Decades of tradition. Conference championships. A fanbase that packs Dahlberg Arena on game days.
The University of Montana Lady Griz have never lacked for legacy — but until recently, their locker room facility didn’t reflect it.
When the university set out to renovate Adams Center and build a brand-new women’s basketball locker room facility from the ground up, they needed more than a print vendor. They needed a partner who could own everything — creative vision, production, fabrication, and installation — under one roof.
The stakes were high. This space would be where recruits get their first real feel for the program. Where athletes spend time together every day. Where donors see their names on the wall and know their investment went somewhere meaningful.
And it had to come together inside an active construction site, on a tight timeline, in a building that sees thousands of fans on game days.
SuperGraphics had conceptually designed and installed the graphics for the men’s basketball facility at Adams Center back in 2021. So, when it came time to give the Lady Griz their own space, the university already knew who to call.
We Knew the Playbook — Now the Lady Griz Needed Their Own
SuperGraphics owned the entire visual identity from scratch — no outside agency, no provided designs. And the scope went far beyond wall murals.
Using the men’s basketball graphics they’d designed in 2021 as a visual foundation, our conceptual and prepress designer developed a cohesive Lady Griz identity: custom basketball and net patterns, a maroon-to-black gradient palette, and a design language built to carry program pride across every room in the facility.
Every design decision was made with intention. Bold typography and imagery in the spaces where athletes gather. Refined donor recognition where contributors’ names would live. A visual throughline connecting the entry, common areas, meeting room, kitchenette, and locker room into one unified experience.
But the creative was just the beginning.
The space was still under active construction. SuperGraphics surveyed the facility while architects and construction crews were still building it out, working in alignment with their timelines to lock in measurements and plan wall-by-wall treatments before the drywall dust had even settled.
The production complexity was significant: Nine wall murals, one-inch laser-cut dimensional letters pin-mounted for a clean floating look, fabricated dimensional logos, an illuminated Griz Paw ceiling feature, a large-scale dimensional Lady Griz logo sign, Dibond donor plaques, a custom acrylic donor recognition display with brushed silver plaques, directional and naming signage throughout the facility, and custom-fabricated corner guards notched to fit specific architectural features.
And all of it had to converge in Missoula, Montana at the same time for a one-week install window.
Oh, and Dahlberg Arena sees thousands of fans on game days. Materials and the installer had to be inside the building and working before the weekend crowds arrived.
One Survey, Bi-Weekly Calls, and a Whole Lot of Walls to Cover
The kind of project that looks seamless when it’s done is usually the kind that required serious coordination behind the scenes. This was one of those.
It started with getting eyes on the space — in person. SuperGraphics flew their in-house graphic installer out to Missoula for a full on-site survey while the facility was still under construction.
That early investment paid off. Precise measurements before production meant virtually no reprints across the entire project. On a scope this complex, that kind of accuracy doesn’t happen by accident.
Then came the design process. SuperGraphics’ conceptual and prepress designer built the entire Lady Griz visual identity from the ground up — taking the design language established in the 2021 men’s facility and giving it a personality of its own.
Room by room, wall by wall, the design took shape: dramatic gradients, Montana state silhouettes, bold typography, and a mix of printed and dimensional elements designed to give the space the kind of depth and energy that makes an impression on a recruit walking through for the first time.
The client relationship was built on rhythm. SuperGraphics and the university held bi-weekly meetings, reviewing designs on calls room by room, wall by wall — rather than relying solely on email exchanges.
It kept everyone aligned and the project moving without it becoming a second job for the client’s team. For a project that spanned several months from initial conversations to installation, that kind of cadence made all the difference.
Fabrication and logistics were a project unto themselves. Dimensional logos, laser-cut lettering, an illuminated paw feature, acrylic signage, Dibond plaques, and custom corner guards — all coming from different production sources.
SuperGraphics managed the coordination to get every piece to Missoula on time and in sequence. When you’re working with a one-week window in a building that sees thousands of fans on game days, there’s no room for a crate to show up late.
And then there was the install itself. SuperGraphics’ installer flew in the day before, and the first crate arrived the same day — intentionally timed so he was already inside and working before the weekend crowds arrived.
Over the course of one week, working solo, he installed all nine wall murals, mounted every piece of dimensional lettering, placed fabricated signage and donor plaques, and handled the kind of on-the-fly problem-solving that only comes with experience — paper-patterning dimensional logo placements, adapting to construction details that didn’t quite match drawings, and keeping the whole thing moving without backup.
One installer. One week. The entire facility.
A Locker Room Built to Feel Like Home — and Fit For Champions
For a program like the Lady Griz, a locker room facility is more than a place to change before a game. The space has to recruit. It has to inspire. It has to honor the people who invested in the program. And it has to do all of that without saying a word.
That’s what SuperGraphics delivered.
Program identity hits you the moment you walk in — from the large-scale grizzly mural at the entry to the illuminated Griz Paw anchoring the ceiling of the common area. Dimensional lettering and branded textures carry the Lady Griz identity from the Alumni Lounge through the meeting room, kitchenette, and locker room without a single wall feeling like an afterthought.
Donor recognition is handled with the kind of care it deserves — Dibond plaques for named spaces, and a custom acrylic display with brushed silver plaques that gives every contributor a permanent place in the program’s story.
Details like pin-mounted dimensional letters and custom corner guards with built-in lettering finish the space at a level most people won’t consciously clock, but would absolutely feel if it weren’t there.
And the university didn’t have to stitch any of it together themselves.
One team. One point of contact. SuperGraphics brought the creative vision, managed every production partner, coordinated delivery logistics to Missoula, and sent their own installer to execute it all in a week.
The bi-weekly calls kept the project moving without the client needing to chase anything down. The on-site survey during construction meant measurements were dialed before a single graphic went to print. And when things came up on-site — because they always do — the installer handled them.
The Lady Griz have a facility that matches their legacy. And they got there with one partner who owned it from concept to game day.
Got a Space That Needs to Go from Blueprint to Branded?
Whether it’s a locker room, a retail flagship, or something nobody’s tried before — we’re the team that takes it from “what if” to “holy sh*t, that looks good.” No designs? No problem. Tight timeline? We thrive on those.
