22 Dec 2024

BAF Graphics collaborates with UK artist INSA for one-night exhibition

Last week, renowned UK artist INSA chose BAF Graphics to digitally print and install fabric-backed wallcovering to showcase his one-night installation: Self Reflection is greater than Self Projection. The exhibition, in London’s Shoreditch area, featured 160m2 of wall covered in Digimura 2.1 Smooth and 60m2 of Aslan floor vinyl with anti-slip laminate, both printed with INSA's work by BAF Graphics, and the entire installation process was carried out by BAF and documented from start to finish.

Heavily influenced by graffiti, pop culture and fetishism, INSA has been producing his unique artwork for more than ten years and has worked with blue-chip brands including Sony and Nike on private commissions and projects. This latest exhibition drew on familiar themes in his portfolio, particularly society's twin obsessions with money and image.

Antony Baglioni, Business Development Director at BAF Graphics comments, “This was an exciting project for BAF and a wonderful opportunity to be part of INSA’s latest exhibition, showcasing the endless creative opportunities for digitally printed graphics. It is refreshing to work with an artist who sees the merit of exhibiting his original work by printing it digitally”.

Find out more about the unique work of INSA at http://www.insaland.com or follow him on Twitter @insaland

Fastsigns Helps College Get Into The Olympic Spirit

WITH the Olympic Games now only a matter of months away one business in Chelmsford has been helping a university close to Stratford get ready for what is already shaping up to be a busy and exciting summer.

Jenny Boreham, who runs FASTSIGNS® Chelmsford, has supported the University of East London (UEL) in one of its biggest and highest profile projects in its history. The University, which is a stone’s throw away from the Olympic village in the East End of London, has just recently opened a brand new sports complex and is to play host to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) which has selected UEL as its headquarters throughout the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

FASTSIGNS Chelmsford which specialises in creating banners, signs and posters of every shape and size was taken on to provide the décor inside and outside of the state of the art building which has been called SportsDock. And the business has been thrilled to get involved in the Olympic spirit.

The University is hoping to become one of the top sporting academies in the country and is also backing and supporting this summer’s highly anticipated games. As part of the push the University has invested in the £21 million sports centre which officially opened this month. And when the games get underway in the summer SportsDock will be at the heart of all the action and excitement.

Mrs Boreham, who employs a team of six and has been running the business in Victoria Road Chelmsford for 15 years, said: “It is incredibly exciting to play a part in what is going to be such a huge and prestigious event.
“We were asked to come up with some designs and décor for the centre and we were really pleased and proud to be chosen for the work. It is also fantastic for a local company like us to be involved in what is a truly global event.
“There is a good chance that our work at SportsDock will be seen around the world. An event like this only comes along once in a lifetime and it is a fantastic privilege to be involved.
The Olympics have already proved to be great for the area and there has been a lot of work going on. You only have to travel around the Stratford area to see all the improvement work that has been carried out.”
The latest work carried out by the FASTSIGNS team was designed around a special Olympic and sporting theme to suit the design of the ultra modern centre.

To contact FASTSIGNS Chelmsford call Jenny Boreham on 01245 350450.

Quantum launches 'antibacterial' printing service

UK based Quantum-U.V. Technologies Ltd has bought a Jetrix 2030FRK UV Flatbed printer and launched a unique and revolutionary anti-bacterial printing service.

In an agreement reached with Midlands-based Premier Finishes, Quantum has acquired the exclusive global rights to develop and market inks containing Hygienilac, an extremely effective anti-bacterial additive.  FDA and HSE-approved, Hygienilac is 99.9% effective at destroying all known superbugs.

Hygienilac is one of the best known anti-bacterial brands and found in a number of applications including furniture, plastics, high street detergents and textiles. Now following a rigorous process of development and testing, Quantum has perfected a unique product which offers anti-bacterial properties without any compromise to the print quality.

