Marymount California University Signage and Banners

Marymount California University is an independent, Catholic, coeducational and residential university with two of its three campuses located in Southern California. The Oceanview campus in Rancho Palos Verdes encompasses 26-acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Catalina Island and Trump National Golf Club. The other Southern California campus is the Waterfront Campus in San Pedro. The University's third campus site is in Northern California near Clear Lake in Lucerne.  There are Residential Communities in San Pedro with the largest near Palos Verdes Drive North and Western Avenue.

In 2013, Marymount College announced it was changing its name to Marymount California University (MCU) to "reflect the gradual transformation of the 45-year-old institution of higher education to a future multisite institution with undergraduate and graduate programs."

The name change required revised monument signage, new way finding signage, sign maintenance and new parking lot pole banners. With great intentions all around, ultimately the schedule allowed just 3 weeks for project completion. The university furnished the new logo artwork and the banner artwork; the new lettering was up to us to create.

The tasks:

* Strip off the old lettering, repaint and apply new lettering to the main RPV monument sign

* Strip off the old lettering, repaint and apply new lettering to 5 small monument signs used for way finding throughout the campus.

* Strip off the old lettering, repaint and apply new lettering to the main entry detail sign.

* Apply new lettering to four doors.

* Print and install 25 new two-sided parking lot banners located throughout campus

* Strip off the old lettering, and apply new lettering to the SP residential campus monument sign

* Print and install a new three piece fence banner that welcomes students to the RPV campus from the new parking lot.

With any project there are always little challenges that arise. And so we begin:

Below are before and after pictures of the main RPV monument sign. The first challenge was selecting a solid vinyl color that matched the new University logo style guide. The blue was pretty close; the available dark grays weren’t dark enough, so we used a matte black. The second challenge was an eleventh hour administration request to insure the new street address lettering met current LA County Fire Department signage size codes (3”).  And the large lettering certainly could have clashed with the new logo. Once we decided to use a medium gray for the street address the next step was to strip off the old lettering and repaint the sign. All of the RPV monument signs were in need of paint; rust was starting to progress and it made no sense to apply new lettering over old paint.

 

 

What we didn’t expect was 5” of water inside the main RPV entry sign. We have no idea how it got there. There were no obvious seam leaks. We’re sure glad the head of campus operations was there to see the water flowing after we drilled several drain holes. He shot a video of the water; I don't think anyone would have believed us. Once the water retreated, the surface was repaired, sanded and ready for primer. A two-tone paint scheme was in keeping with the previous theme. (note for DIY'ers: due to standing water there is no way to know the extent of any internal rust or corrosion).

The five smaller monument signs required similar sanding and painting to make them look nice. One sign required a bit more extensive repair; we removed that sign and brought it back to the shop for a "tune-up".

 

 

 

 

(this particular sign had been hit by vehicles, dented and needed to be re-secured in the ground)

 

(results of refurbishing)

 

When a project like this is started, a picture of each sign with the accompanying verbiage should be taken. It's important to take notes of the existing lettering height, font style, color and location; then the lettering will need to be re-type set and proofed. A straight shot picture is the best; no angles.

The main detail sign required some small repair and repainting; the approval process took a bit longer due to a new parking lot. We managed to paint and install the lettering just before students arrived back to campus for the fall.

The main monument sign at the residential campus presented us with another challenge. This is City of Los Angeles Fire Department jurisdiction; they have different rules for street address signage than the County Fire Department. The existing street address was 1-3/4” tall and completely inadequate and unreadable from the street. Based on the distance from the street, the formula from The City of Los Angeles regulations requires a 4” tall street address. This sign uses a different construction method as the main RPV sign, it has a brushed aluminum surface. As you can see from the below pictures, the 4” tall address tends to graphically overwhelm the existing sign. The end result works and the sign provides directions for emergency personnel and visitors alike.  If this sign eventually needs replacing, a larger sign would look better; balancing the size of the street address against the logo and sign edges. This example shows why the street address lettering size as directed by the Fire Department might influence the size of a new sign or its location.  

 

 

 

Next on the agenda were 25 new parking lot pole banners to replace the ones I installed two years ago. Had these banners not required replacement due to the name change, the old banners would have lasted another season providing Marymount with a three year life span. I used a different vendor for the pole banners because I feel a long term banner should remain fade free. Outdoor fade free printing can only be accomplished with the UV printing process. Once the banners were printed, a one day install was all that was required for the 25 banners. Our installation crews are insured and licensed which is important to avoid liability issues.

 

 (Old banner)

 

 

 

Thrown into the mix: replace two bulletin boards with new surfaces.

 

 

Lastly there was the 3 fence banners that were installed to welcome new students and visitors to Marymount as they enter from the new rear parking lot. These were simple one sided UV printed banners (mounted back to back) that will be relatively fade free over three years. I ran a wind load calculation on the largest of the three; with a 30 knot wind, the fence would experience a side load of 90 pounds. The fence should be adequate. (There are future plans for a permanent monument sign for this area).

 

 

Overall this was a fun project, the stakeholders are great to work with and I see the results every weekend during my bike ride past the campus.