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.

Tension fabric LED light boxes steer customers in the right direction

Various large format tension fabric LED light boxes were manufactured and installed at Inchcape West London Volkswagen in Brentford; Volkswagen’s largest UK car showroom and new flagship dealership.

W&Co was approached by branding experts, Integrity, to help design and manufacture a series of LED light boxes to create a fully illuminated feature wall in the main reception and illuminated way finding signage.

The impressive illuminated feature wall constructed from numerous large format fabric face LED light boxes which are fitted around a central doorway and a nine screen video wall as well as wrapping around a corner at one end.

W&Co worked closely with Integrity, both the site contractors and AV suppliers to ensure a well coordinated effort to complete this striking and high quality light box installation.

The majority of the light boxes that make up the wall have been covered with plain white backlit tension fabric whilst some of the larger areas have been digitally printed with images and information on historical VW models from 1945 to present day.

To accompany the main feature light box W&Co has supplied a 7m long, double sided tension fabric light box to act as way finding signage for customers across the 4 floor showroom, which was fixed to the ceiling for maximum visibility as soon as you enter the dealership.

W&Co was also asked to design and develop ceiling hanging tension fabric LED light boxes to go above the cars in other VW showrooms. This square shaped, multi-faced, feature lighting unit is essentially four double sided light boxes neatly connected together with mitre joins to create rectangular highlighters above new key VW models on display. 

Previously W&Co has supplied ground fixed outdoor advertising LED light boxes for Volkswagen to illuminate promotional posters close to the roadside.

For more images follow this link: http://bit.ly/2b6CqvF

Digital signage or printed signage? We explore the merits of both.

W&Co believes that digital signage is better for captive audiences and static printed signage for the passersby and a combination of both is likely the most effective form of advertising overall.

While each has their own benefits, there is a case for using digital signage and static printed signage as proven to W&Co Displays and Signs by many of their own customers, including: Volkswagen, Infiniti and Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust.

In support of the case for static printed signage for quick passing trade, Volkswagen Canterbury made the decision to swap their freestanding digital signage for a static illuminated graphic display after their moving digital roadside promotions were not being noticed by members of the public in quick moving traffic. Whereas Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust upgraded their waiting rooms from printed static signage by installing digital signage screens which allowed the hospital to maximise limited advertising space and update their information in real time to captive audience of waiting patients.

Most recently, Infiniti demonstrated just how effective digital signage and static signage can be when used together at concession stands in shopping malls around the UK which acted as pop-up car showrooms. Freestanding digital signage screens were supplied to Infiniti to enable them to display attention-grabbing digital advertising videos alongside a static sign displaying the company’s logo and name which was great for constant brand presence.

So essentially the printed signage with a brand name and single promotional message helped draw people onto the stands and the digital signage screens filled in the finer details of the car’s features.

Therefore, while digital signage and printed signage have their own individual benefits a clever usage of both in a coordinated advertising strategy offers the best results.

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)

W&Co’s LED light boxes in a world of their own!

The Eden Project recently made use of custom built EconoLite LED illuminated tension fabric light boxes for their current exhibition of the winners of the ‘Wellcome Image Awards 2016,’ featuring biomedical and clinical images including the brain’s nerve fibres, a photomacrograph showing delicate golden scales of a moth and a digital reconstructed skeleton!

Due to the nature of the exhibition W&Co recommended the EconoLite light box with a thin depth of 38mm, enabling the images to be displayed as flat to the wall as possible and to allow room between the designs so the audience can truly appreciate each image. The light boxes were all custom made to specifications provided by the client to best suit the images and the area where they were to be exhibited.

W&Co also printed tension fabric graphics for all the light boxes in the exhibition ensuring the prints were of the highest quality and the 2016 winning images were illuminated beautifully.

W&Co was delighted to have had the opportunity to help portray the most informative, striking and technically excellent images by some of the UK’s most creative scientists, clinicians, photographers and artists. The client confirmed they were happy with light boxes at the exhibition with the Marketing Director for the Eden Project, commenting, “The light boxes are up and running [and] have been very well received...thanks again so much for your help.”

As well as the individual tension fabric LED Light boxes, W&Co provided weather resistant Sabre LED lightboxes which are suitable for promotional posters in any environment - even a Rainforest! They come with a convenient “swing open” front cover frame and a snap open profile that made changing the HP Latex Polyester printed graphics we also provided an easy task for the client. 

For more information and images about this project click here: http://bit.ly/2bmAlMY

Barclays bank on W&Co’s tension fabric systems

W&Co has been privileged to supply Barclays Bank since 2014, rolling out tension fabric light boxes for their “Community Wall” displays starting in South Kensington and stretching to as far as Rome, Italy! The Community display walls consist of multiple A3 and A1 FabriLITE Slim LED light boxes complete with backlit tension fabric graphics, highlighting individuals and businesses who have used Barclays as their preferred banking partner in that particular area.

The walls are often combined with printed graphics and TV Screens to create a dynamic, mixed media display to catch the eye of potential customers and businesses. W&Co has also successfully provided the Barclays HQ in Manchester with our tension “ECO” FabriLITE LED light boxes which were installed over 7 floors and recessed flush into the corridor walls.

Barclays is currently issuing a nationwide “upgrade” of their branches, aiming to be as interactive and futuristic as other premium brands.

W&Co has supplied Barclays branches including; South Kensington, Piccadilly, Great Yarmouth, Warrington, Grays, Swansea, Maidstone, Leamington Spa, Eltham, Newcastle and Rome. Our FabriLITE light boxes were specified for this project at the design stage due to their high build quality and finish as well as their high brightness and even distribution of light at only 40mm depth.

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!”

