A Local Art Store Becomes a Work of Art – The Power of Color

Located in Denver, Colorado, at the foot of the beautiful Rocky Mountains, the H. R. Meininger Company has been providing the best and largest selection of art supplies for over 125 years. Yes, this company had world wide clients and lots of people knew about Meiningers! The challenge now was how to bring new awareness to an already successful company. The main store was looking a bit tired and even though it was an interesting building, over the last few years it had become just part of the scenery along Broadway, one of Denver’s busiest streets.

Enter McGinty, an interdisciplinary studio that integrates graphic design, traditional print graphics, web graphics, fixture design and architecture. Jacobsen Brothers Painting had worked with McGinty on a previous project in Boulder so once again JBP was tapped to help bring new life to a local institution. This was a very complicated job with lots of surface planes and many colors. A detailed color scheme was worked out with the customer. (see the PDF of color guide for the field painters) Everything had to work together and the colors had to be right the first time. Exterior colors, logo design, new signage and other marketing material all had to complement each other. The color guide was used on the job site to insure that each section of the building made the proper statement.

Once the job was started it was vital that the work proceed with a minimum of disruption to Meininger’s customers. Concern for customer safety and convenience was just part of the JBP supervisor’s job

PDCA standards were maintained from beginning to end. Power washing cleaned the stucco walls by removing the roadside grime that settles on any building situated on a busy street. Top line exterior paint was used. Colors had to cover, be very color true, allow touch up if needed, dry fast and present a clean, finished surface at the end of each day.

Areas where the stucco walls had been degraded by moisture were coated with an elastomeric coating to improve moisture resistance. This was a tall building that was situated right along a busy street and customers were streaming in and out all day long. Articulating lifts were used on the project allowing scaffold and ladders to be kept to a minimum to limit disruption to the ongoing business. In just a little over a week and sixty gallons of paint later the project was complete.
 
Henry Meininger was thrilled with the work. The colors were vibrant and the building was truly being noticed! People that had been driving down Broadway for years slowed down and were fascinated by the use of such bold colors to update a Denver institution.