Bristol based Voodoo DesignWorks was asked to supply a sign promoting Trotec’s new Ruby Software…

The creative team at Bristol based Voodoo DesignWorks found itself looking just a little puzzled recently when a brief from Austrian headquartered laser-engraver manufacturer, Trotec arrived. The design had all the makings of what you might reasonably describe as a poster, but the Trotec subsidiary for whom the work was destined wanted something that was more of an event - they wanted a physical and impactful sign.

What Voodoo was asked to produce was ultimately to be installed in Trotec’s branch in Tortworth, very near Bristol. The branch wanted the sign to be the first thing that any visitor to the branch saw upon entering the reception-showroom. It’d have some serious competition. There’s stunning laser output everywhere you look and all of it is fascinating. 

Rising to the occasion, Voodoo’s team proposed a construction entirely faithful to Trotec’s HQ’s design but featuring dimensional elements upon a field of printed detail. The printed detail elements would wrap a fabricated aluminium sign construction which would have routed apertures for illuminated components defining the Trotec logo and the new insignia synonymous with Trotec’s groundbreaking Ruby software. In for a penny, the team also suggested laser-cut acrylic lettering applied to the printed background which would demonstrate the precision cutting capability of Trotec laser hardware. 

The construction proposal was illustrated in a dimensional visual in the Voodoo DesignWorks’ studio and submitted for approval. It got the go-ahead without revision and production could begin. 

Voodoo made the carcass of the sign from welded aluminium which was then stencil-cut to accommodate push-through acrylic elements and lettering. Printed Metamark MD5 was used for the applied background matter and the acrylic elements were faced with printed Metamark MDT featuring colour matched details and design. The acrylic edges were led exposed so as to spill light on the sign face and the printed MD5 in those area. 

Next, blue acyclic with an applied adhesive backing was laser-cut so the adhesive was co-extensive with the lettering’s laser polished edges. This lettering was then adhered to the solid part of the sign carcass using application guides printed during production on the laminated MD5. The sign was equipped with cool white internal LED lighting and installed complete with remote control hardware.

Post installation the sign does the job it was designed to do. By nothing more than good luck, a pre-existing light above the sign’s position accentuates the acrylic lettering and the rest of the impact, quite rightly, belongs to Trotec’s remarkable Ruby Software.

Poster or Sign? You decide. Meantime, should you feel the need for a machine that cuts acrylic lettering with adhesive in-situ, just Google ‘Trotec.’