Impressive Signage for PressOn

Renowned for its creativity and high quality products, PressOn is one of the UK’s leading large format digital printers who specialise in manufacturing a variety of graphics and media for both indoor and outdoor advertising purposes.

W&Co was approached by PressOn to manufacture and install signage at their new larger premises in Chatham, Kent. Using W&Co’s 3D visualisation drawing service, a custom sign was designed with built up rim and return letters with bright LED face illumination. The design was conceptualised following the clients brief and branding, using bright impactful blue and yellow colours for the logo.

Once the design was agreed, swatches of coloured acrylic were supplied to the client for approval and a site survey was conducted to confirm dimensions, final location and electrical outputs.

Installation was arranged for Spring 2015 and once complete the client was very impressed with the final product.

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.

W&Co's LED light sheets gives Irish Whiskey Museum a warm glow.

In the heart of Dublin’s beautiful city a brand new historical and interactive museum has opened its doors. Based on the traditional and vivid history of Dublin’s industrial past, specifically of alcoholic beverages and a long association with the drinks industry, Ireland’s first whiskey museum opened in autumn 2014.

The museum features a series of exhibitions detailing the history of whiskey distilling in Ireland through the use of interactive technology and actors. Visitors also have the opportunity to sample the Irish whiskies in a special tasting room.

In the summer of 2014 W&Co was approached by two Irish companies, MJ Architecture & The Irish Pub Company, to supply an LED feature lighting display for the museum’s tasting room. Our knowledge and expertise were utilised to produce a 14 metre wide LED feature wall.

The designer’s brief was to supply LED light panels that would be easy to install, could be recessed behind shelving and produced in a warm amber colour that would complement the backlit whiskey bottles on the shelves. The wall where the LED light panels were to be mounted had a convex curve, therefore, the panels were manufactured in twelve 1.2 metre wide sections to fit the shape. Television screens and whiskey bottles were placed on the shelves and backlit by the diffused LED light panels.

After two months of manufacturing trials and preparing translucent vinyl swatches, the client decided to use a warm orange filter film to be applied to the LED panels to increase the warmth of the lighting. The light panels were supplied with LEDs mounted to both long edges, along with a dimmable transformer to power all the LED light panels simultaneously. 

The store officially opened around autumn 2014 and has been a huge success and is expected to generate around 80,000 visitors in its first year. The project was an overall success the comments were very positive from the client.  Sean Ryan, interior design at MJ Architecture wrote, “I am very happy with the finished result of the whiskey wall, it conveys exactly what I intended with the design concept. Many people have commented on how great the effect is so thanks for your assistance on the project.”

Tiger Takeover The High Street

When Tiger, the international Danish variety retailer, wanted to update their advertising by replacing non-illuminated poster displays for ultra slim LED displays, W&Co’s Razor LED light boxes were specified as the all round best product to be used within new stores.

 

W&Co’s single sided wall mounted and double-sided cable hanging Razor LED light boxes have been supplied to shop fitters of Tiger, for use within stores all throughout the UK including London, Scotland, Norwich and most recently Peterborough.

Ceiling suspended window displays are the ideal solution for stores, like Tiger, that have a fully glazed shop front design and the ultra slim design of this light box means it can sit a comfortable distance from the window without taking up too much space.

By swapping their non-illuminated posters for W&Co’s sleek Razor LED Light boxes to display their graphics, Tiger has been able to make use of valuable window space while producing effective eye-catching advertising during all hours of the day.

Illuminated with a specially developed LED light panel, the Razor light box offers superior brightness and even illumination, while the anti-glare front sheet prevents natural light from glaring off of the graphics and filters the sun’s UV rays, which is one of the main contributing factors to fading prints.

W&Co is set to continue supplying slimline LED light box displays to Tiger stores as they continue to expand and develop new stores throughout the UK.

Show Stopping Illuminated Signage for Indigo at the O2

Having previously helped with some illuminated way finding signage inside the arena W&Co was delighted The O2 came back for assistance with the re-branding of their dedicated entertainment venue Indigo at The O2, formerly IndigO2.

The contemporary, glamorous and state-of-the-art venue which has a capacity of 2,800 guests needed an equally glamorous looking sign for both their main entrance and their VIP Entrance which was being missed by guests due to the lack of visible signage.

Our skilled design team visited The O2’s Venue Management to discuss possible options to improve the visibility of the VIP Entrance and the best way of implementing the new branding onto the large curved wall of the main entrance. Consultations were also held with The O2’s brand guardians to offer professional advice about the build, colour and design of the signage, while ensuring strict guidelines were met.

Following this a series of scale 3D design proposals were produced in-house for The O2. By utilising W&Co’s 3D visualisation service, the client was able to envisage how the final custom sign installation would look once completed and also gave them an opportunity to make alterations to their design to guarantee optimum results.

After some fine-tuning to the designs the new signage was approved at 5m x 2.5m for the curved wall on the main entrance and a 13m x 1m wraparound sign for the VIP entrance. The manufacture was a particularly challenging build not only due to the scale and complex design of the signage but because of the irregularity of the curved mounting surfaces for which Foamex templates had to be produced as accurately as possible for a perfect fit.

The final designs were manufactured from a series of fret cut and LED back illuminated sign trays with the main entrance having built-up, face illuminating lettering mounted to the face for added depth.

The circular pattern on the main entrance signage was achieved by having a variety of different sized fret cut holes; each backed with opalescent acrylic that had been printed with coloured vinyl. The sign was so intricately detailed that each individual circle had a different pantone colour and a different levels of opacity of that colour. Due to the complexity of the new Indigo at The O2 logo design, a portion of the work was completed manually; this involved meticulously hand drilling the smaller holes.

The overall design works really well in the venue space giving visitors approaching from different directions a clear beacon to follow to get to the relevant entrance for their night out.