Custom Branding for Splash Pads and Pool Decks

Aquatic facilities often ask to customize their surfaces with branding for a variety of reasons. Some splash pads or pools look to differentiate themselves from neighboring facilities or competitors. Others are interested in a cohesive experience with similar design elements across several areas. The ability to display a logo is often a matter of showcasing town or school pride. No matter the purpose, including custom design as part of an aquatic facility’s floor always helps a project uniquely stand out. Explore the following examples to see the variety of ways Life Floor customers choose to display branded elements on their splash pads and pool decks.

MUNICIPAL LOGOS

Municipal splash pads often feature the logos of their city, county, or parks & recreation departments. Life Floor offers the unique opportunity to add these elements with our precision cutting capabilities. Logos are often designed to span across several tiles, like the one at Andrew Belle Splash Pad in Dothan, AL shown above.

Other cities opt to fit their logos within a single tile. At Spivey Splash Water Park in Jonesboro, GA, several Clayton County logos were included across the splash pad.

BRANDED INLAYS

Surfers’ Cove Splash Pad at LEGOLAND California features custom LEGO Inlays. The fish and starfish are scaled at exactly twenty-five times the size of the actual LEGO pieces that they represent. By including these custom sea creatures, the splash pad ties into the beach theme of the water park while also reinforcing the LEGO brand.

Custom tropical Inlays cover the surface of Splashaway Bay at Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay. This surface was designed by Martin Aquatic to showcase the graphic design elements featured across the island.

At the splash pad onboard Carnival Panorama, a custom social media activation was cut into Life Floor tiles. #CHOOSEFUN was laid into the surface to feature a key slogan for the Carnival Cruise Line brand.

THEME PARK LOGOS

At Fun Spot America in Orlando, FL, a large logo for the theme park was custom cut as the focal point of the splash pad designed by Martin Aquatic. This logo was factory cut to maintain accuracy to the brand as well as to streamline installation on site.

Morey’s Piers Bonsai Beach splash pad also features a custom cut logo for their beachside water park. It showcases their iconic ferris wheel and accents their seascape theme designed by WhiteWater.

SPONSORSHIP LOGOS

Community splash pads may be funded in part or in whole by local organizations. The Rotary Club’s logo has been custom cut into a few Life Floor splash pads in honor of the groups that helped to bring these local features to life.

Wave MACHINE BRANDING

Wave technologies are quickly evolving with each featuring unique benefits. Adding branding to platforms has been a key way to showcase the companies responsible for these recreational features. At their Pop-Up Surf Park, Ka’ana Wave Co. selected Life Floor’s slip-resistant and cushioned tiles for their deck surfacing. Their logo was integrated across the top of Daldorado’s DalLUX Drainage System.

FlowRider units featured prominently onboard Royal Caribbean’s fleet showcase both the Royal Caribbean and FlowRider brands with logos embedded in Life Floor’s tiles that add slip-resistance to the ramps.

School Logos

Pool decks and splash pads at high schools and universities often feature logos to showcase school pride. With high fidelity cutting technology and a palette of over 30 color options, our team is always excited to help these academic facilities stand out. The bright red logo shown above on this Inside Edge Safety Surfaces project accents Texas Tech University’s splash pad adjacent to their leisure pool.

At GEMS Wellington International School in Dubai, UAE, a school logo is showcased alongside their swimming pool. This is a popular choice for competitive swim facilities worldwide.

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We love bringing unique projects like the ones featured above to life as our customers’ creativity continues to inspire us.

Looking to differentiate your next aquatic project with branded elements? Our team is always happy to talk through the options as part of your planning process. Contact us to get started with our complimentary design services.

AQUATIC SURFACING TRENDS FOR 2022

Historically in aquatics, surfacing design has defaulted to concrete or hasn't been given much attention at all. Today, more and more facilities are exploring flooring options that increase safety, enhance design, and improve play value. As we head into the new year, be on the lookout for these surfacing trends that are increasing in popularity on pool decks and splash pads around the world. 

1. THEMED DESIGNS

A greater number of splash pad and pool deck surfaces have been featuring theming to complement and enhance facility or play fixture designs. From tropical treasure hunts and undersea environments to desert landscapes and forests, adding this attention to detail at the surface level provides a more fully-themed experience for guests. Be on the lookout for these immersive flooring options as designers use surfacing as a way to tie projects together. 

