Our shop is always hopping with new and exciting projects, but one of our latest projects was truly unique. It's not often that we get to create an airplane for a customer - let alone one that will be a hanging piece of art. That's what we did for Ascend Federal Credit Union's new facility in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

We've partnered with Ascend FCU over the years on a number of signage and branding projects. We've worked on everything from posters to monument signs to ATM wraps (even at the new Ascend Amphitheater - a future post!). They have a true understanding of how to utilize their logo and brand colors to be known and recognized in the community.

For the new location, they've really taken their branding to a higher level! The airplane is just part of the project, and it makes quite an impression. The entrance to the building features a beautiful glass rotunda with a 25' high ceiling. The airplane, an artistic 3D representation of the brandmark in their logo, is the centerpiece. A wall, painted in the red brand color for Ascend, frames a second set of doors that lead into the branch. This bright wall creates a backdrop to highlight the hanging art.

This photo shows you the Ascend FCU logo on the sides of the building and gives you a glimpse of the airplane in the beautiful rotunda. No, the ladder and U-Haul truck are not part of the new facility!

Ascend FCU provided us with a CAD model of the airplane that we used for fabrication. Here's where the fun began! We fabricated the 11' long by 5' wide (from wing tip to wing tip) model from foam and covered it with a hard urethane coating.

The plane sat on a foam cradle to protect it during fabrication.

We sanded the top portion of the foam structure until it was perfectly smooth. For the bottom (and visible section), we applied a skin of 1/8" PVC to create a smooth-as-glass appearance. We embedded fasteners into the plane's body to attach the cables to the airplane that anchor it to the ceiling of the rotunda.

The final step in creating the airplane was to wrap it with a vinyl film. We used 3M 1080-BR120 Brushed Aluminum to give the plane a sleek and metallic look as it hangs in the rotunda. 

You can see Felix doing what he does best!

We carefully transported the airplane from our shop to the Murfreesboro location. Once there, our engineer-minded owner, Murray, used his skills to hang the airplane in the rotunda. You may be thinking, "How did he raise that plane almost 20 feet in the air and fasten it to the cables hanging from the ceiling?" Great question!

He used a scissor lift! With the airplane sitting on its foam cradle (AKA the launchpad), he raised it - and himself - up to the ceiling. Now this is where it got tricky. If you notice on the Ascend logo, the airplane has a contrail (the white streak you see as a plane goes by in the air) that also creates part of the 'A' in Ascend. The plane sits (or flies) at an angle, and Murray needed to hang the dimensional representation to mimic that angle.

He started with the nose and hung it 19 1/2 feet from the floor. He then fastened the backside of the plane to create the perfect angle, which also followed the swooping angle of the red wall behind it. (Honestly, Ascend has incorporated so many amazing details into this new facility!)

The construction of the rotunda included strategically placed lights and cables to highlight and secure the airplane.

Perfectly in place!

We are happy to report that nobody was injured during this skillful and calculated installation. Phew! The process really did turn the plane into a piece of hanging dimensional logo art. 

The lights make this dimensional piece shine in the gorgeous entrance to the Ascend building.

We are thrilled to be part of this project and happy to announce that they are NOW OPEN at 1250 W Clark Boulevard. Stop by, see the new building, and see what they are all about! Stay tuned for future posts about the other projects we worked on in this new facility...

If you are interested in strengthening your own brand, let us know how we can help! From custom signage to airplane wraps, we can make it happen! Contact us today at (615) 595-6564 or click on the link below to get started.