How a Prop Designer Created an Illuminated ESPN Studio Logo With the QIDI Q1 Pro

When professional prop designer Zsolt Ugranyecz was commissioned to create two illuminated ESPN installations for a UK football World Cup podcast studio, the brief presented an unusual challenge: how could a one-metre-wide logo appear to float in mid-air while remaining rigid, stable, and evenly illuminated on camera?

Drawing on more than fifteen years of experience in film-industry props, costumes, and decorative work, Zsolt combined digital modelling, LED lighting, traditional finishing techniques, and the QIDI Q1 Pro to bring the concept to life. The result was a one-metre-wide 3D-printed illuminated logo with concealed wiring, hidden structural supports, and visually separate letters that appeared to float.

Project at a Glance

The Challenge: Creating a Floating Logo

The commission came from the company responsible for fitting out the ESPN UK's football World Cup podcast studio.

The brief called for a one-metre-wide illuminated ESPN logo with a depth of approximately 100 mm. A matching illuminated letter E was also required.
Both pieces needed to support two different installation methods:

Standing on a desk or another flat surface

Suspended within the studio

The props also needed to maintain a clean appearance from several viewing angles. Visible brackets, exposed wiring, reflective surfaces, or uneven lighting could become distracting when filmed under studio lights.

These requirements influenced the structure, material selection, model orientation, surface finish, and lighting design.

The Main Design Challenge: Making the Letters Appear to Float

The most difficult part of the project was creating the impression that the individual letters were floating in space.

Each letter had to appear visually separate while remaining part of one rigid illuminated structure.

A visible backing panel or conventional support frame would have weakened the effect.

However, removing obvious supports created several practical challenges.

The completed installation still needed to:

•  Maintain the correct spacing between letters
•  Remain stable during handling and installation
•  Support both standing and suspended display
•  Conceal the wiring between the illuminated sections
•  Preserve the appearance of independent letter forms

Zsolt solved this problem by designing cylindrical connecting elements between the letters. These hidden parts provided structural support while also creating a route for the internal wiring.

Their position required careful planning. They needed to provide enough rigidity without becoming noticeable from the studio’s main viewing angles.

“Balancing structural strength, hidden construction and clean aesthetics was probably the most demanding aspect of the entire design.”

— Zsolt Ugranyecz, Professional Prop Designer

After the final matte-black finish was applied, the connectors became difficult to see. The letters remained physically connected but appeared visually independent.

From Flat Artwork to a Modular 3D Model

Zsolt used the supplied official logo artwork as the starting point and developed the 3D model in Plasticity. The flat graphic was transformed into a hollow structure with space for the LED strips, concealed wiring, cylindrical connectors, and a front acrylic diffuser. Practical wall thicknesses and accessible assembly points were also built into the design while preserving the logo’s original proportions.

Because the completed logo measured approximately one metre wide, it exceeded the available print area and had to be divided into smaller sections during slicing. The split locations were selected with several later production stages in mind, including alignment, joint strength, seam visibility, wiring access, sanding, and painting.

The cylindrical connectors were integrated into the model so that they aligned with the internal cavities of the letters. They reinforced the assembled structure, maintained the spacing between the letter forms, and provided concealed routes for the wiring.

By coordinating the internal layout and section boundaries before printing, Zsolt created modules that could be produced on the QIDI Q1 Pro, assembled securely, and finished without visibly disrupting the shape of the original logo.

QIDI Q1 Pro Print Settings Used for the Project

The production schedule was relatively tight, making it important to balance print quality, production time, and post-processing requirements.

The project used the following setup:

The 0.4 mm nozzle offered a practical balance between detail and printing efficiency. The 0.16 mm layer height created surfaces that required only limited sanding before priming and painting.

This was especially important for the larger visible sections. A coarser finish could have increased the amount of sanding and filling required, while an unnecessarily fine layer height would have extended production time.

Black QIDI PLA Matte Rapido was selected for the printed parts. Its matte appearance suited the intended exterior finish and helped reduce the amount of surface preparation required before painting.

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Orienting the Hidden Structural Connectors

The cylindrical connectors were smaller than the main letter sections, but their print orientation was equally important.

