A long-time client contacted Blue Chip Signworks asking about an artistic display for the wall of his poolside ramada. We jumped at the chance. Artistic jobs like this are always interesting to work on. His outdoor wall mural will be part of a ramada. It is located next to his pool with an outdoor kitchen, bar, and a shaded sitting area. He wanted to continue a nautical theme with a custom wall display. He and his wife had gone on a “swim with the sharks” adventure and really loved it. A colleague had snapped several underwater photos of the adventure. He asked if we could use these photos to create a 3D wall mural for his ramada.
The target area of the wall sees little direct sun, but it is exposed to the Arizona elements. This includes blazing heat, occasional freezing temperatures, blowing dirt during dust storms etc. Blue Chip Signworks design team went to work. We created a 3D rendering of the scene. We used elements from the photo and making individual cutouts for those elements.
The 5′ long shark was constructed from 080 aluminum, cut to shape using a water-jet. The image is printed on laminated digital wrap media and applied to the shaped aluminum. Similar to how we often build and mount lobby signs, it is mounted to the wall using long standoffs. We created the adventurers in the shark cage from 1/4″ clear acrylic and applied the same wrap quality printed and laminated digital film. The gaps in the bars of the cage allow the blue “water” of the wall background to show through the acrylic. 
It is mounted to the wall using shorter standoffs allowing the shark to overlap the bottom of the cage. Finally, a vinyl print and cut text logo was applied to the wall completing “Sharky’s Cantina”. The standoffs allow the elements to be easily removed for cleaning. The final effect is a unique 3D display where the shark seems to jump off the wall and chase you around the room. 
Blue Chip Signworks is full line custom business signs company located in Ahwatukee serving Chandler, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, and the rest of the Valley of the Sun.
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