A runway to a throne, from first email to paid proof in four days.
An experiential agency building a film walk-through in downtown Los Angeles needed one rug: a runway leading guests up to a throne. This is how we worked it out, starting from the job the rug had to do.
- 10 × 24 ft (120 × 288 in), one piece
- 18,000 × 43,200 px at 150 ppi
- Flat-woven, no pile
- Cream serging
- Rolled, LTL
- November 1 to November 5, 2026
Start with the job, not the material
Before we suggested anything, we asked how the rug would be used. The answer set every decision after it.
It had to read as a rug on camera.
The runway ends at a throne, with a photo booth standing on the rug. Most people would see it in photos, so the artwork and its texture mattered more than pile height.
It would carry light traffic.
Guests queue beside the rug, not on it. We didn't need a construction built for a crowd walking it all day.
It had to be in the room by November 12.
The agency's client was due to walk the build two days later. Anything that waited on overseas production or tufting time was out.
It had to cost less than what was already turned down.
The client had passed on a printed floor graphic as too expensive. The tufting studio that referred the job had said a printed rug would suit the schedule and the budget better.
Three constraints, three decisions
The brief asked for 12 × 24 ft. We print up to 10 ft wide.
The agency reworked the layout to 10 × 24 ft the next morning, so it could print as one piece with no seam.
Printed flat, a rug pattern can look like a floor graphic.
The agency added rug texture to the vector art, and we printed it on a flat-woven base with a chenille-like texture of its own. The texture lives in the image and in the weave.
There wasn't time to send a physical proof to Los Angeles and wait for it.
We test-printed swatches from the client's own texture at full scale in our workshop and sent a digital proof with close-ups. The agency signed off knowing color could shift a little between screen and rug.
The file, at full size
We converted the agency's original Illustrator file straight to print: 120 × 288 in at 150 ppi, 18,000 × 43,200 px and about 1.66 GB, with nothing redrawn. Before anything printed, we confirmed our print software read it at exactly 100% scale.
Day by day
A tufting studio introduces the agency. The brief and artwork arrive, and we reply the same day with questions about use, then flag the 10 ft width limit.
Use confirmed, layout reworked to 10 ft wide, texture added to the art. We send the estimate; the client approves it that afternoon and the vector files arrive.
Artwork downloaded and checked. We look at freight for a 24 ft roll.
Swatch tests printed. Proof and pro forma invoice sent that evening.
Proof approved and paid. LTL freight booked and the bill of lading printed.
Freight pickup from our warehouse.
Arrival in Los Angeles.
What carries into the next one
Ask about use first.
“How will it be used?” chose the material. Asking it before quoting saved a round of back-and-forth.
Say the width limit first.
10 ft wide is the line that reshapes a layout, so it belongs in the first reply, not the second.
Price the freight with the proof.
A 24 ft roll ships as oversize LTL freight. Quoting it alongside the proof keeps the invoice to one revision.
Planning an event? Send us the artwork and the date.
We'll start where we started here: how the rug will be used, and whether the date works.