Printed floor graphics with a textured anti-slip laminate over the top, specified to suit the surface underneath — polished concrete, vinyl, tile, sealed timber or carpet. Wayfinding, safety marking and retail activations, printed and cut at Ravenhall.
A floor sticker is a printed graphic built to be walked on. That means three layers rather than one: a heavier vinyl face than a wall sticker uses, an adhesive matched to the floor surface, and a textured over-laminate that gives the finished decal a slip rating. Take the laminate away and you have a smooth plastic patch on the floor, which is a hazard rather than a sign.
Made by Melbourne Trade Signs, a large-format print and signage company on Unit 6/43 Orbis Drive, Ravenhall VIC 3023, in Melbourne’s west. Printed in-house and installed Australia-wide. Phone 0415 743 691.
Floor graphics work because people look down when they walk, and nothing else competes for that space. They are also the shortest-lived thing we print. A decal in a supermarket entry takes thousands of footfalls a week plus a scrubbing machine every night, and three to six months is a realistic life. Somewhere quieter, like an office corridor, the same decal can run a couple of years. Plan on replacing them.
Everything is printed, laminated and cut at our Orbis Drive workshop, so if you need the same wayfinding set again in six months it is a reprint from the file rather than a new job. There is no minimum. Our own crews install, which matters for venues and multi-site retail where the decals have to go down after hours and be walkable by opening.
Slip resistance is the specification that separates a floor decal from a sticker you happen to have put on the floor. Here is how the common builds behave on the surfaces we get asked about most.
| Floor surface | Media and laminate | Holds well? | Realistic life |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polished concrete | Cast vinyl with textured anti-slip laminate | Yes, once cleaned and fully dry | Six to twelve months in traffic |
| Sheet vinyl and lino | Removable adhesive, textured laminate | Yes, and lifts clean off a sealed surface | Six to twelve months |
| Ceramic and porcelain tile | Conformable vinyl, textured laminate | On the tile face yes, across grout lines no | Three to six months |
| Sealed timber and bamboo | Low-tack removable, textured laminate | Yes on sealed boards, never on raw or oiled timber | Three to six months |
| Short-pile carpet | Fabric-backed carpet media, no laminate needed | Grips the pile mechanically, not chemically | Four to eight weeks |
| Sealed pavers and outdoor concrete | Heavy outdoor vinyl, coarse anti-slip laminate | Only on smooth sealed surfaces | Two to three months |
| Rubber and epoxy safety flooring | High-tack adhesive, textured laminate | Depends on the coating, worth a test piece | Three to six months |
Round and cut-to-shape decals hold up better than rectangles. Corners are where a foot catches and lifting starts, so if the design allows it we round them. Long runs are supplied as tiles rather than one impractical piece.
What changes between floor jobs is the laminate texture, the adhesive and the backing. These are the combinations we actually specify, and the situations each one is for.
The layer that makes a floor decal safe to walk on. A clear film with a coarse embossed surface, heat-laminated over the print. It restores grip close to that of the surrounding floor and takes the abrasion so the ink underneath does not. Every indoor floor graphic we make gets one.
Standard for retail and campaign work. The adhesive holds firmly under traffic but releases from sealed floors without leaving a glue outline behind. Ideal where decals go down for a season and the floor has to look untouched afterwards. Not the right pick for permanent safety marking.
For long-term wayfinding, warehouse walkways and anything on a slightly textured or industrial floor. It bonds harder and stays put through wet mopping and scrubbing machines. Removal takes heat and solvent, so we only specify it where the marking is genuinely staying put for years.
Carpet needs a completely different product. A fabric-backed media with a gripping underside that keys into short pile rather than sticking to it. Nothing adhesive works on carpet. Life is shorter, usually a few weeks, so it suits exhibitions, activations and conferences rather than permanent installations.
Heavier vinyl with a coarser anti-slip laminate, for sealed concrete forecourts, entry paths and event sites. Rain, grit and UV all shorten the life considerably, so treat outdoor floor decals as a two to three month product. Unsealed concrete and asphalt will not hold them at all.
Footprints, arrows, logos and outlines cut around the artwork so there is no vinyl rectangle sitting on the floor. It looks deliberate rather than stuck on, and it removes the straight edges that traffic tends to lift first. Slightly more cutting time, noticeably better result.
Aisle numbers, bay markings, queue positions and station identifiers produced as one run with the numbers built into the artwork. Cheaper than ordering them individually and consistent in size and colour, which matters when they sit in a line where any variation is obvious.
Aisle end markers, promotional footprints leading to a display, and directional graphics through the store. The floor is usually polished concrete or sheet vinyl, cleaned nightly by a ride-on scrubber, so the laminate has to cope with a rotating brush and a wet floor every night. We spec removable adhesive so the promotion can be pulled and replaced without leaving ghost marks down the aisle.