Quantum feels that this unique service will be of particular interest to the medical/health, food, defence and education sectors and they have already received orders for these products from a number of major UK supermarkets. Quantum is now in the process of developing a number of products for both the domestic and international markets utilising the capability of the Jetrix machine and new ink developments.

On the announcement, Eddie Tucker, Quantum’s founder and managing director, says, “This is the culmination of many years work and I am absolutely delighted with the huge interest already shown in these new products and services. We conducted months of testing with the help of specialist grand format reseller Digital Print Innovations Ltd in Derby, who has provided us with outstanding service, support and have been very patient with our demands. Now with the acquisition of the formidable Jetrix 2030FRK, I feel we can provide a printed product which is second to none in terms of image quality and value however when this is coupled to the new ink formulations containing Hygienilac I really think we have something very special.”

Found... Wrap Industry Statistics - Why Should I Use a Vehicle Wrap?

On our travels around the Googleweb, we often find information that we think is interesting, creative or worthy of sharing. Below is one such gem we found online, from the website of Arizona Color, that has all 3 of the aforementioned attributes.

There is some valuable information here, particularly if you are selling vehicle wrapping as a service.

Wrap Industry Statistics - Why Should I Use a Vehicle Wrap?

Results of a vehicle wrap can vary depending on the expertise of the wrap provider. Arizona Color is recognised as a leader in the vehicle wrap industry and delivers optimal results to every client.

- Mobile advertising can be the most effective and efficient form of outdoor advertising, reaching more consumers at a lower Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM) than any other form of outdoor advertising.

- More than 95% of Americans are reached by media targeting vehicle drivers and passengers.

- The average American has traveled 302 miles in the past 7 days.

- One vehicle wrap can generate between 30,000 - 70,000 impressions daily.

- Federal Highway Administration study forecasts a sharp increase in the amount of time spent in personal vehicles and the number of trips per household.

- Fleet vehicle wraps are ideally suited for various types advertising campaigns, including new product launch, and event marketing and are increasingly being used as part of the marketing mix.

- Fleet vehicle advertising boosts name recognition 15 times greater than any other form of advertising.

- 30% of mobile outdoor viewers indicate they would base a buying decision on the ad they see.

- Transit advertising has grown to be the second largest segment of the outdoor advertising industry in terms of dollars spent (as of 2003) representing 19%. The Outdoor Advertising industry has nearly doubled since 1993 from $1.19B to $2.09B in 2003. These numbers continue to grow each year.

- Eight out of ten Americans report they have walked in a town, city or downtown area, on average 6.1 miles in the past seven days. This pedestrian traffic represents a significant reach opportunity for advertisers.

Think about what you spend to advertise in other areas:

- The cost of most billboards in a single city is $2000 to $3500 per month. Because a billboard is stationary, roughly the same people see it every day.

- A moderate advertising schedule on the radio or television is priced at an average of $2500 to $4500 per month.

- Yellow Pages $500 - $3000 per month and is slowly losing it's impact on society.

- Local magazines or trade magazines $300 - $1500 per month and has limited reach.

- The cost of advertising your business with a vehicle wrap on a van would cost approximately $1500 to $3000, depending on the vehicle and it's size. The average life of a vehicle wrap is 5 years, which calculates to an advertising cost of $20 to $55 per month.

By being mobile, you will reach a broader audience. Imagine the number of people that will see your advertisement while driving around town or parked outside of a crowded event. The exposure is limitless!

Vehicle wraps just make sense, they open up conversations with potential clients wherever you go. Some of the costs may be written off as an advertising expense. The benefits are limitless.

At Arizona Color we can help you create a wrap campaign that will get you new customers while you go about your normal day driving.

With thanks to Arizona Color for the original content, find out more about them at www.producerwraps.com

FESPA Hall of Fame winners announced

The FESPA Hall of Fame is the international award which recognises the leading lights of the wide format print community. After an immensely successful campaign prior to and during FESPA Digital 2012 in Barcelona, the individual votes per country in the Hall of Fame have now been counted and verified.

