Top 20 Outdoor Print Applications of 2020

Rob Fletcher shares some of the most creative outdoor print applications from 2020

While 2020 may have been a year when we were urged to stay at home as much as possible, the outdoor print market continued to blossom, with printers all over the world producing eye-catching and memorable prints.
 
From giant billboards and posters, to building wraps, flags and banners, there was plenty to get excited about in this sector over the past 12 months.
 
Here, FESPA.com takes a look at the best applications from the past year..

Celebrating the UK’s key workers

Caption: Image courtesy of Canon

Designer: FYI / In Good Company
Description: Design and print agency FYI linked up with art movement In Good Company and a number of artists to create this colourful campaign, paying tribute to the role key workers played during the Covid-19 pandemic. The banners, printed on an Oce Colorado 1650, were displayed in locations across Yorkshire.

Wolves fans celebrate star striker 

Caption: Image courtesy of DIS

Designer: Louise Cobbold / DIS
Description: Fans of English Premier League football club Wolverhampton Wanderers raised funds to produce a special banner for striker Raúl Jiménez, who suffered a fractured skull while playing for the team. DIS printed the 45m x 11m banner on its EFI VUTEk h5 printer using UV inks on Kavalan Spiderweb PVC-free mesh from CMYUK.

Signs Express Harlow wears The Crown

Caption: Image courtesy of Signs Express Harlow

Designer: Signs Express Harlow
Description: The Signs Express Harlow branch produced this giant poster to promote hit Netflix series ‘The Crown’. Tens of millions of people around the world have seen the drama series, which offers an insight into what might be going behind closed doors at Buckingham Palace.

Replicating history at the British Museum

Caption: Image courtesy of Project Print Management

Designer: Project Print Management
Description: Project Print Management produced this gigantic building wrap for the British Museum in London. The 40m-long and 12m-high piece replicated the front of the iconic building and was installed to cover ongoing restoration work.

Fast work by Canada’s Creative Silhouettes

Caption: Image courtesy of Drytac

Designer: Creative Silhouettes
Description: Canadian printer Creative Silhouettes produced and installed these graphics at 10 Hobo Cannabis Company stores in Toronto in just 10 days. The graphics were printed using a HP Latex R1000, onto Drytac’s Polar Grip white polymeric self-adhesive PVC vinyl.

Supporting your team from home

Caption: Image courtesy of Ricoh USA  

Designer: University of Texas Athletics / Ricoh USA
Description: Sports fans in almost all countries around the world were unable to attend events in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions, but many teams offered their supporters the chance to still be there – in the form of a printed cut-out. In this example, Ricoh USA linked up with the University of Texas Athletics to offer fans to chance to have their image printed on a cut-out and installed in the stadium. 

Breaking records with Embrace Building Wraps

Caption: Image courtesy of Embrace Building Wraps
Designer: Embrace Building Wraps / Osman Yousefzada
Description: Embrace Building Wraps ended 2020 in style by producing the UK’s largest-ever printed scaffolding wrap for the iconic Selfridges store at the Bullring in Birmingham. The 10,400sq m digitally-printed banner featured a design from Birmingham-born Osman Yousefzada.

Ollywood leads the way in Birmingham

Caption:  Image courtesy of Drytac

Designer: Ollywood
Description: Ollywood used Drytac Polar Street FX to create a new floor graphic in Birmingham's busy Brindleyplace. The 35m-long floor graphic directs people to nearby restaurants and attractions, including the Ikon Gallery and SEA LIFE aquarium.

Start spreading the news…

Caption: Image courtesy of Leach

Designer: Leach / Brooklyn Museum
Description: UK graphics company Leach was a hit in New York in 2020 after it produced this gigantic mural for Brooklyn Museum. The piece measured 24m x 16m and was created as a tribute to French photographer JR. The application took more than 10 hours to print and four days to install.

Superior sustainability in London

Caption: Image courtesy of Embrace Building Wraps

Designer: Embrace Building Wraps / Grosvenor Estate
Description: Embrace Building Wraps worked with Grosvenor Estate to create this digitally printed scaffolding wrap to cover up redevelopment work at Newson’s Yard in Belgravia in London. To meet client requirements for a sustainable solution, Embrace used its new PVC-free banners for the job.

