Designer Colour paint the town with illuminated shop signage

London based home decor company Designer Colours were looking to rebrand and update the signage at their large premises in Mill Hill to attract more business and boost visibility in the area.

The project involved removing dated signage which was in need of a freshen up. The old signs were replaced with 3 x Flex Face signs, a large canopy sign which spanned 21m and a smaller stencil cut sign tray at 5.4m in length.

The 3 x flex face signs cover an entire wall on the left hand side of the main building and have been painted to match the slate grey exterior. The largest of the 3 is installed directly above the shop window and features a very colourful graphic depicting the services and products available in store. The 2 smaller signs which are installed on either side of the large sign include brands available in store and opening hours.

The impressive main canopy sign tray which is a total of 21m in length covers 3 sides of a canopy which overhangs the customer car park in the centre of the premises. The main section of the sign which is over 17m long is wrapped in printed vinyl and has panel mounted built up halo illuminated letters reading “design colours”. Situated above these letters are 9 x brightly coloured 3D cubes formed from different coloured acrylic and illuminated on all sides. This design has also been mirrored on the right hand side of the sign tray which is 3.5m long so that passersby can see the business name from all angles.

On the right hand side of the premises is another entrance to the shop which needed a replacement sign. Designer Colours chose to have another vinyl wrapped sign tray to match the main canopy sign but instead of built up letters they selected stencil cut detail backed in illuminated acrylic for a simpler, elegant finish.

Designer Colours also commissioned the installation of two freestanding poster case boards that were lockable and could be easily updated. These boards were installed close to the road side and strategically angled so that traffic coming from both directions could easily see the advertisements.

To minimise disruption to business the main part of the installation took place during the last working week before Christmas which was a quieter time for Designer Colours.

Banner Stands for the 'Times Past' exhibition in Southwark Cathedral

W&Co was contacted in the summer of 2016 by marketing and events management company, Max Communications, to manufacture and print five FabriTex tension fabric freestanding display stands. The display stands needed to be easy to use, portable and visually impactful as they were for a new and exciting exhibition called taking place inside Southwark Cathedral.  The Times Past exhibition, which showcased photographs from The Times and The Sunday Times archive, opened in the Link concourse of Southwark Cathedral and Cafe from Saturday 2^nd July until Wednesday 7^th September 2016.

From attending a site visit with the client, News UK, and the Cathedral curator present, W&Co was able to visualise the space in 3D on the computer, with the intended FabriTEX display stands shown in the internal archways. The 3D depiction enabled the client to clearly see the available space and the size of the visual area for the graphics. Once the frame sizes were determined, W&Co’s graphic department worked closely with ‘News Syndication’, News UK’s reprographics department, who collated and supplied the artwork for the graphic prints. The graphics represented The Times Past’ features images of the Southwark area in the 20th century.

W&Co’s reputation for supplying innovative displays and signs gave the client confidence in selecting the right product for the job. The FabriTEX tension fabric banner stand supplied was made to a custom size of 841mm wide x 2000mm tall and was a 45mm deep double sided display stand that has a tension fabric graphic on each side.

The graphic is printed onto the fabric material using high quality direct print techniques, with a sewn on silicone rubber strip at the edges which pushes into the side channels of the tension fabric frame profile. This makes the graphics very easy to change and cost effective to replace and future proofs the frames for use at other events. The large graphic area gives a high impact visual making these stands ideal for use in places such as exhibitions.

The event was covered well over the duration of the event in the online media and locally in the Cathedral events calendar and encouraged more people to explore the church’s architecture and vital services that the Southwark Cathedral has to offer the local community.

An online Tweet taken from News UK website: by Robert Hands, TNL Executive Managing Editor, said:

“The Archive team have put together an evocative collection of photographs that showcase life in Southwark going back to the early 20th century and it’s fascinating to see how the area has evolved. This has been a great partnership with the cathedral team.”

W&Co celebrates 10 successful years supplying John Lewis

Following the recent opening of Essex’s first John Lewis department store in Chelmsford, W&Co Displays and Signs celebrates the homecoming of their light boxes to Essex and 10 successful years supplying to one of the UK’s favourite and best retailers.

The relationship between the two companies began in 2006 when Vickie Tuley, the then Concept Designer of John Lewis, enquired for a new slimmer type of lightbox for a trial in their Glasgow store stating “We are looking for a quality lightbox that diffuses the light evenly... the frame has to be front loading and easy for our staff to load and reload images. We use a standard light colour throughout our department and we would want the colour of the lightbox to be warm enough to fit in to the overall department ambience.”

W&Co's sleek ultra slim T5 tube illuminated light boxes were originally selected for the trial due to their superior build quality, high brightness and even illumination and following the fitting in the summer Vickie remarked, “Lightboxes look excellent at Glasgow. Everyone is really pleased with the look - especially of the larger ones.”

Subsequent to the success of the light boxes in Glasgow the nationwide roll-out commenced, seeing the first of the products installed into the Perfumery and Beauty departments at John Lewis’ flagship and largest store in London’s Oxford Street. Thereafter other prestigious stores were fitted out including, Bluewater, Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, Leicester and Newcastle.

Five years and several stores later an LED version of the ultra slim light box was approved and the first of these were installed in Westfield Stratford City in time for the London 2012 Olympics. The LED light boxes offered higher brightness in a slimmer and thinner frame and, more importantly, lower energy consumption than the traditional T5 tube versions which were winning features for John Lewis as they contributed towards their commitment to sustainability and energy savings.