Over 6,000 votes for more than 400 printers in 40 countries were received for Hall of Fame and only 60 votes separated the top 5 printers.

Duncan MacOwan, Head of Events and New Media for FESPA comments, "The calibre and overwhelming number of nominations we received for printers from all over the world for the inaugural FESPA Hall of Fame has been awe inspiring. It really does underline once again FESPA’s strong international audience, and how valued these talented printers are to our industry. To have been nominated by your peers is an amazing achievement, well done to everyone”

FESPA would like to say thank you to all that have voted and congratulations to those who were nominated for their fantastic work for our industry. View www.fespa.com/halloffame to read a personal quote from the overall winners and stay posted to FESPA.com for more information on Hall of Fame 2013.

The crowned World Print Champion for the FESPA Hall of Fame 2012:

  • 1st overall: Rich Thompson, AdGraphics, (USA)

with runners up:

  • 2nd Kishore Musale, Classic Stripes, (India)
  • 3rd Birol Fedai, Sistem Printing, (Turkey)
  • 4th Keith Ferrel, Cactus Imaging, (Australia)
  • 5th Simon Pless, Erler & Pless, (Germany)

The breakdown of the FESPA Hall of Fame 2012 winners and runners up for each country:

Australia

  • 1st Keith Ferrel, Cactus Imaging
  • 2nd Martin Johnston, VE Graphics
  • 3rd Glenn Watson, AFI Branding Solutions
  • 4th Steve Allardice, Direct Image
  • 5th Bruce Rayment, Halifax Vogel Group

Austria

  • 1st Stefan Fiedler, SALON IRIS Stefan Fiedler Imaging GmbH
  • 2nd Werner Lang, Lang + Lang
  • 3rd Thomas König, Typico GmbH & Co KG
  • 4th Martin Wikturna, Trevision

Belgium

  • 1st Dan Vandevoorde, X-treme creations
  • 2nd Christian Duyckaerts, FESPA
  • 3rd Marc Verdonck, GSI Printing
  • 4th Edwin Birnbaum, Wollux

Bosnia Herzegovina

  • 1st Goran Kukic, Margo Digital Printing
  • 2nd Adrijan Kurtovic, PRINT STUDIO d.o.o.
  • 3rd Osman Kucuk, SOREA d.o.o.

Brazil

  • 1st Ricardo Fantini, Fantini All Print
  • 2nd Emerson Camargo, F9
  • 3rd Ricardo Nani, Fusão
  • 4th Alessandre Pi, Fixxar Print Solutions

Bulgaria

  • 1st Mario Stoyanov, Billboard JSC
  • 2nd Alexander Tanev, BRAVO Printing Technologies
  • 3rd Vladislav Shindov, ANDREA Ltd.
  • 4th Stanislav Draganov, Piramidi ltd

Canada

  • 1st Scott Crosby, Holland & Crosby
  • 2nd Robert Murray, McRae Imaging
  • 3rd Alan Culbert, The Central Group

China

  • 1st Jiwen Zhang, Beijing Taipingqiao Printing Materials Factory
  • 2nd Chunlai Li, Beijing Guohe Haidali Electronics Technology Co.,Ltd.

Croatia

  • 1st Robert Kunstek, Print Grupa d.d.
  • 2nd Nehad Vukovic,

Czech Republic

  • 1st Tomas Novak, Astron Print s.r.o.
  • 2nd Pavel Benes, ELON Technologies
  • 3rd Nosek Vaclav, Eclipse, a.s.
  • 4th Martin Kulisek, PrintHouse Morava s.r.o
  • 5th Ivan Dolezal, Svet Tisku, spol. s r.o.

