Business - Applications

A unique request from a unique venue – the ICEBAR in London - has won Willow Graphics the ‘creative use of a substrate’ award at The Print, Design and Marketing Awards held in London last week.

Using the JETRIX KX7 direct to media UV printer, Willow Graphics reverse printed bespoke menus on to 3mm cast acrylic using multiple layers of white ink and varnish to ‘seal in the design' and ensure it could withstand temperatures of -5% all year round.

And it has not stopped there, with this stationary flatbed featuring 6 picoliter head nozzles for razor sharp edge-to-edge HD, even being capable of printing on ice itself, as this video from Willow Graphics shows - https://vimeo.com/125557802

As Ben Woodruff, JETRIX UK Sales Manager says: “We are delighted that Willow Graphics have won this fantastic award, as it demonstrates their capabilities of producing distinctive large format digital printing projects and it really reflects the capabilities of what the JETRIX printer series can achieve.”

Flourishing surface pattern designer and illustrator Rachael Taylor will be in London on Thursday June 25, 2015 to join an impressive speaker line-up at the New Designers exhibition.

Rachael will be joining The Design Trust’s Creative Start-up day, which is a full, information-packed speaker event for recent design and craft graduates during the first week of New Designers. The Design Trust have invited some very successful creatives and experts to take the stage between 10:30am and 4:30pm who will each share their trade secrets.

Rachael will take to the stage at 12:30pm for 30 minutes to deliver her presentation ‘How to make it in the surface pattern design industry‘. Here she’ll share all her top tips, practical advice and story of how she’s made it in this exciting industry.

Rachael took a brave move seven years ago to branch out on her own and has never looked back. She has a bank of inspiring success stories along with a valuable list of things she wished she knew when she first started out. The things Rachael will talk about could save emerging surface pattern designers years of trial and error, money, time and heartache, but also give them insight and the confidence to help them go for it!

Says Taylor: “I am thrilled to have been invited to speak at The Design Trust’s Creative Start-up day this June. It’s going to be an amazing and really informative event and I’m really looking forward to having the opportunity to share my story and meet lots of new creative talent.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to experience some awesome things in my career for which I’m truly thankful. But it’s not always been easy. I want to take this opportunity to share all the things I’ve learned to help others making the journey into this industry stress free, easy and highly rewarding.”

Rachael will be accompanied by her studio manager Kelly Crossley and they'll both be on hand to help answer any questions and review any design work (limited to one per person) presented to them. In addition, other members of the Make it in Design team will also be there on the day to chat about this year’s Summer School, The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design September classes, ways to get involved and how to access all of the amazing resources available to support designers throughout their careers.

Rachael will be sharing the stage with the likes of Lara Watson – editor of popular craft magazine ‘Mollie Makes’, Alison Lewy – founder of the specialist business support agency ‘Fashion Angel’, Anna Denise-Floor – senior market development specialist of ‘Etsy UK’ and many more.

Check out the full speaker line up at http://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/start-up-day-new-designers-2015-london and to visit the New Designers show website http://www.newdesigners.com 

To find out more about Rachael Taylor visit: www.rachaeltaylordesigns.co.uk and for details about Make it in Design visit www.makeitindesign.com

Some things simply never go out of vogue; others aren’t so lucky (e.g. the Robin Reliant, which has never, ever to returned to its 'glory' days). However some things that we never thought would (or should) rise again, do - and go so far as to be heralded the latest trend (again). And no, we’re not referring to the constant resurgence of flares or dungarees in the fashion world here (though they’re definitely on the ‘should’ list) but rather a rise from the ashes of the 60s/70s of Flock Wallpaper.

Love it or hate it, it’s back! Yet the company responsible for this revival, The Surface Print Company, is in no way a business stuck in the past. They are way ahead of the game and the leading innovators of new and contemporary wallcoverings. Better still, their unique range that also includes Digital and Holographic Foils, are all made exclusively in Britain.

The Surface Print Company provide high-quality, bespoke wallcoverings to a client base consisting of high-end companies. The company was established in 1990 and has since had 2 generations of family involved in the business.

Abigail Watson, Sales Director and daughter of Chairman and founder John Watson, says, “Our clients often present challenging designs and requirements. By working closely with them and continually working on new technical innovations and print processes we can really push the boundaries in what we produce. Along with a recognised reputation for quality, we feel this combination is the basis of our success.”

The mix of traditional and modern printing technology reflects the myriad of inspiring styles and designs the clients demand. Many wallpaper types are printed on Surface and Sur-Flex machines, creating a beautiful hand-painted effect. Holographic wallpaper is printed on a foil substrate, and new innovations introduced in recent months, include flock and beads on to foil to create even more stunning 3D effects. And Flock paper, back by popular demand by some clients, is produced on a state-of-the-art, custom built machine which is the only one of its kind in the world.

As some of the print processes for the wallpaper are quite complex, bulk or minimum roll orders are needed. However since December 2013 The Surface Print Company invested in digital print technology, specifically the HP Latex 3000. In addition to the positive environmental aspects that Latex printing offers and which sits perfectly within the company’s eco-policies and Chain of Custody system, digital printing increases order flexibility; smaller runs, faster lead times, wider widths and more colours. In fact, the endless design possibilities are restricted now only by the clients’ imagination.

The speed of digital printing has made things much easier in the order process as everything is pre-production approved. The further investment of the HP LX360 machine as a ‘sample’ machine has proved so successful that an upgrade is already in the plans for later this year.

Abigail explains, “Although the HP printer will not replace the technology that produces Flock for example, it has opened up a new client-base for us that we previously couldn’t reach with the traditional technologies.“

Getting the fine balance of new and old technology right has enabled The Surface Print Company to move and grow with their clients’ demands whilst still keeping the traditional methods of wallpaper production very much alive. Over the last 25 years they have been able to hand-pick expert, skilled craftspeople from the area, which is also known as the heart of the industry, and pass these skills, such as colour-mixing by hand, down the generations through customised apprenticeship schemes and training programs.

