If there’s one thing that Dearborn, Mich.-based Carhartt prides itself on, it’s making products that “outwork them all.” So it was only natural that the 125-year-old company would collaborate with the trade-show exhibit pros at Morley to make a truly lasting impression.

Saginaw, Mich.-based Morley designed and built a trade-show display that combined the look of an 1890s mercantile with a contemporary 21st century feel in an open and inviting floor plan that provided a private and practical environment for sales reps to conduct business in the booth. It also allowed Carhartt to showcase its seasonal messaging and rugged jeans, jackets and work apparel.

“We’ve used the display for them for several years,” says Bernie Raymond, production manager at Morley, which designs, engineers, fabricates and installs client exhibits. “We do different themes for them with different photography every year.”

The 2015 design has a turn-of-the-century flair with a brick wall facade and rich red, gold and burgundy tones. The upper level houses an actual working conference room that has a wall of frosted acrylic windows. In years past, the windows were decorated with vinyl logo art, Raymond says. To complete this year’s theme, the windows were covered in two-tone images of industrial production scenes.

“We wanted to do something different with it, but we didn’t want the room to be closed off completely with a fully opaque graphic, which would make it feel smaller that it already is,” Raymond says.

He had been experimenting with LexJet’s Simple Low-Tack Clear Vinyl, which is backed with a removable adhesive. “The results, especially when used on a frosted acrylic, were very promising,” he says. Once the images were printed on the HP latex printer, he was able to laminate it immediately. “We put the LexJet Elite Matte UV Vinyl Laminate over top of the vinyl to protect it and give it a little more substance when we mounted it.”

The images were “perfectly clear,” he says, and could be viewed from either side of the window while still allowing some light to come through. “They loved it,” Raymond says. “It was exactly the kind of effect they were looking for.”

Raymond says he added latex printing to his operation two years ago to take advantage of the durability of latex prints, lack of drying time and a more extensive portfolio of materials he’s able to use that weren’t available for the aqueous printer. The addition has allowed him to be more agile with customers, as well.

“You never know what the client’s imagination is going to come up with, so we have to be prepared for any situation that they can think of,” he says. “My advice is: Have fun and experiment and see what you can come up with. There are all kinds of ways to use these products that can yield some amazing results.”