When Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida wanted to create a new ride inspired by the popular Disney-Pixar movie “A Bug’s Life,” the theme park called on Brickform, a division of Solomon Colors Inc., to create a seamless texture skin representative of a dry lakebed. That was nearly one decade ago.
More recently, the cracked mud look has taken off in the marketplace. As a company policy, custom stamps aren’t released to the public, so Brickform has redeveloped the texture skin to sell it.
“We were getting requests for a similar style, so we went back and reinvented the concept,” said Jeff Bowers, who works in operations at Brickform. “We were able to recreate it into what it is today.”
Rather than try to imitate the look of a dry lakebed in their shop, employees went out into nature to create a mold.
“It has a very natural feeling and look,” Bowers says. “It’s pulled straight from the earth.”
Bowers noted that the most popular applications for the texture skin have been in themed locations such as amusement parks and zoos, as well as gardens and walkways where people want a natural look.
“One thing that makes this a perfect tool for these applications is that it takes the coldness of concrete out in a natural setting,” he says.
Bowers noted that while the cracked-mud design works just like a normal texture skin, contractors may want to pay extra attention when placing it.
“You need to make sure you get all the texture in before removing the skin,” he says, adding that if you completely remove the skin the cracks are almost impossible to line back up. “As long as you peel back the skin and check for any dead spots before lifting it up completely you can prevent a potential problem.”
A variety of tool sizes are available, from a 12-inch square to a 48-inch square, making the skin ideal for projects of any size. The skin comes with either a Standard Flex or Ultra Flex rating.
www.brickform.com