With an established reputation built on quality they have attracted some of the most prestigious names in the design and interior décor world. Exporting to many countries including USA and India for high-end clientele such as Liberty’s, Ralph Lauren and Cath Kidston.

British manufacturers have had untold pressures piled upon them since the recession and amidst recent market and currency uncertainties. Yet with true ‘hold fast, keep calm’ British spirit, the Surface Print Company by being innovators, creators and sometimes revivalists, have survived, developed and, best of all, flourished.

Whether Siltbuster is a familiar name to you or whether it isn’t, chances are you’ve passed some of its hardware on a low-loader making its way along the motorway, and you may have even wondered what it is, and where it’s going. Here’s the answer - we have Siltbuster to thank for the fact that construction sites, among others, can prevent water contamination and stay on good terms with today’s far tighter environmental legislation.

Siltbuster, in turn, has Monmouth-based Chillipepper Signs to thank for its impressive looking hardware being branded. Chillipepper and Siltbuster are practically neighbours and Chillipepper keeps the manufacturer supplied from a long list of available graphics, applied by the Chillipepper team, when it’s time for hardware to leave the factory and begin its journey to the customer or end-user.

Construction site plant leads a hard life and so does the branding it wears. Chillipepper uses Metamark M7 processed on its Summa plotter to produce the Siltbuster graphics and the applied results do the required job and do it well.

Chillipepper Signs has been in the signing business for about thirteen years and has an impressive clientele in the locality and further afield. The company’s work for Siltbuster though has probably been seen in more far-flung places than any other. Siltbuster products are in demand and sold all over the world. Every unit is branded locally by Chillipepper Signs.

Three of Wild Group International's recently wrapped vessels are currently located next to each other in the Monaco Port.

M/Y Merrick (28m) was wrapped by Wild Group in 2013, M/Y Double Trouble ( 50M ) was wrapped in 2014, and M/Y Aviva ( 68M ) earlier this year - and is the largest hull ever to be wrapped.

Greg Hoar, founder of Wild Group, comments: "It has been a really exciting day for us. This is a wonderful endorsement of our product and service, and an excellent example of the growing confidence in the industry.

M/Y Aviva had a film application January earlier this year by our team in Rybovich Marina. She is looking stunning after her transatlantic crossing. We are really happy with the fantastic job Färben foils did of colour matching the new foils to the original colour of the hull, which is often a tricky task to achieve.''

For more information on Wild Group, please visit www.wildgroupinternational.com.

[Photo shows (from left to right): MY Aviva 68m hull wrap, MY Double Trouble 50m hull wrap, MY Merrick 28m fully wrapped (hull & superstructure).]

Lotus F1 Team, in co-operation with Warner Bros. Pictures, has created a new F1 racing machine suitable for a post-apocalyptic future. The new car - the Lotus F1 Team Mad Max Hybrid –was created to coincide with the May 15th launch of the 2015 epic action adventure Mad Max: Fury Road, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures.

The rat-look Lotus Hybrid was fitted with a new skin printed on a Roland SOLJET PRO4 XR-640 using a 3M™ Wrap Film 1080-M230 Matte Grey Aluminum, an unlaminated metallic film from 3M. The printed film was then was then applied to the vehicle, transforming the vehicle from gleaming supercar to something at home in the Australian wasteland.

Joe McNamara, Lotus F1 Team Graphics commented: “With a project like this, with such tight deadlines, and zero margin for error, our Roland printer was invaluable. We rely on the speed and reliability of the SOLJET PRO4 XR-640  to ensure these products are realised in the time limits we have. The print was run overnight, unattended, automatically rolled onto the take-up unit and applied to the car the next day - before being loaded and driven to Barcelona for the reveal. The winning combination of the speed of the Roland SOLJET PRO4 XR-640 and the user friendly application characteristics of the 3M 1080 matt metallic wrap film made this job not only possible, but far more straightforward.”

Fitted with special accessories and heavy modifications designed for a world gone mad, the Lotus F1 Team Mad Max Hybrid was unveiled at the Barcelona International Motor Show at the Montjuïc Exhibition Centre on Friday, 8 May, along with two custom, drivable vehicles designed and created for the film itself; Nux's car and the iconic Mad Max Interceptor.

Accompanying the vehicles was Lotus F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, both of whom drove Mad Max: Fury Road-branded cars in the Spanish Grand Prix, held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 9-10 May 2015, where Romain Grosjean secured a respectable 8th place. 

Says Brett Newman, Managing Director, Roland DG: “Once again Roland has proven that we have the speed and stamina to keep up with any industry, and to produce versatile products worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. We are very proud of the role Roland DG’s technology has played in producing one of the most unique vehicle wraps  on the planet We are sure that the combination of our SOLJET PRO4 XR-640 and 3M’s Graphite Matt Metallic film will prove a winning formula for the Lotus F1 Mad Max Hybrid team and Warner Bros.”

Con Gornell, executive vice president of European marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures adds: “Powerful cars and high speeds are in the DNA of Mad Max, and the Lotus F1 Team Mad Max Hybrid is emblematic of that spirit. We’re delighted to work with Lotus F1 Team to bring a little of the Wasteland to the Spanish Grand Prix.” 

More than a decade in the making, Mad Max: Fury Road is filmmaking mastermind George Miller’s keenly anticipated return to the post-apocalyptic world he created more than 30 years ago with the seminal Mad Max trilogy.

For more information, please visit www.rolanddg.com / www.rolanddg.co.uk