2. SURFACING CERTIFIED FOR AQUATIC PLAY 

Since 2019, a standard has recommended that splash pad surfacing materials meet certain criteria. NSF/ANSI/CAN 50:26 uses third-party testing to evaluate products for slip-resistance, impact attenuation, chemical resistance, UV resistance, cleanability, and impermeability. As properties have begun to renovate existing facilities and plan for new ones, many have looked to this standard as a way to follow recommended best practices. 

3. ACCESSIBLE OPTIONS 

Accommodating guests of all ages and abilities is important to any facility design and surfacing can help achieve this goal. Cushioned and slip-resistant flooring options can allow guests to feel more sure-footed as they interact with environments traditionally known for being slippery when wet. Softer surfaces accommodate guests crawling or sitting on floors at aquatic facilities. Providing visual or tactile cues that indicate depth, surfacing, or feature transitions are further measures that help guests navigate these locations. Making facilities as accessible as possible allows the greatest range of guests to enjoy the amenities offered by them. 

4. BRIGHT, GEOMETRIC PATTERNS 

Many pool decks and splash pads are opting for fun patterning created by colorful, geometric shapes as a way to increase visual interest. Adding these designs at the surface level has proven to drastically improve the look of facilities that have been retrofitted.

5. INTEGRATING ACTIVITIES 

Certain flooring types can be designed to add activities to an aquatic surface. These can be games like hopscotch or checkers, paths to follow, hopping activities, objects to find or count, and life-sized 2D objects that inspire young imaginations. Adding these options into a surfacing design has the ability to increase play value and engagement at facilities. 

6. COLOR GRADIENTS 

As greater emphasis to design has been placed on flooring surfaces, adding color gradients has been a popular trend, especially those that evoke natural elements like shorelines. This effect is achieved through bands of color, mosaic effects, or geometric patterning. 

7. SHOWCASING BRANDING 

The ability to add logos and branding to aquatic surfaces has been increasing in popularity. Splash pads, cruise ships, universities, and athletic facilities have featured signature imagery, logos, hashtags, and colorways within their floors to reinforce specific brands. 

8. EASE OF SANITIZATION 

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, many facilities are imposing more stringent cleaning protocols to ensure guest health and safety. As a result, surfacing options that don't support microbial growth have been increasing in popularity. Attention to cleanability and impermeability can be helpful to improve ease of maintenance at these locations and provide a marketable benefit to patrons. 

9. DELINEATED ACTIVITY ZONES 

Splash pad designs have increasingly included a diversity of features that cater to different levels of development and age groups. Likewise, more play spaces are emerging that combine different zones of play such as a dry playground that transitions to a splash pad or a splash pad that transitions to a pool. As a result, using surfacing design to more clearly delineate different play areas has become a popular option. 

10. DESIGN FOR MULTI-GENERATIONAL ENGAGEMENT 

Parks, playgrounds, and splash pads are beginning to focus on design not only for children, but also for the comfort and enjoyment of multi-generational guests (who make up about 50% of patrons). This can be accomplished by adding shade structures, seating, and play elements that accommodate adults. At the surfacing level, cushioned, non-abrasive options provide comfort to sit or play on the floor, making it easier to interact with little ones in these environments. 

Have you noticed any other aquatic surfacing trends that you would add to our list? We'd love to hear about them in the comments below! 

If you’d like to discuss the ways that Life Floor can help achieve any of these items at a specific aquatic facility, contact our team to learn more.

Creating Custom Shapes, Logos, and Designs with Life Floor Tiles

Splashaway Bay at CocoCay. Photo credit: Royal Caribbean

Did you know that despite being manufactured primarily as geometric tiles, Life Floor can be custom cut into any shape imaginable? From curvy designs to themed imagery and from games to giant logos, we’ve done it! Read more to learn about some of these popular design options that stray from our standard offerings to offer a more customized experience. 

For theming opportunities, we’ve cut anything from life-sized surfboards to giant paw prints and sandy islands into our floors. 

Captain Jill’s Galleon at CocoCay.
Photo credit: Royal Caribbean

Beach Haven, Australia

Curvy or circular designs are a popular choice for customers looking for a more organic look. 

For added play value at the surface level, we’ve created games to add to the guest experience for our customers as well. 

One of our most popular requests is to add elements of branding to surfaces - from giant logos to inlays that represent the facilities where they’re installed. 

As you can see, the opportunities and options are truly endless!

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So how do we do it? 

The process varies by project. In some cases, like in the instance of giant circles, organic shapes can be hand cut on site by a skilled installation team. Large swooping curves can often be achieved this way as well.

In other cases, projects come factory cut with labeled parts and diagrams to streamline the install process on site and to ensure design accuracy. 

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Why don’t all customers take this approach? 

