The design and build of the Antalis stand at Sign & Digital 2017

Posted on June 01, 2017

Each year, when the Antalis Visual Communications team get together to discuss stand plans for the Sign & Digital show, there are two guiding principles they follow: the stand design should showcase its product range in application and, importantly, it should be fun and engaging.

Following the success of their café-themed stand in 2016, the team decided to build on a good thing and came up with the idea of an American Diner, which meant they could really go to town with graphics and innovative ideas to show their product range in use.

With so many products suitable for so many different applications available to them, the biggest challenge was deciding which products to use on the stand.  They wanted to showcase their wide range of easy apply products, and having added some interesting products to the range over the last year they really wanted to show these off alongside some of their more established products.

They worked with Northampton-based Studio One.  As they specialise in design and wide-format print, they have a good understanding of the Antalis product range and how to make them look good in application.  They took the brief and their first design ultimately became Antalis’ stand at the show.

The products

Working closely with the Studio One team, Antalis product managers Mike Collins and Mark Browne tackled the task of which products to use on the stand and where.

Fascia: for lightness and eye-catching look, they opted for Dilite Butler Finish an aluminium composite with a brushed aluminium finish.  They demonstrated its printing capability by printing the Antalis logo and magenta accent lines straight onto the product.

Diner sign: They demonstrated the cutting and printing capabilities of 10mm Foamalite Premium and backlit it with led lights. Foamalite Premium is a high standard density foam PVC with an ultra-white shade and smooth, matt finish, making it the ideal product for what they wanted to achieve.

Walls: they used a combination of products from the Antalis extensive range of those suitable for applying wall graphics, which includes wallpaper and self-adhesive vinyls.  They wanted to show the different effects that could be achieved across a variety of textures and finishes.  The products used were:

Drytac HiGrab is a monomeric self-adhesive vinyl ideal for indoor and outdoor wall graphics.

Coala Walldesign Leather  is part of a range of paper-backed wall coverings. Available in a variety of creative embossings and textures.

Coala Walldesign NW Sand and Coala Walldesign NW Stucco  are part of a range of non-woven textile backed wall coverings. Available in a variety of creative embossings and textures.

Graham & Brown NW Digital Base  uses cutting edge ‘paste the wall’ technology and is easy to apply.  It is a seamless solution for large scale graphic wall installations, or even smaller areas such as those on the stand.

Welcome sign:  they used a combination of 10mm Foamalite Premium and 3mm Forex Print  to create this little piece of Las Vegas-inspired signage.  Forex print is specially designed for flat applications including sign-making and advertising for short-term and medium-term use.

Floor: as with the walls, they used several products from their floor graphics range to demonstrate the different textures and applications available.  For the internal chequerboard floors, Drytca FloorTac , a matt white 100mic monomeric soft pvc film with a clear acrylic high-tack adhesive was combined with Drytac Scuffguard textured overlaminate, which provides a durable, indoor, warrantied anti-slip floor graphic solution.

They used Coala Event Walk for the grass.  It is a heavy embossed one part 457 micron anti-slip vinyl for floor graphics and has a waterproof adhesive making it ideal short-term, outdoor use. And for the area running outside the diner walls, they used Coala Floor & Wall, a cost effective, easy to apply 150 micron, textured PVC with a Euroclass fire rating and R9 slip rating making it suitable for short term interior floor and wall graphics.

Windows: Of the three smaller windows on the stand, two were used to showcase Oracal 8810 Frosted Glass Cast, a high performance PVC film, which is extremely resistant to weathering and UV.  For the middle window, they printed Drytac Viziprint Impress Clear  with the ‘Just ask Antalis’ strapline. It’s a 100 micron optically clear polyester film with a unique removable and repositionable, easy-apply adhesive. For the large window behind the counter, they used ContraVision Backlite perforated window film, which allowed them to continue the graphics across the wall and onto the window while still allowing visibility through the glass.

