rests with the operator.

We supply as standard with an anti-slip top layer and state the rating on the quotation. For wet areas — entrances in the rain, washrooms, kitchens — we choose a heavier rating.

The substrate determines everything

Floor graphics bond well to smooth, closed and clean substrates: polished concrete, vinyl, laminate, smooth tiles, epoxy. They bond poorly or not at all to rough tiles with wide joints, to carpet, to untreated concrete and to surfaces with a film of grease or a maintenance product.

Two practical rules. Always clean with water and no maintenance product before application — a freshly polished floor is the single biggest cause of graphics lifting. And leave the graphic alone for a few hours after application before anyone walks on it.

For carpet there are special versions with a coarser adhesive layer. For rough outdoor surfaces, asphalt graphics are the right choice, not ordinary floor graphics.

Indoors or outdoors, and for how long

Indoor graphics for a campaign of a few weeks can be produced in a lighter specification. For permanent routing or warehouse marking, choose a heavier film with a thicker laminate, because trolleys and forklifts run over it.

Outdoors, UV, frost and salt come into play. An indoor film discolours and breaks up there within a few months. We match the film to the expected service life and say so when a cheaper specification will do.

Removal without damage

A graphic that has been down for four years leaves a shadow or adhesive residue on some substrates. For temporary campaigns and in rented spaces that is a point to settle beforehand, not afterwards. There are films with a removable adhesive layer; they bond slightly less strongly but come away cleanly. That is why we always ask whether the graphic is meant to be temporary or permanent.

What determines the price?

Floor graphics have no fixed unit price. The cost follows from the size and the shape — a rectangle is more economical than a contour-cut shape —, the number of pieces, because the set-up cost of the printing is spread across the run, the choice of film and the slip-resistance rating of the laminate, whether the specification is for indoors or outdoors and how long it has to last, whether the adhesive is permanent or removable, and whether we produce the design and carry out the installation.

Give us the quantity, the size and the type of substrate, and you will receive a quotation with those items set out separately.

Requesting a proposal

Send us a photo of the floor and your design or brand guidelines. We will tell you honestly whether the substrate is suitable and propose the right specification.