Denmark

  • 1st Anders Vangsgaard, Vangsgaard A/S
  • 2nd Allan Hansen, OK Skilte & Print ApS
  • 3rd Troels Nørhede, Visuel Print AS

Finland

  • 1st Jussi Heinämäki, Seri-Deco Oy
  • 2nd Aki Alenius, LEEVIPRINT
  • 3rd Hannu Aejmelaeus, SCA Packaging

France

  • 1st Jean - Philippe Delmotte, Prismaflex
  • 2nd Michel Caza, FESPA
  • 3rd Jean-marie Lambert, Horizon Numeric Center
  • 4th Guy Soffientino, Kroma
  • 5th Franck Allilaire, Cottel Com

Germany

  • 1st Simon Pless, Erler + Pless
  • 2nd Andreas Thamm, Thamm GmbH
  • 3rd Helmuth Frey, Emil Frey KG
  • 4th Gerhard Worch, Kürten & Lechner GmbH

Greece

  • 1st Ioannis Arvanitis, Image Solutions
  • 2nd Solos Sokratis, Aemex S.A
  • 3rd Joseph Athanassiou, Technographiki L.T.D.
  • 4th Elias Koutoumanos, NETPRINT S.A.

Hungary

  • 1st Csaba Mile, OSG Hungary
  • 2nd Peter Bannerth, ScreenArt
  • 3rd Ivan Dimitrievics, Plastiprint Kft
  • 4th Ildikó Simon, Eclipse Print
  • 5th Csaba Horvath, Budapest University

India

  • 1st Kishore Musale, Classic Stripes
  • 2nd Anuj Desai, Image Care
  • 3rd Kamlakar Wadekar, Ace Printers
  • 4th Amit Shah, Spectrum Scan Pvt Ltd

Ireland

  • 1st Ronan Conway, Print & Display
  • 2nd Nathy McIntyre, CSS
  • 3rd Fergus Murray, Universal Graphics Ltd
  • 4th Colin Culliton, The Printed Image

Italy

  • 1st Roberto Posarelli, Esanastri
  • 2nd Andrea Masserdotti, Gruppo Masserdotti Spa
  • 3rd Giuseppe De Bartolo, Pubblicità & Stampa srl

Mexico

  • 1st Rafael Munoz Morales, Prodigyo Imagen Visual SDE RL DE C.V.
  • 2nd Daniel Sunderland, Serigrafica Industrial Y Comercial S.A.

Netherlands

  • 1st Andre America, Matrix Frame BV
  • 2nd Nico Van Straaten, VAN STRAATEN B.V.
  • 3rd Marc Schoenmakers, Dereumaux XL
  • 4th Ed Hoogendijk, Poster Publi Print Nederland

Norway

  • 1st Egil Lindberg, Serimaster AS
  • 2nd Morten Emanuelson, Mageprint AS

Poland

  • 1st Marcin Mielcarek, Masterprint Xl sp.z o.o.
  • 2nd Maciej Urban, Grawcom
  • 3rd Jacek Stencel, Pasja

Portugal

  • 1st Pedro Jacques De Sousa, Impression Portugal
  • 2nd Carlos Nevoa, Ditram

Romania

  • 1st Gheorghe Baraian, Impression Graphics Romania
  • 2nd Andrei Cascaval, Media Tech Services
  • 3rd Bokor-toth Zoltan, Multi NR SRL

Russia

  • 1st Artem Nadirashvili, Midiprint
  • 2nd Aleksandr Antipyev, CRT Perm
  • 3rd Ruslan Zakirov, Ligo
  • 4th Andrey Bayduzhiy, Mir Reklamy

Serbia and Montenegro

  • 1st Sinisa Radnovic, GRAFIX
  • 2nd Djordje Mihalacki, NS Plakat
  • 3rd Dusan Golubovic, Serbian digitalprinting association

Slovakia

  • 1st Mojmir Bittner, Bittner Print s.r.o
  • 2nd Lubos MacKo, Willmark, s.r.o.
  • 3rd Andrej Klima, KPK Group Ltd.

Spain

  • 1st Juan Garcia Tripero, JDJSA
  • 2nd Javier Clemente, Pioner Serigrafia
  • 3rd Luis Rovira, Sundisa
  • 4th Pep Moreno Sastre, Brown Tailor, S.L.