Counter: the top of the counter was covered in Oracal 970 Shift Effect Amethyst  laminated with new Drytac Protac Anti-bacterial Film.  Available exclusively in the UK from Antalis, it is a150 micron textured polyester laminating film with a durable anti-bacterial additive which offers reliable protection from mould growth and bacterial contamination such as MRSA, Streptococcus, E.coli and Salmonella.  They printed 3mm Forex Print  in the Antalis blue and featuring the Antalis logo and used it to cover the front of the counter.

Hanging signs: Drawing attention to the location of the stand as well as summarising their areas of expertise – Training, Hardware, Media, Tech Support and Logistics – were five, four-sided hanging signs, suspended from larger rigging above. The signs were made from FSC certified DISPA Board Bright White , a sign and display board with a flat, smooth, bright white print surface. It has a unique embossed core that provides rigidity and stability and is made of 100% paper.

Lampshades: The striking yellow lampshades were made from 500 micron Priplak Classic. Its high strength and low density make it ideal for POS and POP display, stationery and packaging or, as they demonstrated, lampshades! It’s also 100% recyclable.  Although it’s a thermoplastic material, which can lose stiffness with increasing temperatures, we used it with a 3.5w LED E27 bulb, which doesn’t emit too much heat.

Blackboard: to advertise the daily events Antalis was involved in at Sign & Digital, such as the Colour Management seminar run presented by their Digital Academy, they applied chalkboard made from UV-printable Drytac Chalkmate Permanent Black (now also available in repositionable Drytac Retac Chalkmate) onto the Drytac HiGrab wall graphic. They used chalk to write on it but liquid chalk can also be used.  They wiped the board clean at the end of each day ready to write on new messages.

Car door: they didn’t go for a full wrap on the vintage American car door, instead they showed how easy it is to apply smaller graphics, using Orajet 3951RA , which had been printed with their Diner logo.  It’s a highly conformable, self-adhesive film suitable for application onto uneven surfaces and deep corrugations, such as those on the old car door.

Jukebox: Studio One did some clever 3d engineering to create the jukebox, which was built from printable 19mm Smart-X , a lightweight foam board with surfaces of UV and weather resistant solid polystyrene (HIPS) and a core of expanded polystyrene that is completely moisture-resistant, making it ideal for external applications for up to 2 years; it also featured an illuminated sign to showcase Drytac Viziprint Illuminate , a100 micron optically clear polyester film with a unique removable and repositionable, easy-apply adhesive. The record selector at the front of the jukebox was actually a chip chart showing the colours available in their range of Oracal 970 Premium Wrapping Cast, which has been specially developed for complete car wrapping, and suitable for uneven and deep corrugated surfaces.

Fire hydrant: the American-style, red fire hydrant was 3d engineered from Stadur Sign SF , a low density, lightweight but rigid board comprising a polystyrene centre with two rigid PVC films. It is P.E. lined both sides to protect the smooth, matt, exceptional print surface.

The Result

The stand was very well received at the show and attracted a lot of interest from customers and press alike.  Antalis wanted to create a stand that would feel warm and welcoming, where visitors could come along and browse and really get a feel for just some of the applications their range of roll and rigid visual communication media can be used for, as well as to talk to them and learn about our full range of products and services.

They launched their new hardware partnerships at the show.  Now, as well as being able to supply visual communications media, training through our Digital Academy, and technical support, they can also provide the expertise to develop your business further with new, wide format hardware.

Chris Green, Head of Channel, Visual Communications, commented: ”Sign & Digital is an important exhibition for Antalis.  It allows us to show the wide range of products and services that Antalis can deliver to the market.

“This year’s show was our best yet. The diner theme allowed us to cover a lot of products in application in a way that gave both a functional and a fun experience for our visitors.  Next year will be a challenge, but we will be working hard in the run-up to it to deliver another creative, engaging and informative stand”.

For more information about any of Antalis’ Visual Communications products and services, Click Here.