Looking back - our UC Irvine hand painted water tower graphics

A few years ago, Big City Signs was brought in to hand paint graphics at University of California Irvine in Orange County CA. This Thermal Energy Storage Tower is located directly across from Bren Events Center.

The first part of the project was Peter the Anteater. He is 58ft wide & 31ft high. After that, a 31ft x 29ft UCI logo was painted on the same tower. Here are some details about the project…


I produced the paper patterns and got gallons of paint, etc, to the site, along with the lift equipment needed. The surface was prepped, the paper pattern was applied, and the work began.

It’s hard to show the size of these graphics. Here’s a photo that might help show the scale:

Over on the UCI YouTube channel, you can find this timelapse of the work:


A few months later, I got back and painted the school UCI logo on the north side of the same tower.

It’s pretty easy to overcome fear of heights if you just…don’t…look…down…! 👀

And in no time, it was done!

One more photo — the LA Rams used the field facing the water tower for their opening practices. This photo came from the LA Rams own photos documenting the time. I love seeing my work in the real world!


You might be thinking about getting this kind of project done, Do you know where to start? I can tell you - contact me, Paul Borne (president of Big City Signs) to find out more.

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