beneath the surface blog

  1. On Our Desks: Chic Elevator Lantern Controls – Update From the Field

    Original blog post: Contact closures, relays, Cue servers, DMX decoder units, din rails… if you’re a conceptual designer, you’re probably not too interested in what those mean, but when implemented through a thoughtful electrical engineering process, these items can add a whole new element of fluctuation to your spaces. Imagine synchronizing the vertical movement of […]

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  2. On Our Desks: Urban Wallscape with Illuminated Graffiti

    Check out this backlit graffiti wall that GPI provided for Marlite’s GlobalShop Booth! The wall is designed to mimic an urban alleyway, with continuous LED backlighting highlighting the vibrant graffiti graphics.  Graphics were spray painted on optical acrylic panels.  Custom controls animate the panels individually, reinforcing the concept that each panel is a brick in […]

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  3. Creating Continuous LED Backlighting: 4 Types of Light Seams to Consider

    Natural sunlight is a seamless light that provides enveloping spatial qualities, free from interruption. With designers increasingly turning to nature for design inspiration, recreating this smooth quality can be tricky with artificial lighting technology. How do you avoid choppy, spotty, discontinuous appearance within your artificial lighting sources? When translating your design from small samples to […]

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  4. 4 Things Traffic Cops Can Teach Us About Integration

    When you envision the city of Cleveland, the awful traffic ala NYC doesn’t usually come to mind, right? Driving home from work this week, torrential downpours streamed down from the suddenly gray sky, and power to the traffic lights was diminished. At Westlake’s largest intersection, this could have been pretty disastrous, but not with a […]

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  5. On Our Desks: Chic Elevator Lantern Controls

    Contact closures, relays, Cue servers, DMX decoder units, din rails… if you’re a conceptual designer, you’re probably not too interested in what those mean, but when implemented through a thoughtful electrical engineering process, these items can add a whole new element of fluctuation to your spaces. Imagine synchronizing the vertical movement of an elevator with […]

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  6. 5 (Ok, 6!) Reasons for Designers To Love Natural Stone Panels

    As the counterpoint to our blog post “5 Reasons For Designers To Love Faux Stone Panels”, today we take on the alternate perspective and illustrate the benefits of natural stone panels. Given that this succeeding post quickly catapulted to twelve points, which I narrowed to six here, it’s pretty clear which material we regard as […]

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  7. 5 Reasons For Designers To Love Faux Stone Panels

    Ouch. I feel like I’m backstabbing my trusted old friend, the natural stone panel. Lately we’ve seen a surge of interest in faux stone products, particularly for backlighting applications, and have found ourselves recommending these products for certain instances. There are some high-quality acrylics, poured resins, and co-polyester materials that have made advancements in the […]

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  8. Exploring Layers of Texture: Backlit Onyx + Screens

    Expand your design palette with imaginative interior feature wall products. Stone, wood, and light are three basic elements of nature. Layer them into an integrated assembly, and the visual effect is stunning. A sleek alternative to backlit onyx mosaics, these backlit stone and wood screen panels create extravagant patterns for an interior feature walls and […]

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  9. From the Field: Backlit Onyx Communal Table at Potomac Yards Marriott

    For the Marriott Renaissance and Residence Inns located in Arlington, Virginia, the design teams at Forrest Perkins and Cooper Carry envisioned a softly glowing beacon to anchor the lobby space. With a table that wraps up the wall and returns back to form a soffit, this eye-catching piece called for a solution that included softly […]

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  10. Backlighting Translucent Glass Panels: Don’t Forget Diffusion Techniques

    Thinking of designing a backlit glass bar or countertop? It’s not quite as easy as just placing a light source behind the glass.  There are many details that can slip through the cracks in backlit architectural features, and when the lighting system is sloppy, the time and investment that you’ve put into the surface is […]

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  11. Detailing Backlit Onyx Panels: Why There Isn’t a “Typical”

    In studying our website metrics that indicate which keywords our visitors are searching for, it’s mind-boggling how many designers are searching for answers to detailing backlit panels. And while we love to stock our website full of useful information that makes it easy for busy designers to quickly understand and specify our backlit onyx systems, […]

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  12. Backlit Ham: Can Intense Light Beautify Any Object?

    “Light is the first of painters. There is no object so foul that intense light will not make it beautiful.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson In brainstorming blog posts that connect backlighting to the holiday season (translucent onyx ornaments? scrapping string lights in lieu of flat panels?), we came across this image of sliced ham in […]

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  13. Backlit Granite: Transform Bar and Restaurant Spaces from Day to Night

    Backlit granite bars with the correct lighting controls allow designers to explore the furthest ranges of materiality. Granite is often associated with traditional countertops, but with advanced technology and the correct backlighting system, the flip of a switch can dramatically transform from day to night. For this backlit granite bartop application in Dubai, GPI developed […]

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