Retail, storefront and visual merchandising graphics in Las Vegas

Storefront glass: pick the film by what the window has to do

A storefront window does several jobs at once — advertise, let light in, let staff see out, show the hours. The window quote asks what the glass should do and recommends the film. For retail, that usually means one of these:

• Full-colour graphics you can see out through — one-way perforated film on the outside of the glass. The street sees the graphic; from inside, the counter still sees the parking lot. Keep lettering at least 2 inches tall on it. See perforated window film.
• Your logo and a message, with clear glass around it — clear window film printed with a layer of white ink behind the colours so they read solid from the street.
• Cover the glass completely — blockout vinyl, a solid film printed in full colour, for a store under renovation, a coming-soon unit or a stockroom window.
• A promotion that comes down in weeks — static cling on the inside of the glass, with no adhesive, which can come down and go back up again. Window clings vs decals compares the two.
• Privacy for a back office or fitting area — frosted film, which lets light through but not a clear view. See frosted window film.

Hours, doors and the details customers read

The small print on a storefront does a lot of work: store hours, phone number, website, suite number, entry and accessibility notices. Cut vinyl lettering puts only the letters on the glass, with no film around them, and arrives masked on application tape so the spacing goes on exactly as designed. Lettering on the inside of the glass is printed reversed so it reads correctly from outside, and stays out of reach and out of the weather.

Cut lettering needs vector artwork — a PDF, AI, EPS or SVG with the text in outlines. Size it for where people stand: hours are read from the sidewalk, the store name from across the lot. Tape a paper mock-up to the glass and step back before you order. More on vinyl lettering.

Visual merchandising: the printed side of the display

Your visual merchandising team or agency decides the story, the props and the fixtures. We're the print and install shop behind it: we print the graphics to their files and sizes and put them up. The pieces we make for displays:

• Window display backdrops — a printed backdrop on a freestanding wall or panel behind the display: vinyl on your own panel, or a printed rigid board that comes out whole when the window changes. See rigid signs.
• Graphics that frame the window — a printed border, headline or campaign line on the glass in clear film or static cling, kept clear of the sightline into the display.
• Feature and back walls — wall graphics behind a feature table or across the back wall that pull shoppers through the store. See wall graphics.
• Floor graphics that lead somewhere — a path, an arrow or a logo that walks people to the new collection, with an anti-slip finish. See floor graphics.
• Counters, cases and fixture faces — permanent vinyl on smooth counters, cases and panels that won't change, or removable vinyl for a season.
• Hanging and standing signs — banners, printed boards and decals for shelves, cases and registers.

When the display needs building

We don't design visual merchandising or build fixtures and props. When a window needs a built set, a fixture or a scenic piece, our sister company Innovate 3D designs and builds it, and The Job Shop cuts routed panels, letters and shapes. We print the graphics that go on them, so the files, the proof and the install stay with one print shop.

Seasonal changeovers and rollouts

A retail calendar is a series of changeovers: a holiday window, a sale, a new season, a launch. Plan the take-down when you plan the install. Tell the quote how long a graphic stays up and that it must come off clean, and it picks a film for that — removable or low-tack vinyl on walls; one-way, frosted or blockout film or static cling on glass. Clear lettering film uses a long-term adhesive and takes more work to remove, so it suits the details that stay, like hours.

Static cling has no adhesive, so a promotion that comes back every year can be peeled off, stored and put up again. Choose “take it down later” on the quote and our crew comes back on the date you set with us to remove what we installed.

Rolling a campaign out to several stores? Send each location's window and wall sizes. Each version gets its own file and its own proof, so whoever approves sees exactly what will print for each store.

Floor graphics in a store

Every vinyl floor graphic we print for a hard floor carries a textured anti-slip laminate, and we don't sell them without it. Large pieces butt together rather than overlap, so there's no edge for a cart wheel or a shoe to catch. Carpet takes a carpet graphic film instead, and a sidewalk graphic at the entrance takes a conformable film for concrete — with your landlord's approval.

Floor graphics are made for weeks to months of foot traffic and cleaning, not years. For an entrance logo or a wayfinding path meant to stay down, we'll plan a replacement schedule with you rather than promise one print will last.

Las Vegas sun on shop windows

South- and west-facing storefronts here take hours of direct sun. Anything on the outside of the glass should be on a film rated for outdoor use — one-way, clear or blockout — and frosted film and static cling stay on the inside. For one-way film that stays up more than a year, we add an optically clear laminate that seals its holes against dust and rain.

Rather than promise a number of years, the quote asks how long the graphic needs to last and picks the film and finish for that. For long-term outdoor work, plan on a refresh when the colours start to fade.

Landlords, centers and old vinyl

Check your lease and your center's rules for storefront graphics before you design, and get the landlord's or property's sign-off in writing before install day, so nothing stops the crew at the door. Stores inside hotels and casinos also need the property's approval, and often an install window before opening or after close.

Moving into a unit with the last tenant's vinyl still on the glass? Send us photos of the graphic and the glass, and we'll tell you whether it's a job we can take on.

Installs around store hours

Most storefront and in-store installs happen before opening, after close or on a weekend. Choose after-hours or weekend work on the quote and tell us the access times. Our crew cleans the glass, applies the film, trims it to each pane and squeegees it flat; on walls, it hangs panels true to level and trims around fixtures. Glass or walls above ladder height need a lift, which we confirm with you before the price is final.

Rather put it up yourself? Choose pickup or delivery: panels come labelled in order, and cut lettering comes masked with its spacing set. More on how installs work: installation.