Colourful 3-D elements printed for The Angry Birds Movie‘s bus wraps inspired a similar promotion for Ghostbusters.
Real-world examples
That said, some sign shops around the world have used 3-D printing for spectacular applications. Carisma, for example, is a commercial printing company in New York, N.Y., that used a gel-dispensing 3-D printer to produce enhanced elements for double-decker bus wraps promoting two of Sony Pictures’ high-profile 2016 releases, The Angry Birds Movie and Ghostbusters (see Sign Media Canada, November 2016, page 18).
“Initially, we produced one Angry Birds model to demonstrate our capabilities,” Carisma CEO Moshe Gil explains. “Sony was immediately taken with the quality and scale and increased its order in the run-up to the movie’s release. Then, they were so blown away by the attention generated around the campaign, they sought something similar for Ghostbusters.”
Carisma’s 3-D printer is capable of producing pieces up to 1.8 m (6 ft) tall. To promote Ghostbusters, the company produced a series of components that were assembled into 10 ‘no ghost’ signs, recreating the movie’s famous logo at a height of 4.3 m (14 ft), which were then affixed to a fleet of buses and illuminated.
“Bus wraps are not new for companies like ours, but the ability to offer 3-D printed versions takes the application to new frontiers,” says Gil. “Before this printer, there was a substantial gap in the market for producing large-scale models with a super-fast turnaround time.”
Nearly any size of product can be produced.
Having gotten the word out in a highly visible fashion across the U.S., Gil adds he is starting to think about purchasing a second 3-D printer to meet future demand.
In another example, ES Digital, a wide-format print shop in Yavne, Israel, used 3-D printing to produce a ‘selfie point’ for a cross-media campaign that was displayed throughout the country’s international Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. Another Israeli company, the Heidia Group, has recently invested in the technology in anticipation of a new competitive edge in the retail brand development market.
“We are continually looking at how to stand out from the crowd and we believe this investment will support that objective,” says Ofer Gal, Heidia’s chair. “It will allow us to elevate our traditional 2-D POP displays to new levels and unlock new business opportunities.”
Stylo Graphics, which prints wide-format displays in Watford, England, has used the technology to produce a broad range of dimensional models for the retail, interior design and hospitality sectors.
“Our clients are blown away by the ability to produce personalized, larger-than-life 3-D models,” says Simon Olley, Stylo’s owner. “As an early adopter of the technology, we can propel our business into exciting new markets.”
