Printed Signs
Custom Wall Wraps Chicago
Large-format printed graphics applied to interior and exterior walls. Full-wall murals, branded environments and feature walls, printed in our own shop.
- Interior and exterior films
- Textured-wall options
- Removable systems available
- Licensed Chicago sign contractor
- Printed in our own shop
- Ships anywhere in the US
- One team from quote to install
The problem
A large blank wall
What customers tell us before we start, and what we do about it.
What usually goes wrong
- The office fit-out is finished and the walls are bare and corporate.
- The brand is strong online and invisible in the space people actually visit.
- A painted mural means an artist, a schedule and no way to change it later.
How SignFreaks handles it
- Printed graphics at wall scale, produced in days rather than commissioned over weeks.
- Brand colors matched to Pantone rather than mixed by eye.
- A removable system where the space is leased or the graphic will change.
What you get
Films and surfaces
The parts that matter, and why each one is specified the way it is.
Smooth wall vinyl
For painted plasterboard and other flat surfaces. The cleanest finish and the simplest application.
Textured wall film
Conformable material with a stronger adhesive, for brick, block and textured plaster.
Removable
Lower-tack adhesive designed to come off without taking the paint. The right choice in a leased space.
Laminates
Matte, satin or gloss over the print, and anti-graffiti where the wall is publicly accessible.
Exterior grade
UV-stable film and laminate for outdoor walls.
Installation
Surface preparation matters more than anything else here. A wall that is dusty or freshly painted will not hold film.
Compare
Surface decides the film
What the wall is made of is the first question, not the artwork.
| Surface | Film | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Painted plasterboard | Standard wall vinyl | Paint must be fully cured |
| Brick or block | Textured wall film | Conforms into the texture, needs heat |
| Concrete | Textured or exterior film | Surface must be sound and clean |
| Leased space | Removable film | Comes off without damaging paint |
| Public-facing exterior | Exterior film with anti-graffiti laminate | Replaceable laminate layer |
Swipe to see the full table.
Artwork
Getting the artwork right
Send these and the print goes straight through. Send a logo pulled off a website and we will be asking for something better.
- Vector artwork where possible: AI, EPS, PDF or SVG, with fonts converted to outlines.
- Raster images at around 100–150 dpi at final size for large format, which is plenty at normal viewing distance.
- CMYK rather than RGB, since that is how it prints. Give us Pantone references for brand colors.
- Include bleed past the trim edge, and keep text well inside it.
- Allow for hems and grommets on banners: anything within a couple of inches of the edge can end up folded.
- Tell us the finished size you want, not the size the file happens to be.
Approvals
Permits and what to expect
The part of the job most likely to move your timeline.
Interior wall graphics are unregulated and quick. Exterior wall graphics are a different matter: depending on size and content they may be treated as signage and need a permit, and a large graphic on a prominent wall is very likely to be. Content matters too, since a mural may be treated differently from a branded graphic. We check before applying rather than after.
We handle the drawings and the filing as part of the job. There is more detail on our sign permit page.
Our work
Projects we have built
Real installations, photographed on site.
Get a real number for your wall wraps
Send a photo, a rough size and your deadline. You get a written quote with line items, not a range and not a guess.
Who uses it
Industries we build this for
The requirements change with the building. These pages go into how.
Corporate Buildings
Learn moreRestaurants
Learn moreSalons
Learn more
Delivery
We ship nationwide
No installer, no permit, no reason it has to stay in Illinois.
We can print and ship wall graphics for installation by others, and we supply application instructions with them. For anything large or on a textured surface we would rather install it ourselves locally — application is most of what determines whether a wall wrap looks good in a year.
Budget
What moves the price
Roughly in the order they matter.
We do not publish price lists, because a number without your size, site and deadline attached would be fiction. Give us those three and you get a real quote.
- Total area.
- Wall surface, since textured film and the preparation it needs cost more.
- Whether a removable system is specified.
- Laminate choice.
- Surface preparation, and removal of any existing graphics.
- Access, for anything above normal reach.
Questions
Questions we get asked
Call (872) 250-4743, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Questions we get asked
Will it damage the paint when it comes off?
Standard film on well-cured paint usually comes off cleanly, but it can lift paint that was poorly applied or not fully cured. In a leased space, specify removable film from the start — the small extra cost is worth it at the end of the lease.
Can it go on brick?
Yes, with conformable textured film and heat during application to work it into the surface. It will not work with standard smooth vinyl, which will lift out of the mortar joints within weeks.
How long does an interior wall wrap last?
Years indoors, effectively until you want to change it. Exterior is shorter and depends on exposure and orientation, with UV fading being the usual limit rather than adhesive failure.
How soon after painting can it be applied?
Paint needs to be fully cured, not just dry, and that takes longer than most schedules allow — commonly a few weeks depending on the paint. Applying film to green paint is the most reliable way to have it fail.
Do I need permission for an exterior wall graphic?
Quite possibly. Large exterior graphics are often treated as signage and permitted accordingly, and prominent walls attract the most attention. We check the position for your address before quoting.
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