Columbia Print Transforms Campus Spaces with Custom Wall Graphics

The Print team has created everything from interior wall designs – transforming the Columbia Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) office and Event Management’s conference room – to exterior window graphics commemorating the anniversary of the first known COVID-19 case at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). 

ISERP

ISERP is Columbia University's research institute dedicated to the social sciences, supporting researchers, faculty, and students through research development, education and training programs, centers, workshops, and administrative support. Their space accommodates students and researchers working on ISERP-funded projects, and the conference room is available to social science affiliates. It was recently upgraded with new audio-visual equipment including a podium and TV, cameras for videoconferencing, and ceiling microphones.  

ISERP came to Columbia Print in the fall of 2019 with a blank canvas. They’d just renovated the space and asked the Print team to turn it from dark and empty into something vibrant and alive. Columbia Print took measurements, consulted on the most eco-friendly materials available – including recycled sustainable wallpaper – and got to work. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the job took about a year to complete. 

Before/After Images of the ISERP Space:

Event Management

Sanjay Mahajan, Executive Director for Columbia’s University Event Management (EM) department, approached Columbia Print this past winter with a request for a better Zoom background. With the uptick in virtual meetings, Mahajan wanted to improve the appearance of the EM conference room with a step-and-repeat design bearing the Columbia logo. 

Columbia Print’s Senior Graphic Artist Brian Herzig worked on a variety of designs through five rounds of feedback which culminated in the final design, pictured below. The design was printed on a removable wall graphic substrate using Print’s recently purchased Latex printer. The adhesive is strong and long lasting, but also easily removable without peeling the paint, and it feels like wallpaper to the touch.  

CUIMC

In February, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the first known COVID-19 case and to thank those on the front lines of the pandemic, CUIMC administrators tasked Columbia Print with creating and installing three 80-by-192-inch banners on the glass windows of the Auditorium on 168th Street. The team took the measurements, advised on the best sizing, printed, coordinated, and executed installation – all in just five days. 

Learn more about wall graphics and other Columbia Print services at print.columbia.edu.