These designs are all amazing and we love that we’re able to create them! Unfortunately, some of these examples are out of budget for some customers. When dealing with curvy or custom designs, more material is needed to account for the amount of scrap created when trimming our square tiles to create these shapes. Installation costs are a bit higher as well due to the attention to detail needed to get the designs installed properly. 

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Is there a more budget-friendly way to custom cut designs? 

Of course! In some cases, customers have opted for a repeatable inlay that can be cut from a single tile to help brand or theme their space. A great example of this is the maple leaf inlay we created for the Maple Grove Community Center. 

In other cases, a custom design only covers a small portion of a project while the rest of the design sticks with some of our more budget-friendly design options like our preferred colors or standard tile shapes. At the Courtyard by Marriott Anaheim, a few custom inlays and activities were interspersed throughout our simple pattern of square tiles in our High Tide theme. 

Another great way to incorporate a curved design is to limit the amount of tiles that need to be trimmed into a custom shape. At the splash pad at the Australia Zoo, only the perimeter of the “pond” needed to be cut while all other tiles could be installed as full square pieces.

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While these projects all take a little extra effort during the design, manufacturing, and installation processes, we always love the results! Have an idea in mind that you’d like to explore with our team? Reach out to us and we’ll do our best to make it a reality!

Flooring Design Themes for Aquatic Facilities

When designing with Life Floor, clients are often looking to create or enhance an existing theme at a facility. Since our tiles are specifically engineered for use in aquatic environments, these spaces are often themed around water; however, sometimes new themes are imagined as well! We love the creativity that goes into envisioning these spaces. Check out some of our favorites that have been installed as well as some ideas for themed splash pads that haven’t been built yet! 

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Under the Sea 

Our blue tones and sea creature inlays are most often featured in spaces that have an underwater theme. Some spaces are more whimsical with octopus tentacles and others are more abstract using a triangle gradient or randomized squares. Curvy waves are also a popular choice for clients looking to emulate an under the sea look. 

Splash Pad at Westfield Memorial Pool

Cootamundra Splash Pad

Courtyard by Marriott Anaheim Splash Pad

Splash Pad at LEGOLAND California

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Into the Wild 

Several facilities with Life Floor installations have a woodsy or wilderness theme. These spaces typically feature earth tones of tans, browns, and greens as well as thematic paw print inlays. The designs that we’ve proposed for these spaces have used a combination of our available shapes including triangles, rectangles, and hexagons.

Wilderness Resort Splash Pad

Concept for a Forest-Themed Splash Pad

Concept for a Hexagon River Design

Lilypad Landing Pad at Great Wolf Lodge

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Sunny Beachscapes

Adding a beach element to a water-themed splash pad increases visual interest and the opportunity to feature different inlays across the sand and sea. One of our largest beach designs, pictured below at Atlantis the Palm Dubai, features a triangle gradient and a clear progression from land to water and back to land. Other projects with this theme feature a body of water surrounded by sand or, the opposite, an island surrounded by water. Some customers have even opted to add pirate treasure hunt themes to their tropical islands! 

Splash Pad at Atlantis the Palm Dubai

Pirate-Themed Splash Pad at Wyndham Bonnet Creek

Sunshine Leisure Centre Pool

The Beach Splash Pad in Dubai

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Winter Wonderland 

While these wintery concepts have yet to be installed on a project, we love the idea of a unique frosty theme, especially on a hot summer day! 

Concept for a Winter-Themed Splash Pad

Concept for a Snowflake Splash Pad

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Lily Pads 

Some customers have opted for lily pad inspired ideas. These curvy features add visual interest to the splash pads where they’re featured. At a smaller scale, they can inspire children to hop across individual lily pads in a game of leapfrog. 

Florida Aquarium Splash Pad

Lake George RV Park Splash Pad. Image Credit: Martin Aquatic

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Bright & Tropical 

Several aquatic facilities have requested vibrant, tropics-inspired themes. Bright pops of color on a surface can dramatically enliven a space and complement surrounding designs and imagery! 

Vidanta Riviera Maya Splash Pad. Photo Credit: WhiteWater West

Concept for a Bright, Triangle Pattern on a Splash Pad

Splashaway Bay at CocoCay. Photo Credit: Royal Caribbean

Moon Palace Jamaica Splash Pad

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Our in-house Studio Team and our design partners loved dreaming up ideas for these designs and themes featured in locations around the world. We welcome all the concepts and ideas our customers want - unique and familiar alike.

What new themes would you like to see featured at aquatic facilities that are surfaced with Life Floor? Let us know in the comments section below!