Embrace Building Wraps produced digitally printed banners for Birmingham 2022
The bigger picture
Perhaps what makes wide-format such an exciting prospect for print service providers (PSPs) is the huge array of work on offer. Be it a simple set of posters advertising a local fun run, or a nationwide advertising campaign of printed billboards, the level of demand for work in this area is astounding.
With this in mind, it seems only right we pay tribute to the companies that operate in this market and the eye-catching and innovative applications they are tasked with creating day in, day out. Truth be told, we could dedicate an entire magazine to the incredible work in this area.
Here, we celebrate some of the most recent, creative pieces from the wide-format print segment.
Going for gold
Starting off big with Embrace Building Wraps, which, as its name gives away, focuses on the larger work in the wide-format market. A glance at the company’s website offers all manner of example, but we have managed to whittle this down to a smaller selection.
First, a look back to last summer and the incredibly successful 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. To celebrate the occasion, Embrace was tasked with creating a number of digitally printed mesh PVC banners, which were then attached to buildings to spread the message of the Games.
Embrace Building Wraps also creates interior décor applications
This project was based at Smallbrook Queensway Buildings in central Birmingham, featuring a main banner to the curved front elevation measuring 230m x 13m as the primary part. A lower-level banner at 70m x 3.4m, along with 14m x 13m and 19m x 4m side elevations and a 40m x 13m banner to the rear on the Hurst Street link bridge above the underpass complete the job.
“Due to the scale of the largest printed wrap, it was not practical to use one giant banner, so we accurately split the install into seven smaller banners, each one measuring around 427sq m,” says Greg Forster, managing director of Embrace.
O Factoid: 1.5 million spectators purchased tickets for Birmingham 2022 O
“To mask the vertical perimeter detail and ties, our experts used tried-and-tested printed 500mm cover strips with heavy duty Velcro so that the install almost looks like one seamless wrap.
“Another consideration on the complex front elevation was the need to precisely accommodate 49 external lights. Each light fitting measured 2m wide by 500mm high and needed to remain in-situ, protruding smartly through the printed wraps.
“Embrace accommodated these with a series of perfectly placed envelope-style slits with eyelets created in advance in the factory. Once the wrap was guided over the light fittings during installation the slits were secured back with cable ties.”
Other recent projects from Embrace include a huge scaffolding wrap that was placed on the world-famous Carnaby Street in London. The wrap was attached to scaffolding to hide work that was going on underneath and to ensure the building remained in touch with its surroundings, all while allowing access to the Timberland store at the foot of the building.
Building wraps from Embrace help cover unsightly construction work
“The wrap was installed on a bespoke offset frame, which neatly created an arch and focal point for Timberland,” Forster says, adding: “The front right-hand side of the scaffold was left open to allow materials to be lifted into the building.
“At the top level a row of protruding scaffold poles that support a working platform break up the wrap, so we installed a face-fixed printed wrap as an infill. The final installation quite literally camouflaged the works, transforming ugly scaffolding into a stylish frame that elevates the property and raises its visibility rather than detracting from it all printed on Kavalan Sunlight Weldable PVC-free.”
More recently, Embrace created an internal wrap for a client’s excellence training facility. Five main banners were used at a high level to cover a corrugated metal wall, with Embrace also opting for a Kavalan Sunlight Weldable PVC-free material with a resin coating to complete the job.
Flying the Flag
Building on Embrace’s sporting theme, Banner Box Print Solutions linked up with CMYUK to provide flags for the Commonwealth Games. Banner Box, a print and signage company based in Chesterfield, supplied the flags using equipment, inks, and textiles from CMYUK.
The brief from the Games was to supply every flag required by the organisers throughout the Games, including the 72 competing nation flags that would be used. Banner Box worked with sister company Flagmakers, a specialist in hand-sewn premium flags.
In total, more than 7,000 flags were produced for the Games with four different variations created across the whole job to ensure the finishing was suited to each Games location. The flags were digitally printed using Mimaki and EFI printer technology along with materials produced by PONGS, which are available exclusively from CMYUK.
“We have a long-standing relationship with CMYUK for production equipment, materials, and multiple consumables which made them the natural first choice supplier,” says Ryan Shelton, director of Banner Box, adding: “We achieve accurate colour reproduction and importantly for flags, a high percentage print-through to the reverse of the fabric.”
