“Every Image360 has its own specialty, and we’re really experiential graphics-focused,” said Brent McKay, Director of Business Development for Image360 in Plymouth, Mich. “We’re incorporating a variety of strategies to help shape the narratives within any environment that we're working in.” That can range from art, to dimensional displays, to signage. “The one thing that I think sets us apart a little bit from other [Image 360] centers is that about 90% of our work is in health care.”

Image360 Plymouth began more than 25 years ago as Progressive Art and Frame, an art provider, before joining the Alliance Franchise Brands family. The center’s art-driven approach to display graphics led to one particular project that, said McKay, “stretched the boundaries of what normal hospitals will allow.” For example, there is a rule of thumb when designing for hospitals that the color red or images of water should be avoided. “The thought was that those may create a sense of fear or panic or confusion for certain hospital patients,” said McKay. However, for the brand new Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit, part of the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS), those old rules were tossed out. “They said ‘We want art that's fresh and inspiring.’”

Image360 worked with HFHS’s art curation, interiors, and facilities teams to bring a living art gallery to the walls, halls, and open spaces of the new center. Image360 also took advantage of a Detroit Institute of the Arts (DIA) program called Inside|Out, where artwork in the DIA’s collection can be reproduced and the replicas can be installed in other locations. “The idea is that you can showcase what the DIA has and bring awareness to the amazing art they have,” said McKay. Image360’s role included art consultation, project management, acquiring the art, printing and installing it, as well as the design and installation of custom art, privacy glass film, and the fabrication and installation of acrylic PPE—a now-common design element post-COVID.