Walkway edges, pedestrian crossings, forklift give-way markings and bay identification. This is safety marking rather than promotion, so it is permanent adhesive, high-visibility colours and shapes that stay readable when they are dirty. Painted lines are the alternative, but decals go down in an afternoon without closing the aisle for curing time, and they can be replaced piece by piece.
Stand numbering, sponsor logos, queue positions and directional arrows on carpeted or vinyl exhibition floors. Everything here is temporary by definition, so the product gets chosen for clean removal at bump-out rather than durability. Carpeted halls need fabric-backed media. Bump-in windows are tight, so we deliver kits labelled by position, which means one person can lay the whole set without a floor plan in hand.
Wayfinding routes to departments, entry and exit flows, and floor markers at reception and lift lobbies. Traffic is constant and the flooring is often a mix of vinyl, tile and sealed concrete inside the same building, so different areas need different adhesives on the same job. We walk the site first rather than assume one spec covers everything. It is a short visit and it avoids decals lifting in the one corridor nobody checked.
Floor graphics are read from about a metre and a half above, at an angle, often while someone is moving. That pushes the artwork towards big shapes, heavy strokes and high contrast, and away from fine detail.
If you have a floor plan and a rough idea of where people need to go, that is enough. We will set out the wayfinding, size the decals to the sightlines and send a proof showing each one in position.
Print, laminate and cut all run under our own roof at Ravenhall, so a floor job does not sit in a supplier queue. Installation carries the real constraint: most floors can only be worked on outside trading hours, and the surface must be clean and completely dry first. Tell us the site and the date and we will give you a straight answer. Pickup from Ravenhall or delivery statewide.
Not if they are made properly. A floor graphic gets a textured anti-slip over-laminate, which is a clear film with a coarse embossed surface that restores grip close to that of the floor around it. Without that laminate, a printed vinyl decal is a smooth plastic patch and genuinely is a slip risk.
This is the main reason not to use ordinary stickers on a floor. Ask any supplier whether the laminate is slip rated. If the answer is vague, the decal becomes a hazard the first time the entry floor gets wet.
On a sealed surface, no. Removable floor adhesive is made to release without pulling at the finish or leaving a glue outline, and sheet vinyl, sealed timber and polished concrete all handle it well.
Where it goes wrong is unsealed or oiled timber, freshly laid vinyl that has not fully cured, and floors treated with a polish or dressing. The adhesive can bond to the coating rather than the floor and take some of it away with it. If you are not sure what is on the floor, we lay a test piece in a back corner and lift it a week later.
Somewhere between a few weeks and a couple of years, driven almost entirely by traffic. A decal in a supermarket entry can look worn at three months. The same decal in an office corridor can run two years. Cleaning method matters nearly as much as footfall, and a ride-on scrubber with a rotating brush is far harder on a decal than a mop.
Carpet decals are the shortest lived, usually four to eight weeks. Outdoor floor graphics sit around two to three months before grit and UV take the print down.
Yes, but not with an ordinary sticker. Adhesive has nothing smooth to bond to on carpet, so the product is a fabric-backed media with a gripping underside that keys mechanically into short pile. It stays put underfoot and lifts off without leaving fibres behind.
It only works on short, dense commercial pile. Deep or loose pile will not hold it. Expect a shorter life than a hard-floor decal, which is fine, because carpet decals are almost always for exhibitions, conferences and activations rather than permanent wayfinding.
Yes, on smooth sealed surfaces only. Sealed concrete forecourts, polished entry paths and finished pavers will hold an outdoor floor graphic with a heavier vinyl and a coarser anti-slip laminate. Rough concrete, asphalt and unsealed pavers will not, because the adhesive only contacts the high points and the decal lifts within days.
Even in the right conditions, treat outdoor floor graphics as a two to three month product. Grit tracked underfoot abrades the laminate quickly, and standing water at the edges eventually works its way underneath.
The usual starting points are a 300 mm circle for a marker and 600 × 400 mm for a directional graphic, because those read clearly from standing height without asking anyone to stop and look.
Text is the part people undersize. Anything below about 40 mm cap height is unreadable at walking pace, no matter how sharp the print is. Keep the message to four or five words, use heavy strokes and high contrast, and let the shape do the work. A big arrow beats a sentence every time.
Printed and cut graphics for painted walls and interiors, in removable film that lifts off at end of lease without taking the paint with it or needing a repaint.
See the detail →Compliant safety, hazard and mandatory signage for sites, warehouses and workplaces, printed on rigid substrates chosen to suit where the sign is mounted and how long it stays.
See the detail →Die-cut and kiss-cut vinyl stickers for packaging seals, asset tagging and promotional runs, laminated for indoor or outdoor use and supplied on sheets, rolls or as singles.
See the detail →Browse the full list on our A–Z of everything we print, or see how this fits into signage in Melbourne.
Tell us the floor surface, the traffic it takes and roughly how long the graphics stay down. We will spec it and quote within two business hours.