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We are so proud to have been short listed for the prestigious FESPA Awards 2014 for the category In Store Project of the Year with our display for a major luxury London retail store. The campaign was The Christmas Express. Full detaills of the campaign are below and on the FESPA website.
The award is judged on excellence in print quality, technical expertise, image definition, precision, colour appearance, use of technique, design and creativity of the print used.
The final vote is down to the public so we need your vote.
Please vote for The Christmas Express here.
Our high end luxury retail client (who wishes to remain anonymous) is famous for their stunning windows displays throughout the year. The Christmas window campaign is the highlight of their retail calendar and their revealing gathers worldwide media attention. The windows displays are not only a showcase for consumer brands on sale in store but a tourist attraction in their own right. They are also a benchmark of technical excellence in the retail display and visual merchandising industry.
We met with the client in May 2013 and a train theme began .We subsequently arranged a research trip on the Orient Express with the design team to help with inspiration. The final brief from the client was to create “The Christmas Express”, a series of train carriages across 11 store windows. The final printed execution needed the metallic solidity of a real train. The overall design was complex and challenging technically for us to achieve and required a great deal of artwork and printing trials.
Artwork and production samples for “The Christmas Express” needed to be completed by October 2013. Throughout this process we worked closely with the client’s design team advising on artwork and technical capabilities of the different materials, inks and finishing techniques. We worked throughout with the client to provide creative and visually effective solutions.
Combined with the store windows the client also asked for a bank of lift door graphics for 6 lifts to complement the Christmas theme. The original design for these lifts required us to suggest an alternative solution due to practicalities of the materials involved. We developed a creative solution that met with the client’s approval and exceeded their original expectations.
The final reveal of the windows was covered on BBC’s The One Show and PressOn’s installation team were seen on the programme.
Technique: The Christmas ExpressThe artwork from the client for “The Christmas Express” was received and our in-house team worked on this extensively.
There were two main technical challenges that made the project complex from a printing perspective:
1. Printing onto silver mirrored vinyl.
Printing onto metallic always presents some challenges. The vinyl was only available in a permanent version so we suggested re-mounting it onto removable vinyl. We also recommended using a very cost effective vinyl material as we were confident the luxury effect the client needed could still be achieved on a less expensive material. This technical input from us ensured the project was delivered to budget and was easily removable at the end of the campaign.
2. Printing white “steam” across the train.
Printing different densities of white ink on metallic sections is technically difficult to achieve. Our in-house team working on Photoshop CS6 created 3 layers to replicate varying densities of steam. We then conducted a number of trials on the EFi VUTEk QS2 Pro to ensure the desired effect with the white ink was achieved. We used the VUTEk’s three-layer ink capability for the project.
The main complication during printing was the reflection from the metallic vinyl interfering with the UV curing lamp. Even the manufacturers of the VUTEk told us it could not be done. After lengthy and labour intensive trials the perfect effect of transparent and opaque sections of steam was achieved and the client was delighted.
The printed vinyl was cut out on the Kongsberg XP cutter from Esko.
The finished windows ranged in size from 1600mm to 2750mm wide and 3190mm high. There were 11 windows in total. All graphics were installed during one night.Christmas Lift GraphicsAgain this project required mirror vinyl, this time in gold. We used permanent vinyl again remounted to removable vinyl. Part of the client’s brief asked us to produce mirror gold cut out lettering as part of the artwork on the banks of lift doors in-store. We recommended an alternative creative solution as the sliding of the doors across the graphics would cause the text to become damaged. We trialled printing white ink over the mirror gold vinyl on the EFi VUTEk QS2 Pro. This ensured the printed text would still be metallic gold but would not peel off with repetitive movement of the lift doors.
The finished result was a stunning pearlescent effect that surpassed the client’s expectations.
Our client wishes to remain anonymous. The objectives of the project were to produce Christmas window displays that are famous globally. The technical execution of these windows needs to be therefore perfect to achieve the flawless stunning visual effect the client demands.
Our customer has advised they were delighted with the innovation and creativity we showed in helping them execute the finished displays. The client was also thrilled with timescales and costs involved.