These slender parts needed to remain dimensionally accurate and sufficiently rigid. Deformation could have affected letter spacing, assembly alignment, or the stability of the completed installation.

Careful positioning on the build plate helped preserve their shape and improve the fit between the larger printed sections.

The project demonstrates why hidden components should not be treated as secondary parts.

Although the connectors were designed to disappear visually, they controlled several important aspects of the installation:

•  Letter alignment
•  Structural stability
•  Spacing consistency
•  Internal wiring
•  Final assembly

The visible letter forms created the visual impact, but the hidden connections made the floating effect possible.

Combining Surface Finishing and Lighting for a Professional Result

Once printing was complete, each section was carefully sanded and coated with matte black primer. Zsolt then applied a specialist ultra-matte black paint commonly used in film-industry work to the exterior surfaces.

The low-reflective finish reduced glare from studio lights, cameras, and nearby objects. It also helped the cylindrical connectors blend into the background, reinforcing the impression that the illuminated letters were floating independently.

Inside each letter, Zsolt applied polar white acrylic paint to reflect light around the cavity and improve illumination across the front surface. A 24V RGBW COB LED strip with 180-degree light emission provided continuous lighting, including the red glow used in the finished studio installation. Its wiring passed through the concealed cylindrical connectors, linking the separate letter forms without leaving visible cables.

The front of each letter was sealed with milky white acrylic designed for illuminated signage. This diffuser softened the LED output, reduced visible hotspots, and created a more uniform glow.

Together, the ultra-matte exterior, reflective white interior, COB LED lighting, and acrylic diffuser gave the completed logo a clean, camera-ready appearance.

Final Assembly and Installation

After the sections were printed, joined, sanded, painted, wired, and sealed, the completed props could be installed in either of the formats required by the brief.

They could stand on a flat surface or be suspended within the studio while maintaining the same clean visual appearance.

From the intended viewing angles, the matte-black cylindrical connectors were almost impossible to notice. The individual letters appeared to float despite forming one rigid object.

The effect depended on several stages working together:

•  Accurate digital modelling
•  Strategic model splitting
•  Consistent printed dimensions
•  Correct connector orientation
•  Careful seam finishing
•  Concealed wiring
•  Reflective interior surfaces
•  Controlled LED diffusion

No single technique created the finished result. The final installation depended on the successful combination of digital manufacturing and traditional prop-making skills.

How the QIDI Q1 Pro Supported the Production Process

Every printed component used in the project was produced on the QIDI Q1 Pro.

Consistency was particularly important because the final installation consisted of multiple sections. Each part needed to align correctly with neighbouring components, hidden connectors, wiring routes, and the front diffuser.

According to Zsolt’s project experience, the QIDI Q1 Pro delivered consistent print results throughout production. This allowed him to focus on the structural, lighting, and finishing challenges rather than repeatedly correcting the printed parts.

The printer did not replace the traditional stages of professional prop making. Sanding, painting, wiring, lighting, fitting, and final assembly remained essential.

Instead, it provided a practical method for producing the complex letter forms and hidden structural components required by the design.

What This Project Shows About 3D-Printed Prop Making

The completed ESPN studio logo demonstrates how desktop 3D printing can support professional prop production when combined with careful modelling and hands-on finishing.

Several practical lessons can be taken from the project:

•  Large props do not need to be printed in one piece. Strategic splitting can make metre-scale projects possible on a desktop printer.
•  Hidden connectors can serve several functions. Here, they controlled spacing, added rigidity, and carried wiring.
•  Print settings should support the finishing workflow. The nozzle and layer height balanced surface quality with production time.
•  Interior surface colour affects illumination. White paint helped reflect and distribute the internal light.
•  Camera-facing props require controlled finishes. Ultra-matte paint reduced unwanted studio reflections.

3D printing works best as part of a broader process. Modelling, printing, painting, lighting, and assembly all contributed to the finished installation.

The result fulfilled the original brief while maintaining the illusion that the individual letters were floating in space. It also showed how the QIDI Q1 Pro can support detailed, multi-part creative projects in a professional workshop environment.

Bring Your Next Creative Project to Life

Planning a detailed prop, display, sign, or multi-part 3D printing project? Explore the QIDI Q1 Pro and see how it can support your next creative build.