Environmental Graphics and Murals Create Singular Identity at Wake Forest

Environmental graphics and towering murals give Wake Forest's Miller Center a singular identity.

A gym's four walls are notoriously difficult to jazz up. Daylighting techniques help, but just brightening the space doesn't necessarily give it a singular identity. Environmental graphics, on the other hand, can ensure that visitors to the Wake Forest University practice gym don't think, even for a second, that they're at Colorado or Georgia Tech. The Miller Center's graphics treatment targets a very narrow audience - Demon Deacon players and coaches, but especially prospective recruits to the basketball program. The design elements include retired players' jerseys and a gold metallic band encircling the gym that lists Wake titles and tournament appearances. But the highlight is the 28-foot-tall photo murals featuring two men's and two women's basketball team members that tower over the room from its four corners. (The one shown features NBA All-Star Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs.) While the complete price tag ran to a bit more than $100,000, designer DJS Design Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., estimates that one larger-than-life photo mural costs no more than $15,000.