Banner Box Print Solutions produced over 7,000 flags for the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Materials such as PONGS meant Banner Box was able to meet the Games’ responsible end-of-life commitments. After the Games, many of the flags were saved for re-use at other sports events or directed to the appropriate polyester recycling streams.
“Large sporting events are a fantastic shop window for our work. In our wider business we produce graphics for cultural events, retail, hospitality, and other sports branding. We have grown our business by using the Commonwealth Games as a stepping stone to compete and win other high-profile jobs and new clients by demonstrating competence and a track record of delivery.”
Marketing Power
From flags to billboards now as the Talon agency partnered with opticians chain Specsavers on a creative campaign that stretched the boundaries of what might be possible with wide-format print in marketing.
Drawing inspiration from similar campaigns in previous year, last year, the ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ initiative featured a range of witty billboards and posters that depict amusing situations where the culprit may have been better off visiting Specsavers for some new glasses before taking on the job.
‘Lost Ladder’ was among the clever displays featured in the Specsavers campaign
The installations were given names such as ‘Billboard Blunder’ and ‘Dodgy Install', as well as ‘Lost Ladder’ – the example pictured in this feature – all of which were created by Specsavers’ in-house creative agency, The Agency, and placed at sites owned by OOH giants such as JCDecaux and Clear Channel.
The campaign was then planned, bought, and produced by MG OMD and Talon Outdoor’s Creative Solutions team which worked with Global Street Art and Jack Agency.
For Specsavers to celebrate the anniversary, it required something truly special, a creative campaign that would resonate online as much as on the streets”
“’Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ has to be one of the most iconic slogans in British advertising and has now provided an impressive 20 years of laughs (and brand awareness),” Jack Agency says, adding: “For Specsavers to celebrate the anniversary, it required something truly special, a creative campaign that would resonate online as much as on the streets, epitomising the years of work that have gone into every landmark advertisement.”
Take Flight
From a promotion reminding you to get your eyes tested, to a profession where eyesight is of paramount importance. In September last year, luxury brand Louis Vuitton linked up with OOH heavyweight JCDecaux on a special campaign at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.
Focused on the ‘Towards A Dream’ brand campaign, large prints were installed on walkways that connected the main terminal building at the airport with planes arriving and departing. Each installation featured an image captured by photographer Viviane Sassen, with the idea of promoting “imagination, freedom and discovery” – an apt theme given the location of the adverts.
Placement of the adverts meant they drew the attention of passengers both arriving at and leaving Shanghai, but at the same time not proving too big of a distraction for pilots!
Blow Your Own Trumpet
Rounding off this mini celebration of wide-format print is an example of how PSPs can use their skills to promote their own business, even in crowded and busy locations such as industry trade shows.
Fujifilm linked up with The Equinox Group and Fokina, a customer based in Germany, to produce a series of eye-catching graphics for its stand at the FESPA Global Print Expo 2022, which took place in Berlin. With print the topic of the exhibition, Fujifilm was looking for a way to capture the attention of visitors while showcasing what its technology can do.
Fujifilm showcased its own wide-format capabilities at FESPA 2022
Working within its ‘Blueprint’ concept for wide-format, Fujifilm partnered with Fokina to print 71 ‘Blueprint Live’ graphics on five different types of media with its Acuity Ultra. These included one banner; three voiles; 12 back-lit TFS; 51 black-backed TFS; and four self-adhesive wall graphics.
Event stand specialist The Equinox Group designed and built the 500sq m stand, which featured enough space for six Acuity presses to be showcased, a meeting room, bar, open seating area, and a storage space.
“We have every confidence in our products,” says Kevin Jenner, European marketing manager at Fujifilm Wide-Format Inkjet Systems, who adds: “We know that the Acuity Ultra R1 and R2 series are easily able to cope with the workload from both a quality and media-handling point of view. Of course, you also need the right partner to drive those machines and meet very tight deadlines.
“We needed the images to be perfectly aligned and we needed to have our ‘Blueprint Live’ logos absolutely pop out of the media, and they certainly did. We were delighted with the results and the cooperation between the parties involved.”
With this feature serving as just a small showcase of some of the many weird and wonderful applications achievable with wide-format print, there should be plenty of food for thought here for those PSPs looking for new work in the segment and keen to put ideas to their customers.
While your clients may have their own thoughts as to how best promote their businesses and products, speaking with them about what you can offer with wide-format print and how this can capture the attention of even the busiest passers-by, could open both your and their eyes to a whole world of new possibilities.
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