One of John Lewis' foremost retail designers, Mag Secretario, commented, "The new LED light boxes are excellent," he continued, "W&Co's exceptional service has helped our success creatively, financially and sustainably by supporting our business case towards a sustainable design approach to branding."

In 2014 the light boxes evolved from snap frame to magnetic lift off front covers. This was so that staff could change the graphics more easily and quickly. This also enabled these even thinner light boxes (only 24mm deep) to be fully-recessed into the new stylish trellis-like framework in the Premium Beauty department which allowed shoppers to see through to other departments whilst still being able to easily distinguish individual brands.

The new ultra thin Tanto LED light box has the same bright and even illumination as the snap frame LED light box used in the Perfumery department, so a continuity of graphic lighting was maintained throughout both departments. The first of this new style was introduced to York soon followed by their flagship in London's Oxford Street, Exeter and High Wycombe.

Most recently over the last year Tanto LED light boxes have been used in Birmingham Bull ring, Liverpool and Basingstoke and now at Chelmsford, the first John Lewis store in Essex, which has the largest beauty hall out of all of John Lewis's small full-line department stores, with 14 premium beauty counters including M.A.C, Charlotte Tilbury and Nars. The branch manager of John Lewis Chelmsford, Laura Rawstron, said, “The business has had ambition to open a shop in Essex for some time now, and the Bond Street development couldn't be a better proposition for us.”

W&Co look forward to continuing their fantastic working relationship with John Lewis with new store openings in Leeds at the end of October 2016, then Oxford and Westfield White City opening their doors in 2017.

Read all about it! Acrylic LED cubes for The Huffington Post

In Mid July 2016 W&Co was approached by AOL to supply two illuminated acrylic cubes from the W&Co Nebula illuminated display range for an event for The Huffington Post UK. The cubes were used as part of an editorial project called Thriving Families, taking a look at the important role food plays in families and spearheaded by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Dad-of-five, Jamie Oliver guest edited The Huffington Post UK on 15th July 2016 as part of the initiative to highlight how parents and children can thrive in today’s society. The event utilised the cubes specifically as a prop and focal point for photos and helped frame Jamie Oliver during the interview.

The Huffington Post, a Pulitzer Prize-winning source of breaking news, video, features, and entertainment, requested the two fully LED illuminated cubes to be created as part of the event which took place in their UK head office.  Each cube had to be easy to install, light enough to carry, evenly illuminate, and be branded with the HuffPost logo with printed and applied sign vinyl to each side of the cube. The units also had to be ‘plug and play ready’ so staff could use the units instantly.

The Nebula frameless acrylic cubes are part of the Nebula lightbox range, and are designed from white opal acrylic, with each cube internally lit by high brightness white LED's, giving even illumination throughout.  They are fully customisable and are available in a multitude of colours and effects from the Perspex range or other effects and graphics can be displayed by simply applying vinyl (or window cling print) directly to the faces of the lightbox. These acrylic LED lightbox cubes can be made to order as wall mounted, freestanding or ceiling hanging to suit your display requirements.

AOL requested that these cubes were to be able to free stand, and so sited perfectly at the centre of the event space (please see the images which accompany this editorial).

After the event W&Co was commended by Sophie Brugère, Marketing Executive, AOL UK, “The event was a great success, the boxes looked brilliant, we will continue to use them for future events.”.   

Click here more information and images of the Nebula product range: http://bit.ly/nebulaLED

(All images used courtesy of The Huff/Chris Gorman)

Purplebone's Chelsea Flagship Stores is a Howling Success

Purplebone is one of the newest chic beauty parlours for dogs to hit the high streets of London. Based in Notting Hill, Westfield and Chelsea, the shops provide dog owners a unique opportunity to buy quirky and practical gifts and gadgets to help pamper and look after their pet.

W&Co was contacted by Purplebone as they were looking for new signage to update and enhance their brand image of their prestigious 155, King’s Road, Chelsea store. The client’s brief was to have two illuminated signs that utilised their brand colours and was impactful on the high street.

W&Co proposed a halo illuminated internal sign that was built up and mounted to the back wall of the shop. The fascia sign of the shop is in a prominent position and needed to be bold, and bright whilst in keeping with the other shop fronts in a very affluent area of London. The fascia signage was face illuminated with built up ‘rim and return’ letters spelling ‘Purplebone’.

The bold purple colour was carefully matched to their existing corporate branding colours from sample store fixtures supplied by the customer.  All of the signage was fitted with high bright and eco-friendly LEDs for a crisp and even illumination that will last for years.

The signage was very well received by the client who commented “The signage is perfect! We couldn’t be happier!! It looks great at night!”

British Council - Making a case for Britain

W&Co was privileged to be awarded with the task to brighten up British Council's entrance way to their main offices in SW London working in close co-ordination with Artillery Architects.

The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales and Scotland.

The entrance to their building is located on the back wall of a fairly deep and dark under croft which results in visitors not being able to easily find the entrance.

Therefore to increase their visibility W&Co were asked to design, manufacture and install some large built-up and flat cut stainless steel logo’s fixed at high level next to the entrance doors accompanied by a series of bespoke external LED illuminated poster cases and fret cut illuminated signage wrapping around several of the undercroft’s concrete columns.

The large bespoke poster display cases were clad back to back complete with concealed LED accent lighting to the rear edges to give a floating effect.   The poster cases have been built with longevity in mind with toughened glass front panels and hinged doors and a hidden locking mechanism.

The British Council now have the freedom to change the posters themselves for upcoming events and marketing throughout the year and have been extremely pleased with the final result.