A Sound Collaboration

Large format printers, Sound Print and Design have stretched materials, their suppliers and staff to their limits throughout the festive season, working tirelessly in some of the toughest conditions for print you’ll find this side of The Alps. Having output well over a kilometre of print on a massive array of substrates and installed at various outdoor ice rinks around London, the knowledge and contacts they’ve had to call up has been extensive.

The rinks, which are up to 200 metres around the perimeter present extremely harsh environments and ensure materials, inks and adhesives are stretched to their very limits. Sound’s director Tom Fawdry said “Once the rink is frozen, the perimeter panels condense up in a matter of seconds after cleaning, so applying any adhesives to them becomes extremely awkward. To survive six weeks of sub zero temperatures and hoardes of kids kicking these panels with sharp metal ice skates, we needed to do more research to get this right first time”. This is where international relationships came into play in the form of Jerry Pflugh of Mixed Media Graphics in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. “We were trying to think of someone who would have experience of installing graphics around ice rinks when North America, Canada and their love of ice hockey came to mind. We found Jerry on the internet, contacted him and he gave us some top tips for applying adhesives in arctic conditions which was a great help”.

To make this even more difficult, the project brief was then tweaked to state that due to some very high profile sponsors, panels needed to last the entire 6 weeks without the print being compromised in any way whatsoever. This specification ruled out foamex, self adhesive vinyl, acrylic and most of the common substrates used to produce advertising panels due to them being either brittle at low temperature, too soft when attacked with metal skates or too easily scratched. Upon recommendations and samples supplied by Peter Benson at Plastic Design Services, the guys at Sound tested out direct to media reverse prints backed up with a white flood coat onto 3mm clear polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is near indestructible, so after some intensive claw hammer testing at the Sound offices it proved to be perfect to stand up to the abuse the panels receive during the ‘season’ that they’re up. Once on site the panels were easily be affixed to the rinks using a clear VHB tape.

Alongside the production of these polycarbonate panels, the guys at Sound were manufacturing and installing barrier jackets, Heras coverings, portacabin wraps, directional signage, counter fronts, hanging panels and a plethora of other output with precision. Eventually all the hard work paid off and the rinks at some of London’s most prestigious landmarks opened to the public with outstanding vibrant graphics on display and a happy client.

Tags: Event Branding, Ice Rinks for Events, London Ice Rinks, Sound Print and Design

Category: Event Branding