Show Stopping Illuminated Signage for Indigo at the O2

Having previously helped with some illuminated way finding signage inside the arena W&Co was delighted The O2 came back for assistance with the re-branding of their dedicated entertainment venue Indigo at The O2, formerly IndigO2.

The contemporary, glamorous and state-of-the-art venue which has a capacity of 2,800 guests needed an equally glamorous looking sign for both their main entrance and their VIP Entrance which was being missed by guests due to the lack of visible signage.

Our skilled design team visited The O2’s Venue Management to discuss possible options to improve the visibility of the VIP Entrance and the best way of implementing the new branding onto the large curved wall of the main entrance. Consultations were also held with The O2’s brand guardians to offer professional advice about the build, colour and design of the signage, while ensuring strict guidelines were met.

Following this a series of scale 3D design proposals were produced in-house for The O2. By utilising W&Co’s 3D visualisation service, the client was able to envisage how the final custom sign installation would look once completed and also gave them an opportunity to make alterations to their design to guarantee optimum results.

After some fine-tuning to the designs the new signage was approved at 5m x 2.5m for the curved wall on the main entrance and a 13m x 1m wraparound sign for the VIP entrance. The manufacture was a particularly challenging build not only due to the scale and complex design of the signage but because of the irregularity of the curved mounting surfaces for which Foamex templates had to be produced as accurately as possible for a perfect fit.

The final designs were manufactured from a series of fret cut and LED back illuminated sign trays with the main entrance having built-up, face illuminating lettering mounted to the face for added depth.

The circular pattern on the main entrance signage was achieved by having a variety of different sized fret cut holes; each backed with opalescent acrylic that had been printed with coloured vinyl. The sign was so intricately detailed that each individual circle had a different pantone colour and a different levels of opacity of that colour. Due to the complexity of the new Indigo at The O2 logo design, a portion of the work was completed manually; this involved meticulously hand drilling the smaller holes.

The overall design works really well in the venue space giving visitors approaching from different directions a clear beacon to follow to get to the relevant entrance for their night out.