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London’s Oxford Circus tube station gets The Great Gatsby wrap
A 360° station domination advertisement promoting Warner Brother’s UK release of the new Great Gatsby movie impressed commuters and travellers as they entered the passenger walkway of London’s Oxford Circus tube station last week.
HP Latex gives Panther Graphics a competitive edge in motorsports
Graphics are a big part of the motorsports industry; a team sponsor likes its logos looking sharp. As a successful IndyCar series team for 14 years, Indianapolis, Indiana-based Panther Racing opened its own in-house graphics company and forever changed its pace.
“For three years, we outsourced our vehicle wrapping,” says Nic Baumann, president of Panther Racing. “In 2012, we decided to bring them in-house and launch Panther Graphics. The move not only made vehicle wrapping more efficient, but allowed us to tap into what seemed like a natural extension of our business: signage.”
The first item on the newly formed company’s agenda was selecting a wide format printer. The team, led by lead installer Tony Kendricks, came down in favour of a latex ink-based solution with the HP Designjet L26500 Printer.
Before moving to Panther Graphics, Kendricks operated an eco-solvent printer, which posed a serious time challenge because of the lengthy outgassing process. “Race teams spend money on turnaround time,” says Baumann. The less time the vehicle is out of commission while being wrapped, the more time the mechanic has with the car.”
The team’s increased efficiency quickly led to increased business. The company wraps not only its own cars, but trailers, golf carts, tanks, helicopters, and vehicles for other companies. It also prints merchandise and signage. This boost in business prompted 
Panther Graphics to purchase a second HP Designjet L26500 Printer – just 45 days after purchasing the first.
Panther Graphics is now able to deliver pristine, high-resolution print quality. During one racing event, the team needed to wrap a race car to temporarily look like a football with a fine, pebbled texture and laces. The last-minute idea, part of a partnership with the San Francisco 49ers (whose head coach, Jim Harbaugh, is a founding partner and co-owner of Panther Racing), required the Panther Graphics team to take a Wednesday-morning concept and deliver a wrapped and ready-to-go race car by Thursday afternoon. “It was designed and wrapped in a day, which would have been impossible to do with an eco-solvent printer. And the quality was outstanding,” says Kendricks.
Before wrapping its cars in vinyl, Panther Racing invested in intricate, expensive, and time-consuming paint jobs. “Within three or four events, the car would need to be stripped and painted again,” says Baumann. “Now, we use vinyl with a clear coating – so if the coating gets nicked, we can simply recoat it. One wrap can last an entire season on the track which translates into a considerable cost savings for the team.”
Panther Graphics has quickly made a name for itself as a premier printer – in just over a year, they’ve built a diverse portfolio of almost 40 clients. These days, Panther Graphics can deliver quality wraps and multiple other applications quickly, and in the motorsports industry, flexible speed definitely gives Panther Graphics a competitive edge.
Metro station fully wrapped for The Great Gatsby premiere
For the world premiere of the Warner Bros' film The Great Gatsby, JC Decaux Spain fully wrapped the Callao metro station in Madrid. Great fun. See video below.
The company wrapped the station from floor to ceiling including chairs, walls, and walkways to resemble a hotel scene from the film and employed a group of actors dressed like the characters in the film to interact with travellers.
Rock of Ages taxi wrap
We like a bit of taxi wrapping here at GDW and this wrap in support of the campaign for the smash hit comedy musical Rock of Ages can currently be seen out and about in London’s West End theatre district this month on a fleet of iconic London taxis.
London Taxi Advertising is managing the campaign, which is scheduled to run throughout May 2013, aimed at invigorating interest amongst both tourists and locals.
With the Garrick Theatre located between Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square tube stations, the campaign has the capacity to traverse the immediate vicinity of the venue and thus directly target audiences as they scour the selection of available West End shows.
Looks good.
More colour choices for vehicle wrapping
William Smith has announced new colour change choices in the 3M1080 Series and iSee 2 Total Wrap range, enabling vehicle wrappers to offer even more options to their customers.
Six new satin and matt colours have been added to the 3M 1080 Series: Satin White, Satin Pearl White, Matt Hot Rod Red, Matt Bright Yellow, Matt Royal Purple and Matt Apple Green.
The addition of Storm Grey and Autumn Gold brings the total number of colours in the iSee2 Total Wrap range to 52.
3M 1080 Series is a long term, removable dual cast film that has been designed with sufficient rigidity to allow easy handling without the need for application tape. Featuring 3M’s Controltac Comply pressure-activated adhesive, 1080 Series is easy to reposition and ready to use straight from the box. With up to six years durability, these films offer excellent opacity and are highly weather resistant. 1080 Series is suitable for flat surfaces and simple curves.
iSee2 Total Wrap car wrapping film is a hybrid and modified PVC film that comes in gloss colours, matt colours, carbon effect colours and a selection of specialist effects. Total Wrap is easy to apply and comes with a five year durability. It is suitable for full vehicle wraps and is designed to conform easily around compound curves, rivets and corrugations. It can also be used for general graphics and striping.