Safety first with sanitisation stations

Caption: Image courtesy of Shows To Go Backdrops

Designer: Shows To Go Backdrops
Description: Once something only seen in certain settings, santisation stations became commonplace in 2020 due to Covid-19. In response, Shows To Go Backdrops launched a new service allowing clients to customise their stations to fit in with their own branding, including US retail giant Target.

Paddy Power and Motherwell create ‘Silhouette Stand’

Caption: Image courtesy of Paddy Power 

Designer: Paddy Power
Description: Gambling company Paddy Power linked up with Scottish football club Motherwell on this impactful campaign to help find missing people. Some 1,190 cardboard cut-outs were produced and installed at the team’s Fir Park to raise awareness of how someone is reported missing in the UK every 90 seconds. 

Helping make hospitals Covid safe

Caption: Image courtesy of Signs Express Southampton

Designer: Signs Express Southampton
Description: Signs Express Southampton supplied a range of printed products to promote the NHS Covid Zero campaign at University Hospital Southampton. This important series of prints carried messaging on how people could stay safe while on site and prevent spreading the virus. 

Crystal Palace glistens with innovative wrap

Caption: Image courtesy of Embrace Building Wraps 

Designer: Embrace Building Wraps
Description: For this project, Embrace Building Wraps transformed the look of a standard modular cabin situated outside Selhurst Park, the home stadium of Premier League club Crystal Palace. Measuring 6.3m tall and 80m long, the self-adhesive vinyl wrap featured images of Crystal Palace players from the men’s and women’s teams.  For more information visit Contravision. 

Bringing art to life with HP 

Caption: Image courtesy of RA Smart
Designer: Shona Watt / RA Smart / Various
Description: RA Smart linked up with the Thames Festival Trust on a project that saw UK school children design flags based on countries from around the world. The designs were combined into a single piece by artist Shona Watt, who then commissioned RA to print six separate flags on a HP Stitch S1000 digital textile printer. The flags were installed next to London’s River Thames. 

Three cheers for Signs Express Coventry

Caption: Image courtesy of Signs Express Coventry 

Designer: Signs Express Coventry
Description: Signs Express Coventry showed its spirit with this colourful print job for local cheerleading and gymnastics facility Tribe Coventry. Vinyl graphics were applied to both the fascia and windows to help ensure maximum impact.

Royal appointment for Project Print Management 

Caption: Image courtesy of Project Print Management  

Designer: Project Print Management
Description: Project Print Management features again for this impressive application for Westminster Abbey in London, the famous site of many royal weddings. The 4m high and 87m long piece was produced to replicate the look of the building while restoration work took place at the historic landmark.

Retail therapy for Portsmouth shoppers

Caption: Image courtesy of Signs Express Portsmouth

Designer: Signs Express Portsmouth
Description: Signs Express Portsmouth helped the Gunwharf Quays Waterfront Outlet Shopping facility revamp one of its entrances with a range of new printed materials. The tunnel passageway now features revamped printed welcome messages, along with information on the shops and brands at the site.

Embrace sets the latest trends on Carnaby Street

Caption: Image courtesy of Embrace Building Wraps

Designer: Embrace Building Wraps
Description: Embrace Building Wraps replaced a giant three-sided PVC building wrap on London’s famous Carnaby Street as part of its 2020 Christmas lights installation. The 1,000sq m digital printed scaffold wrap with neon lightbox effect was produced in partnership with the Choose Love store, which supports the Help Refugees charity.

It’s a new World Record!

Caption: Image courtesy of Canon 

Designer: Canon / Ilford
Description: Finishing off the Top 20 in real style, Canon worked with speciality paper manufacturer Ilford to set a new Guinness World Record for the longest continuous digital photo print. Printed on a Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-6100, the record piece measured 109.04m long.

European Sign Expo 2021 is Europe’s leading non-printed signage and visual communications exhibitionThe event will connect signage solution providers and manufacturers with end-user customers from all over Europe and beyond. The exhibition will run from 12th - 15th October at the Rai exhibition centre in Amsterdam.