Painters with Colossal Media work on a mural of a bowl of ramen on the side of a building on Olympic Blvd in downtown Los Angeles for Postmates. (Photo by David Sprague)
When driving around L.A., you may find a building that was one day just a plain wall filled with a mural advertisement.
There are a number of companies behind these murals.
Take Outfront, for example. The company is behind the giant iPhone murals on the side of the Hotel Figueroa in downtown. The company calls them “wallscapes for advertisers.”
Another company in the sector is Colossal Media, which is based in New York but incredibly active in Los Angeles with 10 employees in the area.
Jewel Addy, the company’s senior manager of communications, said it was founded after two friends came up with the “mission of resurrecting the tradition of hand-painted outdoor advertising” over drinks.
“Back in 2004, Colossal was founded with a singular mission: to resurrect the craft of hand-painted outdoor advertising,” Addy added. “Twenty years later, we can confidently and proudly say we did just that.”
Today it does work all over Los Angeles, including in downtown, Hollywood and Venice.
Some of its clients are recurring, while others turn to Colossal for one-off advertisements. Some of the companies it has worked with over the years include Apple, Gucci and Nike.
Addy said the company’s clients “embrace hand paints because of the organic engagement and storytelling opportunities it presents. We’re proud to say most come back.”
Most murals take around five days to complete but complex projects can take longer. Prices range drastically, depending on factors like size, scale and how long the mural will be up. This can range from $30,000 to $150,000.
For the company, costs are a major factor.
“This isn’t a quick and easy type of business,” Addy said. “It’s also an expensive one to operate. Labor, materials, and equipment are huge expenses for the business. But we’re committed to our mission of “always hand paint” and the hands-on labor at every step of our craft and process… Every year we see prices and rates go up, and our business gets increasingly competitive too. It’s certainly an adventure but we thrive in a challenging environment. This business has always been hard and we’ve always had to face adversity, it’s part of our DNA.”
Looking ahead, the company will continue to hand paint all of its projects. It also runs an apprenticeship program, aimed at training the next generation of sign painters.
Contour and color lines are traced onto an image on a computer before being projected onto paper where holes are burned along them, allowing the image to be transferred large scale onto a wall.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Marcos Aspeitia, a pre-production tech, uses an electric pen to burn holes through paper along lines projected. The paper will later be hung on a wall and pounced with a charcoal bag to transfer the lines to a wall in preparation for painting of a mural. This step is called patterning.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Marcos Aspeitia, a pre-production tech, uses an electric pen to burn holes through paper along lines projected. The paper will later be hung on a wall and pounced with a charcoal bag to transfer the lines to a wall in preparation for painting of a mural.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Workers transfer an image to a wall on Beverly Boulevard in a process called pouncing. Paper that has had holes burned into it along lines showing contour and color changes is held against the wall and the workers use a charcoal filled bag to swipe across the holes where the charcoal transfers the line to the wall.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Paint cans in the back of a rental van show the variety of colors used for a mural.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Paint cans in a tray marked Port Broth Noodles are part of a mural of a giant bowl of ramen for Postmates on the side of a building in downtown Los Angeles on Figueroa.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Painters work on a mural of a bowl of ramen on the side of a building on Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles for Postmates.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Painters work on a mural of a bowl of ramen on the side of a building on Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles for Postmates.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Painters work on a mural of a bowl of ramen on the side of a building on Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles for Postmates.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Painters work on a mural of a bowl of ramen on the side of a building on Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles for Postmates.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Colossal Media’s shop in downtown Los Angeles has rigging for scaffolding to allow workers to scale walls to paint murals.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
A sign cautions passersby to look out for painters above.
Colossal Media paints large murals for advertisers around Los Angeles and the United States. (Photo by David Sprague)
Outfront is a media company that paints large murals like this one on the side of the Hotel Figueroa for Apple in downtown Los Angeles. They call them wallscapes for advertisers. (Photo by David Sprague)
Outfront is a media company that paints large murals like this one on the side of the Hotel Figueroa for Apple in downtown Los Angeles. They call them wallscapes for advertisers. (Photo by David Sprague)
Outfront is a media company that paints large murals like this one on the side of the Hotel Figueroa for Apple in downtown Los Angeles. They call them wallscapes for advertisers. (Photo by David Sprague)
Hannah (Madans) Welk is the editor-in-chief at the Los Angeles Business Journal and Inside The Valley (formerly the San Fernando Valley Business Journal). She previously covered real estate for the Los Angeles Business Journal. She has done work with publications including The Orange County Register, The Real Deal and doityourself.com.