Sweden

  • 1st Torbjörn Johansson, Tobex AB
  • 2nd Anders Nilsson, Gamlebyscreen
  • 3rd Stefan Engelin, Paravan AB
  • 4th Johan Soovéer, Aare Grafiska
  • 5th Andreas Skantze, Big Image Systems

Switzerland

  • 1st Philipp Gloor, movingposter.ch GmbH
  • 2nd Hanspeter Spitzer, Scanwork AG
  • 3rd Sandra Jacot, ADL Publicité
  • 4th Lorenz Boegli, Atelier fur Siebdruck
  • 5th Yannick Durussel, GIGA+print SA


Thailand

  • 1st Surachet Lumpaolertwilai, President Digital Media Co Ltd
  • 2nd Nicom Ruangtinnakorn, SCALA  SILKSCREEN CO.,  LTD.
  • 3rd Prapaporn Narongrit, Papawin Co Ltd
  • 4th Pirach Thampipit, Morio Co., Ltd.

Turkey

  • 1st Birol Fedai, Sistem printing company

UK

  • 1st Richard Gardner, Gardners
  • 2nd Tim Hill, Speedscreen Creative Print Solutions
  • 3rd Mark Simpson, Simpson Group
  • 4th Lascelles Barrow, Augustus Martin

Ukraine

  • 1st Oleg Kalinichenko, Grand Affiche
  • 2nd Andrii Kyrchanov, Eight color

United Arab Emirates

  • 1st Tareq Ali Al Jawharji, Color Lines Group
  • 2nd Rakesh Puri, Express Print Services LLC
  • 3rd Ahmad Bin Hassan Al Shaikh, Modern Printing Press
  • 4th Amit Radia, Atlas Printing Press

USA

  • 1st Rich Thompson, AdGraphics
  • 2nd Michael Ryan, Brilliant Graphics Group/Sampco Co
  • 3rd JR Kraft, BuildASign.com
  • 4th Charlie Taublieb, Taublieb Consulting
  • 5th Harry Bowers, Drillpress LLC

Hampshire Flag Company supports expedition to South Pole

The Hampshire Flag Company has donated a selection of flags to one man’s adventurous expedition to the South Pole which has raised more than £15,000 for charity.

Matt Elliott took part in ‘The Extreme World Races Centenary Race to the South Pole’ – one of the toughest races in the world and took 12 flags with him, provided by the leading flag manufacturer, to raise money for The Royal British Legion and The Alzheimer’s Society.

Each custom flag was manufactured from a lightweight knitted polyester and printed with the branding of the different businesses which supported Matt’s 40 day expedition to Antarctica during which him skied more than 700km – 100 years after Norwegian explorer Amundsen beat Sir Robert Falcon Scott in their epic duel to the South Pole.

Matt, who is the Operations Director at EBB Paper, said, “It was a real privilege to visit such a beautiful continent at this symbolic time in its history whilst raising money for very worthwhile charities.”

During his expedition Matt endured temperatures as low as -45°C and winds which reached 80kmph. Matt skied on special cross country skis, pulling a pulk (polar sledge) weighing 50kgs. He had to endure 24 hour daylight as he slept every night in a specially designed polar tent and ate a mix of nuts, chocolate and rehydrated food to try and replace the 8,000 calories he was burning every day.

“The race was extremely challenging but it was fantastic to have Hampshire Flag Company’s valuable support in the donation of the 12 flags. It was a wonderful moment when I planted the flags at the South Pole and I am very grateful to Graham and his team for their generosity,” added Matt.

Hampshire Flag’s Managing Director Graham Wilkinson said, “Anyone who can endure such harsh conditions and puts in two years’ worth of training in deserves real recognition and respect.  Matt’s determination and dedication to raise money for charity is admirable and we are delighted to have been able to support him by donating the flags.”