El Tradicional!
We are at the cutting edge of sign and print technology but that doesn't stop us from keeping to our roots; there's still a place for the trusty brush. All the digital technology has it's place, but there isn't an alternative to traditional brushed signage, particularly for exterior building signage. Size isn't a problem, actually most the work we do is large renderings of company logos. Have a look at the samples below which walk you through the process of getting logo element painted onto a concrete wall.
Caked In Snow
First of all, apologies to our customers who we could not meet their deadlines. We managed to get some staff in during the worst of the weather but unfortunately mother nature stopped us from getting more. They said it was gonna be a long cold storm... and they were right. Here are some pics of the white stuff. The benefits of having a 4 wheel drive were plain to see, moving a two wheel drive wasn't an easy feat (see pic of Daryl)! Hopefully we don't get another event like this for some time. It's par for course for many cities around the world, but we are not geared up to cope with this in Christchurch. The fun wears off pretty quickly. I think the kids are the winners when it comes to snow!!!
Against The Clock
We hit the ground running with this one. The pressure was on to get this project completed on time. We had 3 days to turn it around. The job involved a lot of self adhesive vinyl, laminating, mounting, posters and some pretty big, double sided 3m x 3m banners and a couple of 15m x 2m. The team pulled together and we came through with the goods. A small hiccup saw a panel missed, but that was fixed by an early Saturday morning phone call and an emergency print completed and installed before opening time.
Big, Bright And Can't Be Missed
We'll let the pictures do the talking on this one. Big wall, big mural. When Piko Wholefoods had their badly damaged Barbadoes street premises red stickered, they needed to find a new home. You'd be hard pushed to find a person who couldn't find them here. We printed this artwork a few years back for their old premises, but this version is simply stunning. It's printed with latex ink on self adhesive vinyl, laminated with gloss anti-grafitti film and mounted to aluminium composite panels. We also did the front fascia, street pole sign and lightbox.
Greening Digital Printing
We'd like to introduce a recent addition to our line-up. HP in recent years have been pushing more environmentally conscious large format digital printing solutions. One of their biggest drives has been latex ink printers. Surprise surprise, the picture above happens to be one. The environment is not exactly being kind to us at the moment here in Christchurch, but we are still looking to improve our stance towards it. The HP Scitex LX850 uses waterbased latex ink, yet the finished prints are comparable to mild and eco solvent as far as scratch reststance and durability goes. It's our second latex machine. Without boring you to death with details, we get high resolution prints (truly stunning), with brilliant colour, durable for indoor and outdoor use including vehicles and then add to that the fact it does a great job on fabrics which is enhanced by it's ability to image on material up to to 3.2 metres wide (that's billboard size!!!).
Keeping The Grain
Here is a great printing job we supplied for the Nando's Riccarton restaurant, which demonstrates printing directly to timber. The concept was to allow the grain of the wood to show through and become part of the graphic. This is a fantastic example of the strength of direct printing, and also using printing with white ink. The window graphic is a clear adhesive film. We used white ink , but not as a flood fill because we wanted a degree of transparency for the colours.
Myriorama
We like a good challenge, and this one is no exception. The very clever Bruce Edgar came to us with a project he was working on for local Christchurch artist Julia Morison. The piece was to be exhibited at the Sydney Biennale 2010. The catch was it involved a massive amount of panels, intricate detail and it had to be accurate. After a series of tests we were ready to print. It was displayed in the Sydney Opera House... see details below.
Stand Back!
This ranger can do what no other ranger can. Stand still on the spot 24/7. These images are of signs recently installed at Franz Josef Glacier to keep it's visitors informed and safe. The signs and lifesize cutout are manufactured to withstand the demanding environment. For more information about our interpretation signage options click here.
A Matter Of Perspective
This is a great example of using perspective. What was a once a dull stairwell wall is now a treat to the eye. We worked with International Buddhist Association (IBA) Christchurch, to bring their concept to reality. Some careful tweaking was required to get the illusion to work. We produced the image on ACM panels which are fixed to the wall. To help get your head around it, the bottom shot is looking from the top floor, showing the complete mural from ceiling right down to the tiled floor. The first image is taken standing back in the top floor walkway leading to the stairs. The illusion is an extended walkway.
A Day In The Sun
What a great day! We've endured a lot of aftershocks for nearly two months and this was a welcome break. It was a really good day as the sun shone, the bands played and the ground didn't move. The Band Together concert turned out around 140,000 people. New Zealand has some damn good musicians. Who would have thought The Exponents would be finishing a concert with Christchurch (in cashel street I wait) 25 years after it was recorded. For those who don't know what it was about... Band Together was a free concert for the people of Canterbury which featured some of New Zealand's top musicians. The purpose was to give Cantabrians a day to try to forget about their stress caused by the earthquake and chill out for a day.
